They were afraid to believe it lest it should prove to be untrue.
Then, suddenly, he stood in the midst.
They thought it was his ghost.
This was a proof to them that he had not risen; for a ghost is a disembodied thing.
He was a ghost—he was disembodied—therefore he had not risen.
So they felt—each one of them.
They did not say it—but they thought it.
He knew their thoughts.
He asks them why these thoughts arise in their hearts. He upbraids them for their unbelief.
He tells them plainly, a ghost does not have flesh and bones.