Easter People 02

Are you still in the Joy of Easter?

John 20:19–31 CSB

When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.” Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Jesus’ Resurrection

The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Resurrection, Community of The

Resurrection, Community of the. See COMMUNITY OF THE RESURRECTION.

Resurrection of Christ. The conviction that God not only sent His Son into the world but also vindicated Him after His death upon a cross, is fundamental to the NT witness and the corner-stone of Christian faith and theology. This certainty that God had reversed human judgement and established freedom from death in an event which inaugurated ‘the age to come’ found expression in the OT language of exaltation (Is. 52:13) and heavenly session (Ps. 110:1; see ASCENSION OF CHRIST), as well as in the Jewish eschatological vocabulary of a *resurrection of the dead (Dan. 12:2).

FEAR

John 20:19 The Message

Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”

As we read the passage, there were men who were filled with fear. They were afraid of the Jews who took Jesus from them and kill on the cross. The Jews had enough power to persecute their master. Their master, Jesus, was well known as a good rabbi and powerful healer. Some of them believed that Jesus was going to save them from the Rome. However, the hope of the disciples and people were crashed by the religious leaders. They could not accept the proposal of Jesus. It was too difficult to understand the kingdom of God revealed by Jesus. So the leaders of the community killed Jesus on the cross.

PEACE

John 20:19–21 The Message

Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he showed them his hands and side. The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”

The security system what the disciples had set failed. The locked door could not protect those men from their fear.