Before he was killed, Jesus warned his followers over and over that he would suffer, die and be raised again. Their response to these predictions ranged from confusion to denial. When the events of Good Friday finally took place, the disciples were shocked and bewildered, displaying little recollection of Jesus' words. They didn't seem to "get it."

In today's Gospel reading, the risen Christ appears to his followers and, basically, must continue to tell them the same thing he told them before his death. The disciples are terrified when Jesus appears.

"Why are you troubled?" he asks them. "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

When Jesus predicted this suffering, death and resurrection, they didn't "get it." When Good Friday and Easter Sunday took place, they didn't "get it." Now that Jesus is risen and standing before them, they still don't "get it." Maybe, with the patient intervention Jesus displays in today's reading, the disciples will finally grasp his' mission and ministry.

It would be easy to criticize the disciples for their seeming inability to "get it." As I reflect on their situation, however, I realize that I am more like them than not. It is easy with 2,000 years of hindsight to fault the first followers of Jesus for their misunderstanding.

But could they really be expected to believe that their beloved leader would end up killed as a criminal? Were they really supposed to understand that Jesus, who spoke in riddles and parables, was speaking literally when he predicted that he would rise from the dead in three days?

And, having the advantage of knowing and believing that Jesus rose from the dead, why is it still so hard for me to believe in Christ's power to transform my own life? If Jesus were to stand before me today, I would probably be shocked and terrified as well, and stunned that he is really here.

Of course, he's always been "really here." But I don't "get it" much more frequently than the disciples did. Jesus promises to heal our wounds, wipe away our tears and help us overcome the pain and suffering in our lives. He tells us, over and over, just as he did his first followers, to trust his words and to live by them and not by the fear that often plagues us.

There is much for us to be "troubled" by these days. There is much to fear. Jesus has told us, and tells us again, that he is real and alive and here for us. It is not much easier for us to believe this, at times, than it was for the first disciples. Today's Gospel challenges us, just as it did them, to believe that God's grace has been unleashed for all of us to experience and enjoy. It is there for us to "get."

Bill Peatman writes from Napa. He may be reached at bptidings@yahoo.com.