19-25) To the disciples
“Then the same day at evening, being
the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were
assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and said unto
them, Peace be unto you. And when He had
so said, He shewed up to them. His hands and his side. Then were the disciples
glad when they saw the Lord. Then said
Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you; as my father hath sent me even so send I
you. And when he had said this, He
breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosoever's sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever's sins ye retain,
they are retained. But Thomas, one of
the twelve. called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other
disciples therefore said unto him, we
have seen the Lord. But he said unto
them, except I shall see in His hands, the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I will not
believe.”
Throughout the day, the news filtered through,
and the disciples all gathered together in the evening for fear of the
Jews. They had secured the doors where
they met, no doubt the same upper room where they had been with Jesus before
His death. Jesus came and stood in their
midst, locked doors were no barrier to Him.
The peace of comfort His
opening greeting to them was one of comfort.
He knew that some were embarrassed, each having let Him down in His
darkest moment to one degree or another.
He knew they needed comfort, and assurance and this is what He
gave. With these words of blessing, He
immediately removes all doubt, and opens their minds to the wonder of what had
happened. This was no time for
recriminations, only for encouragement.
He reminds them of His passion for them, as He shews them His hands and
side, symbols of His suffering. This
took them away from feelings of failure to exultation at His victory over
death. It was, perhaps for this reason
that every epistle in the New Testament opens with the same blessing of grace
and peace-Romans 1v7; 1st Corinthians 1v3; 2nd
Corinthians 1v2; Galatians 1v3; Ephesians 1v2; Philippians 1v2; Colossians 1v2;
1st Thessalonians 1v1; 2nd Thessalonians 1v1; 1st
Timothy 1v2; 2nd Timothy 1v2; Titus 1v4; 1st Peter 1v2; 2nd
Peter 2v2; 2nd John v2; 3rd John v12; Jude v2. This is to be the primary consideration in
all our gatherings-PEACE, the absence of anxiety and disquiet, the inner calm
that only the forgiveness of sins can bring, the feeling of blessing that
nothing can disturb.
The peace of conviction He
shewed them the marks of His suffering, His hands and His side. Once again John returns to the theme of
evidence, the visible wounds of Calvary, that no one can refute; He was
actually crucified, He actually died, He visibly rose from the dead, the same
man who went into death, rose from the dead.
It is all settled, there is no room for doubt. He is risen and has conquered death, and His
people can rest. These indelible marks
proclaim the reality and enhance their faith and conviction in the value of His
work.
The peace of commission Peace
in the heart can nerve them for Highest service, and, having calmed their
inward being He now commissions them to do a mighty work for men. They will receive the power of the Holy
Spirit. They will declare authoritatively
the way of salvation to their fellow men.
They will expound the way of salvation.
Remi and retain, in connection with sins, are similar to loosing and
binding in Matthew 16. It is not that
men can forgive sins, for only God can do that.
It is that men can declare how sins can be forgiven, for this is the
good news of the Gospel. What a
privilege to these apostles, and to all who follow them to be involved in such
a mission. What high calling is this-
“As the Father has sent me, so send I you.”
26-29) To Thomas
Thomas maintained the cynicism he had shewn,
and absolutely needed to be persuaded of the facts. Disillusioned by the events, and having
honest doubt of the outcome, he expressed adamantly his feelings on the
matter. We must bear in mind, in mitigation
of Thomas that these were spectacular events way beyond the normal, and it is
right that an individual satisfies himself as to the truth. He proclaimed “Except I see I will not
believe.” He had demonstrated similar scepticism
in the upper room when he questioned the Lord in His words-Chapter 14v5. However, we note that Jesus did not chide him
when he appeared in the group one week later, having explicitly expressed his
doubts. Jesus simply took up his own
words, and invited him to conduct his investigation. At this, Thomas realised just who Jesus was
and he bowed, reverently, and meekly, pronouncing “My Lord and my God!”. He would never forget this when the reality
of who Jesus is dawned upon him. We
should never forget it either, as this incident cements forever the truth of
Jesus that overcomes the greatest scepticism.
Yet again the focus is on belief, faith in incontrovertible and unassailable
facts. Thomas was an intelligent man who
knew Jesus was to die in Jerusalem, when others could not accept it-John 11v16. He was an open man, always ready to express
his opinion-John 14v5 and 20v25. Yet,
like all of us, he had to learn to learn about faith in the word of Christ, and
not rest on human logic, or human sight.
Accepting his homage, Jesus did not flatter him, and said that those who
believed without the need for physical sight are more blessed.
30-31) John
uses this event to bring his gospel to a close on the primary theme of belief,
“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which
are not written in this book. But these
are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and
that believing ye might have life through His name.” At the end of the epilogue he notes that if
everything were written, the world could not contain the books that should be
written, thus presenting all of us with the inscrutable Christ in whom is life
indeed, and who is worthy of our faith and life devotion.
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