Well established expectations take a long time to die. When we have held a particular hope in our hearts for a meaningful duration of time, letting go of that hope - even in the face of overwhelming evidence that holding on to such a particular hope will certainly end in disappointment - is not straightforward for us!

When the disciples meet the risen Christ, and begin to come to terms with the fact that he has come through death, they default to their well established hope of kicking out their Roman overlords and establishing an independent Israel.

But this was never what Messiah was going to be about. The risen Christ allows space for the disciples to reflect a little longer on the revelation of salvation history. Even as Christ bids them farewell and is taken up away from their sight, he sends them forth to infiltrate the whole world.