Joh 20:19-21 | KingComments | STEP | When the disciples have gathered together, the Lord Jesus comes into their midst. That happens on the first day of the week, the day of His resurrection. This happens again a week later. In Acts 20, it appears to be the day when the believers come together to break bread ( ). It is also the day when the needs of the saints are thought of ( ). It is the day of the Lord ( ). In all these instructions, the Holy Spirit makes it clear that this is the day for the Christian, without giving it the form of an explicit commandment. It is not the day to which the rest of the old creation is attached, the Sabbath. Nor is it a day of rest imposed by the law. It is the day of resurrection and of grace to which rich blessings are attached for the believer. The disciples closed the doors because they are afraid of the Jews. Their Protector has been killed and now as His followers they fear the same fate. But to their great surprise, the Lord – despite the closed doors – comes into their midst. With this, He does not perform a wonder. He simply demonstrates what the resurrection body is. It is a spiritual body that is not bound by time or space. For example, the closed doors of the prison in which Peter was held were no obstacle to the angel who came to free him both times ( ). For Peter, however, both times the doors had to open to let him out. When the Lord came to the disciples, He comes and stands in the midst. This means that He was not standing there immediately. Possibly He was standing near one of the closed doors that symbolize the disciples’ fear. They had closed them because they were afraid of the Jews. By standing on the inside of the door, the Lord places Himself between them and (the symbol of) their fear. But then He distracts them from their fear by standing in the midst. Then they no longer look fearfully at the doors, but at Him Who promises them peace. His first words are words of peace, His peace. It is the peace He promised them while He was still with them ( ). Here He repeats this promise after His resurrection. These are wonderful words in a world at war with God and full of hatred toward those who are in relationship with Christ. With these words He takes away their fear of the Jews. To end all doubt that it is really Him, He shows them both His hands and His side. In His hands they see the wounds from the nails with which He was nailed to the cross. In His side they see the wound inflicted on Him by a soldier with a spear after He had died, from which blood and water had come. In showing both His hands and His side, He demonstrates the basis of the peace He proclaims. That peace is based on His work on the cross and His shed blood for the forgiveness of sins. The water, which speaks of the Word of God, brings about that cleansing by actually applying the work of Christ and His blood. The signs in His hands and in His side we will see for all eternity. We will see Him, a Lamb standing, as if slain ( ). When the disciples see Him, they become joyful. Their sorrow has ended, like He said ( ). They see the risen Lord and He is in their midst.

‏ John 20:19-21

The Lord Comes to the Disciples

When the disciples have gathered together, the Lord Jesus comes into their midst. That happens on the first day of the week, the day of His resurrection. This happens again a week later. In Acts 20, it appears to be the day when the believers come together to break bread (Acts 20:7). It is also the day when the needs of the saints are thought of (1Cor 16:2). It is the day of the Lord (Rev 1:10).

In all these instructions, the Holy Spirit makes it clear that this is the day for the Christian, without giving it the form of an explicit commandment. It is not the day to which the rest of the old creation is attached, the Sabbath. Nor is it a day of rest imposed by the law. It is the day of resurrection and of grace to which rich blessings are attached for the believer.

The disciples closed the doors because they are afraid of the Jews. Their Protector has been killed and now as His followers they fear the same fate. But to their great surprise, the Lord – despite the closed doors – comes into their midst.

With this, He does not perform a wonder. He simply demonstrates what the resurrection body is. It is a spiritual body that is not bound by time or space. For example, the closed doors of the prison in which Peter was held were no obstacle to the angel who came to free him both times (Acts 5:19 ; Acts 12:10). For Peter, however, both times the doors had to open to let him out.

When the Lord came to the disciples, He comes and stands in the midst. This means that He was not standing there immediately. Possibly He was standing near one of the closed doors that symbolize the disciples’ fear. They had closed them because they were afraid of the Jews. By standing on the inside of the door, the Lord places Himself between them and (the symbol of) their fear. But then He distracts them from their fear by standing in the midst. Then they no longer look fearfully at the doors, but at Him Who promises them peace.

