Musings From the Gospel of John – Number 63

The Scriptures covered in this longer than normal concluding post are from John 20:19-31 NASB, which reads as follows:

“Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were together due to fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be to you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be to you; just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be to you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

So then, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

John 29:19 picks up on the evening of the 1st day of the week, the Sunday evening of the day in which Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And this time Jesus appears to all of the disciples, excluding Thomas. John tells us that the doors were shut and that the disciples were together, due to fear of the Jews.

As we are told by John, by this time, in the evening, due to the earlier appearance of Jesus, to Mary Magdalene, as mentioned in John 20:11-18, where Jesus specifically had told Mary to “go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary had indeed gone to the disciples and announced to them, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

One can only imagine the talk among the disciples, on that Sunday evening! The fact that they had assembled themselves together, because of what Mary had previously told them, earlier in the day, yet out of sight from the Jews, so as not to draw attention to themselves, because of fear, behind closed or latched doors, from the inside, and then suddenly, Jesus appears among them, in their very midst.

Oh to be a fly on the wall in that room on that evening!

And then, in contrast to the fear they had experienced, plus the hope of what Mary had told them of, what does Jesus say to them, in His first collective appearance to them? “Peace be to you.”

Evidently, “Peace be to you.” was a common greeting among the Hebrew people during that period of history, but it also had significance when Jesus said it after the Resurrection. He was both greeting His friends, and encouraging them that God’s peace would be with them at all times. God’s peace to us, is declared and personified in our risen Lord. Romans 5:1 NASB comes to mind: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Tell me that isn’t beautiful! How does one possibly say “thank you” for that?

“And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be to you; just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

Notice the words that Jesus spoke, “just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” JUST AS. That “just as” is vitally important. I’ve often thought about this long and hard. What did Jesus do, that was so special, that we as His disciples, are to emulate?

Jesus did nothing of Himself. (John 5:19)
Without Jesus we can do nothing. (John 15:5)
Jesus explicitly followed the will of the Father. (Luke 22:42)
Jesus did for us, what we in and of ourselves could never do. (Romans 8:3)
Jesus is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. (Hebrews 1:3)

” . . . just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

That statement of Jesus, “Receive the Holy Spirit” was very significant. This could easily turn into a small book, so I will give you a link here that explains why this is significant, much better than I can. Please, do take the time to read it.

Then Jesus states: “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

Notice that Jesus is NOT just talking to one individual, such as Peter, Jesus is speaking to all of the assembled disciples. These are the pillars of the Christian Church that will be going forward to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, built upon the foundational rock of the truth about who Jesus is and what He and He alone accomplished. This is pivotal, this is life changing. These are the disciples who turned the then known world upside down.

Then we have the Scriptures that explain how Thomas was not present and how he stated he would not believe UNLESS he personally saw, in His hands, the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side. And eight days later, Jesus accommodates Thomas., not only for his sake, but also ours, when Jesus says: “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” And who of us can forget the words of Thomas to Jesus when he said “My Lord and my God!”

And then there is this final statement from the Apostle John, which says “So then, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Approximately three years of Jesus’ ministry, condensed into a relatively short written Gospel, authored by John, and inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son Of God and that by believing, we might have life in His name.

I will include a detailed list of all Scripture identified post resurrection appearances of Jesus here, because quite often this does come up in post resurrection appearance discussions and it is prudent to be aware of the specific appearances and that there is no apparent contradiction in the Scriptures.

I love the Gospel of John. I love all of the Gospels but if I was to memorize only one, it would have to be John. And through God’s grace, I do earnestly believe.

This concludes my “Musings on the Gospel of John”. As I have indicated at the start of this commentary, I did this once before, when I first became a Christian, so many years ago. Somewhere in time, that first commentary got lost or misplaced. At this late stage of my life, I decided to do it again. This one is quite different from my first. I acknowledge that this commentary only scratches the surface. There is much more to be said and understood than my comments provide.

If perchance, you are reading this and have never truly asked God to forgive you for your sins, nor accepted God’s demonstrated love, in the person of Gods only begotten Son, as your Lord and Saviour, who alone can make us right before a Holy and righteous God, I would strongly encourage you to do so. That is the first step, according to my experience, of a number of steps that facilitates drawing closer to our heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus, through the indwelling power and grace of God’s Holy Spirit. Put your hand to the plow and follow through, even though we may fail Jesus from time to time, He always is there to get us back on course, and bring us to His promised end. And remember this, if you are breathing, and even though your sins may be many, it is still not too late! God’s grace can be embedded in your heart today, through God’s indwelling Holy Spirit! Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name!

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!