Lesson 11 - John 20:19-31 - THE RESURRECTED JESUS AMONG HIS DISCIPLES
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in John 20:1-18, we covered the empty tomb and Jesus' resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene. These events took place the 'first day,' the Sabbath, which actually began on Saturday after sundown. When Mary arrived and saw the stone had been rolled away, she presumed Jesus body had been stolen by robbers, and she ran tell Peter and John. John arrived first, but Peter barged into the tomb and saw the empty burial clothes and rolled-up head cloth lying where Jesus body had been. John then stepped into the empty tomb and 'saw' and 'believed.' The lesson revealed three vital pieces of evidence that all pointed to Jesus' bodily resurrection from the dead: (1) The stone rolled away and the empty tomb both bore witness to Jesus' bodily resurrection from the dead; (2) the empty grave clothes bore to witness to the fact Jesus' body had been there, but was there no longer: and (3) the resurrected Christ appeared first to Mary Magdalene and later to the eleven disciples; and (5) the changed lives of the witnesses to whom the resurrected Christ appeared, transforming a group scared men to come out of hiding and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The bottom line is that all of the evidence of Jesus' resurrection is based solid historical fact.
This week, John 20:19-31, we'll cover the second and third of Jesus four post-resurrection appearances. The synoptic gospels seem to list seven post-resurrection events, but if you reconcile them to each other and to the gospel of John, it actually comes out to four. The two appearances reported in today's lesson took place a week apart. Most scholars agree that John intended Chapter 20 to be the conclusion his gospel but later added Chapter 21 as an epilogue.
Read John 20:19-23 - JESUS APPEARS TO HIS DISCIPLES
19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And 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, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."
v. 19a: "So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week,"- The seventh day, honored God's finished work of creation (Gen. 2:1-3) and the next day, Sunday, known as the Lord's Day, now honors Christ's finished work of redemption.
v. 19b: "and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst"- Jesus' disciples, fearing Jewish retribution, were hiding behind locked doors. Jesus' resurrection body had passed through the grave clothes; now it passed through the locked door. The synoptics indicate there were ten disciples present. Thomas was absent. (Lk. 24:36).
v. 19c: "and *said to them, "Peace be with you." - To these frightened men, Jesus grants them "Peace" (Gk. eirene). It's far more than the absence of conflict; it's connected to the peace we have with God, who grants us the gift of grace through Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:1-2)
v. 20: "And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord." - Jesus presumably showed them His wounds just to demonstrate that He wasn't some kind of unearthly phantom but was really and truly the risen Lord in the flesh.
v. 21: So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." - This is basically John's version of the Great Commission. Jesus was sending His disciples with God's "Peace" on a mission just as the Father had sent Him. They now became 'Apostles' (lit. sent ones) in the true sense of the word. It doesn't replace Jesus' mission but continues it through the witness of believing Christians. What is central to the mission is that Jesus came as the Father's gift so that those who believe in Him might not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
v. 22: "And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." - This verse has generated a profusion of scholarly opinions. Some say it was a temporary gift of the Spirit that helped the disciples to understand what they would receive later and some say it was John's version of the Pentecost; however, a majority assert that Jesus was not imparting the gift at this time but demonstrating what He would give them after He returned to the Father, which He did in fact do on the Day of Pentecost, as reported in Acts 2:1-47.
v. 23: "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." - Here, Jesus appears to be saying that when His disciples went to others with the message of salvation by faith, as He had done, some people would believe and others would not. Very simply, if someone believed, the disciples could tell them their sins had been forgiven; but if they disbelieved, that God had not forgiven them but "retained" their sins.
Read John 20:24-25 - UNLESS I SEE, I WILL NOT BELIEVE
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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."
v. 24: "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came." - This refers to Jesus' appearance in vv. 19-23, above. "Didymus" was the Aramaic name for "Thomas," the disciple who had been absent from the previous appearance.
v. 25: "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." The first person to whom the disciples witnessed was one of their own. This is the verse from which we derive the idiom 'doubting Thomas.' Thomas had no doubts that Jesus had died; however, He refused to believe the other disciple's report of Jesus' resurrection without detailed, personal physical proof-seeing Him and touching the crucifixion wounds on His body. Thomas does not believe the disciples, but neither did the disciples believe Mary Magdalene earlier (20:18); they did not believe until they saw Him with their own eyes.
