On the evening of…the first day of the week…Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:19-23
On the day of His resurrection, Jesus appears to His Disciples who are in hiding in the upper room where they had supped with Jesus 3 days before. John tells us that the doors were locked. This reinforces the fear that the Disciples experienced when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane, taken to be crucified and, they all ran away from Him. Only John appears in Scripture in the midst of the religious leaders’ trials and at Jesus’ crucifixion. Peter is in the “gallery” of people outside Caiaphas’ house where he denies his Lord three times. Now, all the Disciples, except Thomas, were together huddled fearful of arrest by the same religious leaders who had murdered their Lord. To these men, all was lost. There was no future for them but to return to what they had been doing before Jesus recruited them. Their mood was somber, mournful and, trying to understand what exactly had taken place in the last three days. Suddenly, without any notice, Jesus appeared to these men. Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you,” reflect the legacy Jesus had given to His Disciples the evening before His death. Jesus showed them His hands and His side, the piercings that the Romans had inflicted. At this, the mood of the whole room changed to gladness and joy. Jesus tells the Disciples that “as the Father has sent Me,” “so I am sending you.” Jesus, then breathed the Holy Spirit upon the Disciples, charging them that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they may forgive anyone of their sins and it will be so in Heaven or they may not forgive anyone of their sins and it will be so in Heaven. Christians, there is understanding in these words. Our Savior and Lord, in His resurrection body, once again, demonstrates characteristics of the glorified body we all will be given. He appeared, without their noticing Him, through locked doors to His Disciples. Upon seeing Jesus, they recognized Him immediately. Jesus’ resurrected body bears the marks His earthly body received at His crucifixion. These marks will eternally be upon our Lord as a constant reminder of what our Lord did to redeem His chosen ones. Jesus’ appearance immediately changed the demeanor of the Disciples from gloom to hope! Jesus breathes upon His Disciples the Holy Spirit, just as God, in Genesis, breathed life into the clay body of Adam. Jesus charges His Disciples with the ability to forgive the sins of others or to withhold forgiveness of those sins. Throughout the New Testament, we see how the Apostles used their Heavenly gift that Jesus gave them in that upper room that day! Let all Christians, today, go forth in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and proclaim the redemption that is found only in Jesus, the Christ, Savior and Lord of all who believe in Him for salvation.
Source: S C Ball April 10, 2023
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