“When they (the disciples) heard that Jesus was alive and that she (Mary Magdalene) had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.” Mark 16:11-13

No sugar-coating here.
They flat out didn’t believe any of the scuttle-butt.
Here-say.
Wild rumors.

We shouldn’t be too hard on these guys, though.
They had never known anyone who was dead, become un-dead.
They had no personal experience with open, empty graves.
It had been a stressful week, what with earthquakes and blackouts and losing their best friend along with their best hope of freedom from Roman oppression. It was all very confusing.

Jesus told the disciples many times that he was going to rise from the dead.
Being told something and believing it is two different things.
Maybe they thought it was just too good to be true.

“It may be too good to be understood,
But it’s not too good to be true.”
Jess Ray