Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM
Today’s Gospel is taken from John 20:19-31
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.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So 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.” 27 Then 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.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But 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 (John 20:19-31 – NRSV).
Introductory notes
General
The story of Thomas here is unique to John’s Gospel. Otherwise, we find a similar passage to that of John, in Luke 24:36-42. The reference in 1 Corinthians 15:5 sounds similar also.
the doors of the house etc: It is worth noting that John is the only one who speaks of “fear of the Jews” at this time. In the other Gospels, we hear of fear among the guards and the women as they see the angelic vision at the tomb – see Mark 16:8, Matthew 28:4, 5, & 8 and Luke 24:5 – and the women and the disciples as they see Jesus – see Matthew 28:10 and Luke 24:37. One commentator describes the scene as presented by John: “The reason the doors were locked was their fear of the Jews: the authorities had seen to it that their leader was executed, so it would have been relatively easy for them to pick off his followers had they decided to do so. But the function of the locked doors in John’s narrative, both here and in v. 26, is to stress the miraculous nature of Jesus’ appearance amongst his followers. As his resurrection body passed through the grave-clothes (v. 6–8), so it passed through the locked doors and simply ‘materialized’ (cf. notes on vv. 14–15). It is tempting, with Bruce (p. 391), to find in this episode the inspiration for the practice of the early church, when it met together on Sunday evenings, to invoke Christ’s presence with them in the words, Marana tha! (‘Come, O Lord!’, 1 Cor. 16:22b).” (D A Carson, The Gospel according to John, W.B. Eerdmans, 1991, 646.)
Peace be with you: Jesus had promised his disciples peace – see John 14:27 and 16:33. The Hebrew greeting šâlōm has a here-and-now focus – “may you experience the peace of God now”. The greeting also carries an eschatological focus – “may you experience the unqualified well-being of God’s kingdom”. The greeting should be linked with Jesus’ final words: “It is finished”. Peace is a distinctive mark of the kingdom that is ushered in through Jesus’ saving death and resurrection. Significantly, St Paul – in every one of his Letters – opens with this greeting. He also adds “grace” to “peace”.
he showed them his hands and his side: Jesus’ wounds are proof that it is really him and proof also that his death – his exaltation – was indeed a victory. Thomas will not believe unless/until he sees these authenticating marks.
he breathed on them: In Genesis 2:7 we have an account of creation in which it is said that God takes up the soil of the earth, breathes into it, and humanity comes into existence. Add to this John’s reference to this being “the first day of the week” and you have a statement by John that this is a new creation. See also Ezekiel 37:9–10 and Wisdom 15:11 for a similar use of “breathing” as a metaphor for God at work.
If you forgive the sins of any etc: “The disciples, who have been with him from the beginning (cf. 15:27), will continue the presence of Jesus to a later generation. …. However much they have failed Jesus they have never been failed by the love of God made manifest in Jesus. This author’s presentation of Jesus’ unfailing love for both Peter and Judas makes this point most dramatically. The immensity of the love of God has shone forth in Jesus’ loving gift of self in the midst of their failure (cf. especially 13:19). …. Their experience in the locked room encapsulates their response throughout the Gospel. They are at the same time full of fear yet joyful in the presence of the risen Jesus. Jesus’ words to the frightened yet joyful disciples on their future mission must be understood against this background. Through their ministry sins are to be forgiven and retained. Another use of the passive (cf. vv. 1, 6–7) makes it clear that the disciples are missioned to do God’s work, not their own. They are to bring the peace and joy received on the evening of that first day of the week from the risen Jesus (see v. 19) to later generations of frightened disciples of Jesus (cf. 15:18–16:3). The Paraclete’s ongoing—yet divisive—revelation will lay bare sin, righteousness, and judgment (cf. 16:7–11). Thus the disciples, empowered by the Spirit, in the midst of their fear and joy will be the agents for the future sanctification of generations of believers. Jesus’ instruction of the disciples is recalled. The gift of the Spirit-Paraclete will render the absent Jesus present within the worshiping community (cf. 14:18–21), sharing their experience so that the world might know and believe that Jesus is the Sent One of the Father (cf. 17:21–23). The mission of the disciples renders present the holiness of the absent Jesus (cf. 17:17–19). They will bring God’s forgiveness for all sin that is to be forgiven, and lay bare all sinfulness (v. 23). This latter aspect may seem harsh, but it flows naturally from the story of Jesus. This element in the new situation established through the hour of Jesus is “the power to isolate, repel and negate evil and sin, a power given to Jesus by the Father and given in turn by Jesus through the Spirit to those whom he commissions” (Brown, Gospel 2:1044). Sanctification may lead to blessedness before God, but it also has the hard edge of exposing all that rejects the love lavished upon the world by a God who sent his only son (cf. 3:16–17).” (Francis Moloney SDB, The Gospel of John, The Liturgical Press, 1998, 532-33.)
Resurrection as presence
In today’s Gospel – John 20:19-31 – we are told of Jesus’ appearance to some of the disciples in a locked room. Just prior to this account, John has told us of the discovery of the empty tomb, which is discovered firstly by Mary Magdala, then by Peter and John. The implication is clear: In this absence, they discover – or at least, begin to discover – his presence among them. That implication becomes explicit in the Gospel today. But there is more to the interplay of absence and presence here. Thomas is absent and demands that he experience the presence of the Lord. “Eight days later,” Thomas has his demand satisfied. He responds: “My Lord and MY God!”
Consideration of our human experience of presence can be a useful way to approach the mystery of the resurrection.
Think of a mother present to her newborn baby, gazing at the infant’s face, of a husband and wife present to each other when they have grown in their love over many years, of an adult present at the bedside of a dying parent who is incapable of being present in return, except that their very being, full of so many memories, is about to enter the greatest mystery of all.
This sort of presence is about being rather than doing. It demands surrender, patience, and waiting with the other. Silence is often more appropriate than speech. The rational mind can get in the way. We are unable to be present in this way only to the extent that we have been purged of our egotisms and self-interest. There is no “why?” to this presence; it just is. Something much bigger than us is here – another Presence. The moment belongs to that Presence.
There is a paradox for Thomas. After he touches the wounds of Jesus, he becomes aware of . . . what? This is not the physical presence he had known as they walked the dusty paths of Palestine. Jesus prompts Thomas: “‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’” The Presence of the Risen Lord is not limited to this or that way of encounter. His Presence cannot be contained by any creed or ideology or culture or teaching. His Presence imbues the whole of creation but transcends all that we know or can imagine. His Presence is the fulfilling of the promise: “I will be with you as who I am shall I be there” – see Exodus 3:1-12. His Presence is always here, always now.
Our human presence is to be shaped by this Presence. If we are present to each other in this way, “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28). Do we really want to be present to each other in this way?