His first words are words of peace, His peace. It is the peace He promised them while He was still with them (Jn 14:27). Here He repeats this promise after His resurrection. These are wonderful words in a world at war with God and full of hatred toward those who are in relationship with Christ. With these words He takes away their fear of the Jews.

To end all doubt that it is really Him, He shows them both His hands and His side. In His hands they see the wounds from the nails with which He was nailed to the cross. In His side they see the wound inflicted on Him by a soldier with a spear after He had died, from which blood and water had come.

In showing both His hands and His side, He demonstrates the basis of the peace He proclaims. That peace is based on His work on the cross and His shed blood for the forgiveness of sins. The water, which speaks of the Word of God, brings about that cleansing by actually applying the work of Christ and His blood. The signs in His hands and in His side we will see for all eternity. We will see Him, a Lamb standing, as if slain (Rev 5:6).

When the disciples see Him, they become joyful. Their sorrow has ended, like He said (Jn 16:22). They see the risen Lord and He is in their midst.

The Mission

The Lord wishes them His peace a second time. The first time it was to make them personally partakers of that peace. Now it is as the starting point of their mission, to which He gives them the commission immediately following. To fulfill that mission they must stand in peace (Eph 6:15). Into that peace He has brought them by the forgiveness of sins through His death, so that they may now bear witness to that in the world.

Their mission He gives the same character as the mission with which the Father sent Him. This means that they must also do what He has done, which is to make the Father known (Jn 17:18). They will do this by speaking of the Son, proclaiming Him and glorifying Him. He is the object of their testimony.

After giving them His peace and instructing them to go into the world, He breathes on them. In doing so, He makes them partakers of His resurrection life. Before He became Man, as Creator, He had breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils (Gen 2:7). As a result, Adam became a living soul (1Cor 15:45). But the Lord Jesus is a life-giving spirit. He demonstrates this by now breathing on the disciples the breath of heavenly, eternal life, His own life, His resurrection life.

This life is marked by the Holy Spirit Who gives the power to reveal that life. Their mission of proclamation implies that they show the eternal life, which is the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit always participates in the closest way in every blessing.

It is important to see that Christ is not here giving the Holy Spirit as a Person to His disciples. As a Person, the Holy Spirit will come to earth entirely according to what He has said about it only when He has gone to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit from Him. That happens on the day of Pentecost.

These are two different events. The breathing in of resurrection life takes place on earth and only applies to the apostles. The coming of the Holy Spirit takes place from heaven and concerns all believers who are formed into one body at that time.

After the blessing received for the purpose of witnessing in the world, there is also a responsibility regarding others. Those who do not have this life are all sinners, without distinction between Jew and Gentile. On all sinners lies the judgment of God. But there is also grace. From that grace, the Lord instructs His disciples to forgive sins to all who accept their word and come to faith in the Lord Jesus.

To forgive sins for eternity can only be done by God (Mk 2:7). Once a person has confessed his sins, he may know that God has forgiven his sins (1Jn 1:9). It is then up to the disciples to acknowledge and ratify that forgiveness received from God. Such a person is accepted into the Christian fellowship. If they see that someone only outwardly professes to be a believer, they do not speak it out, thus such a person is not included in the Christian fellowship.

The issue is the acknowledgment of someone as a believer or the refusal thereof. Practically, this happens in baptism. Then someone is acknowledged as a follower of the Lord Jesus. The baptizer forgives the sins of the person being baptized, that is, he accepts the person being baptized as accepted by God.

We see the same principle when it comes to the church. Receiving believers to the Lord’s Table involves an acknowledgment of the forgiveness of one’s sins. By receiving such a person, the church is saying that the sins of such a person are forgiven. If the church refuses to receive someone on the basis of sins present and not judged, it means that such a person keeps his sins. That changes when he confesses his sins. Then he can be accepted as one whose sins have been forgiven and be received at the Table of the Lord.