So the tale went that the guards had fallen asleep, and meanwhile the body had been removed by the disciples in order to be able to say, "He is risen." This was circulated on all hands, and no one thought any more of the resurrection of the Nazarene.
The disciples themselves could not believe it.

Some of them declared that Pilate and his spies best knew what had become of the corpse.
Others, on the contrary, were stirred by an unparalleled exaltation of spirit, by some divine energy which filled their minds with appallingly clear visions of the latter days.
It happened about this time that two of the disciples walked out towards Emmaus.

They were sad, and spoke of the incomprehensible misfortune that had befallen them.

A stranger joined them, and asked why they were so melancholy.
"We belong to His followers," they replied.
When He said nothing, as if He had not understood, they asked whether He was quite a stranger in Jerusalem, and did not know what had happened these last days?
"What has occurred ?" He asked.
Surely He must have heard of Jesus, the Prophet who had done such great deeds, and preached a new and wonderful Word of God: Of the Heavenly Father full of love, of the Kingdom of Heaven in one's own heart, and of eternal life.

It was as if God Himself had assumed human shape in the person of this Prophet in order to set them an example of perfect life.