“Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” John 20:19.
More than once we have seen the Lord demonstrate the ability to move instantly and through closed doors.
You will recall the passage in Luke 24.
“Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.” Luke 24:31.
It is likely that when Christians receive their new glorified bodies that they will have the same characteristics and abilities that Jesus’ body demonstrated after His resurrection, something to look forward to.
His words, “Peace be with you.” echo another statement given during the Passover.
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27.
“Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:5-7.
“Now when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’” John 20:20-21.
In the book of Luke it is said that the disciples were frightened, thinking that He was a ghost.
“Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” Luke 24:39.
He even ate food in front of them to demonstrate further that it was Jesus Himself.
“So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.” Luke 24:42-43.
Jesus is not some spirit who has reached a higher plane in the spirit world, He is not a ghost or ectoplasm, He is as real as you or the person next to you at dinner or work, or on the street.
In fact, if you were to bump into Him on the street, if it were not for His glorified state, you would not even notice Him.
Do not let anyone feed you a line of nonsense when everything you need to know about Christ Jesus is right here in the Bible.
“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Just as Jesus announced the remission of sin through the shedding of His blood, so He commissions the disciples and all Christians to point to Christ.
“The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29b.
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:20-21.
Just as the words, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” commissions the apostles and Christians to give out the gospel to all men. So they refer to the Lord’s great commission given to them in the last verses of Matthew 28.
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20.
These words are for the disciples, the Christian, and the church, consider them carefully and meditate on them; this is the way things ought to be.
“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” John 20:22.
“He [Jesus] breathed on them…” We hear of another place and time when God breathed, during the creation of Adam.
“And the Lord God formed man [adam] of the dust of the ground [adama], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die [spiritually].’” Genesis 2:16-17.
Genesis chapter three narrates the fall of man when our parents ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is because our father, the first Adam, sinned by eating of that fruit, we all died spiritually.
“Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…” Romans 5:12.
When the last Adam, Jesus, paid for the sin of mankind, as God the Son He was able to breathe spiritual life back into those who will receive His sacrifice as the disciples had.
Some think that the disciples became indwelt by the Holy Spirit at this time. It is certainly what it sounds like.
However, while it may also have been preparatory for Pentecost, it is likely that the Holy Spirit came upon them in the same manner as He did in the Old Testament with the prophets to open their minds to the Scriptures. The book of Luke seems to confirm this.
“And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” Luke 24:45.
That this is the true meaning of His words, “Receive the Holy Spirit”, is further attested to by a statement He made later.
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry [wait] in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49.
This last verse is a direct reference to the Day of Pentecost (May 20th, 2018 this year) when the Holy Spirit came to indwell all believers. This is described in Acts chapter 2, please read the whole chapter.
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues [known languages], as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4.
Notice that when the Lord speaks of the Holy Spirit, He speaks of them as being filled with, “…power from on high.” If the Christian is not working in the Spirit, he is working without power.
The power that we have for works for God comes from the Holy Spirit; if the Spirit is not with us, we are without power and our works are fruitless. Herein is another good reason to practice listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.
It is almost a joke among the godless when a person does some awful thing like killing their family and telling the authorities that God told them to do it. Ha, ha, just another Christian whack job.
No, the voice in their head was one of insanity or the demonic to someone who may not have been a Christian at all. Never forget this, the Holy Spirit will not ask or condone anyone to do anything that goes against Scripture.
“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” John 20:23.
If this verse were to be strictly interpreted, it could only be interpreted as pertaining to the original disciples, soon to be called Apostles of Christ.
They would be the only ones who could look into the heart of someone and tell if they had truly accepted Christ or not since they were the founders of Christ’s church. It was up to the Apostles to set up the church right, without deceivers or the doctrines of demons.
“Therefore [Apostle Paul speaking] take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure [death] savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples [new disciples of Christ] after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” Acts 20:28-31.
Satan has from the beginning attempted to infiltrate the church, and he has been extremely successful from that time until now with the current inundation of liberal theologians who have all but destroyed Christ’s church.
“But there were also false prophets among the people [Jews], even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” 2 Peter 2:1.
Christians are called a kingdom of priests and just as it is our responsibility to vote for righteous men in government, it is also our responsibility to speak out when heretical teaching is brought into the church, or ungodly men are about to be placed into positions of authority.
This also applies to the gospel which is to be given out by all Christians when God opens a door. Then it could be uniformly stated that if someone truly accepts Christ as their savior, that person’s sins are irrevocably forgiven once and for all.
On the other hand if a person rejects Christ as their savior, it can be said that that person’s sins are still retained, and they are in peril of hellfire.
This is why it is so important to preach Christ Jesus, and Him crucified for the remission of sins; there is no other way to God.
“But Thomas, called Didymus, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” John 20:24-29.
It is likely that doubting Thomas’ unbelief caused him to have to wait another eight days before proof would be given to him.
In some ways his attitude was good because when he went to people who knew him and said, “I have seen the risen Lord with my own eyes.” Folks who knew he was not a gullible type would tend to take his word for it.
This sort of doubt takes many people straight to hell, while others who are at least willing to investigate Christ with an open mind are the most believable when they tell others that they have accepted Christ as savior.
Whatever the case, Jesus conferred a blessing at this point. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:30-31.
The Risen Lord, John 20:19-31 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 7-17-13, updated on 4-24-18.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.