Read John 20:26-29 - BLESSED ARE THEY WHO DO NOT SEE
26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then He *said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus *said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."
v. 26: "After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Once again, "eight days" are listed inclusively, Sunday through Sunday. And as before, the doors were barred shut but Jesus simply passes through them to materialize "in their midst" and repeat His "Peace" benediction, similar to His appearance the previous week.
v. 27: "Then He *said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." - Notice that instead of condemning Thomas for his failure to believe, Jesus presents the evidence which will enable him to believe. However, the text gives no indication that Thomas actually touched Jesus' wounds: Seeing the wounded, resurrected Christ with his own eyes was enough! Thomas made the leap of faith from "unbelieving" to "believing" in that one moment. In the context of the gospel message, doubting isn't as strong a word as unbelieving.
v. 28: "Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" - In response, Thomas expressed one of the most profound declarations of saving faith in all Scripture. For a Jew to name another human being "My Lord and my God!" would be blasphemy in ordinary circumstances, and would have been punishable by death (Lev. 14:10-23). Yet, that is precisely who Thomas believed Jesus was. It was also wholly consistent with who John presents Jesus to be throughout this gospel. So, in a few words, the greatest doubter has become the greatest believer.
v. 29a: "Jesus *said to him, 'Because you have seen Me, have you believed?" - Here, Jesus confirms the reality of what Thomas declared in v. 28 and prepares for the beatitude that follows it.
v. 29b: "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.'" - The word "blessed" (Gk. makarios) does more than just describe a person who is made happy; it also declares that person to be acceptable to God. The words of this final beatitude were most likely written to encourage early Christians who missed seeing Jesus in person by only a few months or years. It confirms that those who were privileged to see Jesus in the flesh are in no way superior to those who did not, nor does it make those who believed without seeing better. It simply guarantees their blessing by God.
Read John 20:30-31 - WHY THIS GOSPEL WAS WRITTEN
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
v. 30: "Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;" - The word "Therefore" ties this statement to what immediately preceded it in v. 29: John wrote this gospel to confirm that those who believe in Jesus without seeing Him in the flesh are just as acceptable to God (i.e., just as saved) as those who did. Jesus chooses those who are recorded here (the 11 apostles who will soon be 12 again) to lead his readers to the level of faith that Thomas just articulated in v. 28-that Jesus is God. And the stress is upon testimony rather than signs. This was John's confessed strategy in composing this gospel under the Holy Spirit's inspiration.
v. 31: "but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." - This verse unites many of the important themes in this gospel and shows that John's chief purpose was clearly evangelistic. In fact, this gospel is a great section of Scripture to give to an unbeliever. In fact, it's probably the most practical evangelistic tool available in all Scripture.
POSTCRIPT: Most Bible scholars concur that John originally intended to conclude his gospel with Chapter 20 and that Chapter 21 was added at a later time as an Epilogue.
APPLICATION-Mission Possible
1. Because the risen Savior has called and equipped us, we can confidently proclaim the gospel to all people. - Not only does Christ give us peace with God through His blood, but He also gives us the peace of God through His abiding presence with us as we seek to accomplish the gospel mission. Jesus showed Thomas and the other the disciples His hands and side to convict them of the truth that He was risen bodily. That historical fact should be at the center of our witness for Christ. While it's true that Christ can help people with their personal problems and struggles, that's not the message of the gospel. The gospel is that Christ died for our sins and was raised again according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Our mission is to proclaim forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name to all who will believe. That mission is possible because the risen Savior has equipped us for it by giving us great peace, great proof, a great purpose, great power, and a great proclamation.
2. The purpose of John's gospel is that we would believe in and worship the risen Savior. Thomas' spontaneous confession, "My Lord and my God," takes us back to John 1:1, 14, and 16: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth...For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." Thomas knew that Jesus was God and also that He was full of grace toward him in spite of his sinful doubts. And now he was awash in the riches of Christ's grace. How can you get this understanding of who Jesus is and who you are, so that you worship Him? It doesn't come from a mystical or miraculous vision, but rather from the Holy Spirit giving you understanding and insight into God's Word.
3. Those who believe in Jesus Christ through the apostolic testimony will be blessed. You might hear skeptics say, "If I could just see a miracle, I'd believe." But that's not true. Many in Jesus' day saw His miracles, but they did not believe. Saving faith has three components: First, there must be knowledge of basic facts about Jesus-God in human flesh-and about human sin. Second, He alone can atone for sins by satisfying God's judgment, which He did when He died on the cross. And finally, the reality that we all are sinners who are justly guilty before God. There are a multitude of blessings for believers that John has already mentioned: We become children of God (John 1:12); we drink the living water that quenches our spiritual thirst (John 4:14); we escape from God's future judgment (John 5:24); we are satisfied with Jesus as our Bread of life (John 6:35); we walk in His light so that we don't stumble in the darkness (John 8:12); our lives can be fruitful in light of eternity (John 15:1-8); and we can enjoy God's love through Jesus, which fills us with joy (John 15:9-11). But all of these blessings and more that could be added are summed up in the term, "eternal life."
