John 20.19-end (NRSV)

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

Jesus and Thomas

24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ ²⁸Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ ²⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

The Purpose of This Book

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. 

Brother,

Thank you for holding the fort for the past two weeks. The last week of term culminated in services in four different venues for over 2000 students and staff – all ending with pure exhaustion – and then a week in Perthshire, Scotland, only to succumb to a hacking cough that had been kept at bay by the adrenalin of busyness! But I am back and can offer the following thoughts on the Gospel for next Sunday. (I am aided in this reflection from the work of A M Hunter).

Ten disciples were present and locked together in the room on that first Easter evening when Jesus came and stood among them. Something had happened; Jesus had not just been returned to the live he previously had and this new life freed him from normal bodily restrictions. Jesus appeared to the disciples to prove to them that he was alive, albeit in a different way. But his body still had some similarities; it was still the same body that had hung on the Cross, because he showed them his hands and side.

Jesus then set about commissioning his disciples: Just as the Father sent me, so I send you ... At the Last Supper the Disciples had represented to 12 tribes of Israel in a new way; now there were only 10 present. Jesus breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit ... These words recall Genesis 2.7 where God breathed into the nostrils and imparted life. This is therefore the beginning of a new creation, because in Jesus, God gives to men the saving breath of new life, which is the Holy Spirit.

This has perplexed many people. If the Disciples received the Holy Spirit on this first Easter day, why was the day of Pentecost necessary? Hunter sees no difficulty with this, as this first experience was a time of preparation – ‘... a time when the Spirit worked among the Apostles, like yeast in dough, until it burst forth on the Day of Pentecost in a mighty release of divine power.’

As Jesus breathes on his Disciples, he imparts to them divine power to represent him when dealing with sinners – if you forgive ... they are forgiven. They are given the authority to pardon, or not to pardon – but only if being guided by the Holy Spirit.

And so we turn to Thomas. It was not that Thomas was an out-and- out doubter; it is clear that he was completely loyal to Jesus, as John 11.16 and 14.5 testify. His problem was that he was ‘literal minded’ and demanded certainty before he could commit himself; He wanted to believe – but he needed absolute proof.

A week later – again on a Sunday evening his moment came. Jesus appeared again and used the words Thomas had used in order to minister to him. We are not told if Thomas actually touched Jesus, but we do know that his faith was profound – My Lord and my God.

Hunter concludes: “True faith in the risen Lord is not really based on the evidence of physical eye or ear but on experience, attested by thousands upon thousands down the centuries, of those who have testified.”