The Love of Christ: His Appearances
John 20:19-31
I. Jesus’ love sends us out; 20:19-23.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
It is still the evening of Resurrection Sunday, and the disciples are behind locked doors. Will the temple authorities find them and arrest them too? Instead, Jesus comes to them and stands in their midst. "Peace be with you" is far more than a greeting. Jesus is summing up His work and presence in the world. Jesus promised that this peace would be His gift to them; now He has delivered it.
He shows them His hands and His side. The disciples' response of joy to His appearance is a fulfillment of what was promised. As Jesus was God's representative in the world, so too His disciples become Jesus' representatives, working in the world. Jesus then breathes on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This may be a symbolic gesture, a symbol of what it would be like.
Jesus' followers are to make the gospel so clear that it is evident where people stand in regard to forgiveness of sin. The church's duty is to proclaim forgiveness and to warn the unrepentant. Forgiveness frees people to set aside their past sins and feelings of guilt and turn their attention to the joy of living with the risen Christ under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has come to you. Grief and sorrow can turn to joy through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
II. Jesus’ love moves us beyond doubt; 20:24-29.
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
The disciples who had experienced the appearance of Jesus and His empowering commissioning were sharing the details of their post-resurrection experience with the Lord. Thomas had not been there, and he had no sense of the significance of the miracle. His reaction was the human tendency to demand proof of such an incredible fact.
It is the day after the Sabbath, Sunday one week later. Again, the disciples are in a room with the doors shut. Imagine Thomas the realist coming to the meeting. Into that meeting Jesus materialized. Jesus looked at Thomas. "Thomas, I heard you say something about needing to touch my hands and my side." After a brief but interminable pause, Jesus continued. "Well, come here Thomas!"
Jesus exclaims, "Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas is being challenged to change, to become like the others who, upon seeing Jesus, embrace Him with faith. His response, "My Lord and my God”, is a confession of Thomas's heartfelt belief in Jesus. But the climax of the passage comes next. "Because you have seen me, you have believed." Thomas's faith is anchored to sight. Then Jesus offers a blessing on those who believe but have not seen. Here Jesus points forward beyond Thomas, beyond the apostles, to believers who come to faith through the testimony of the apostles, the church.
Encountering Jesus removes doubts.
III. Jesus’ love demands a believing response of faith; 20:30-31.
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written 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’s Gospel contains a small fraction of the acts and works of Jesus, but John has made it clear why he chose to include what he did. This Gospel was authored to produce a life transforming response. Belief leads to life, and this life is a gift given through the power of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Spiritual life comes through belief. We must believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of God, and upon believing we become recipients of eternal life. Genuine belief includes both confession and commitment.
