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The Gospel of John, The Period of Consummation, Part XXII, John 20:20-23 - Lesson 199
Read Verses John 20:19,20, for review: 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, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
The disciples were gathered is an example for all believers.
The world was shut out. This is the pattern for worship.
We are not to bring the world into our gatherings.
And if this is observed Jesus will be in the midst and he will say Peace be unto you.
So peace is the first word he pronounces in the ears of his disciples.
John 20:20, And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
He wanted them to fully know that he was the same one who had died on the cross, the same one whom they had walked with these past three years.
Notice that after Jesus said Peace be unto you he then showed them the marks of his wounds.
This was not only done to establish his identity but it was to show them that the basis of this peace was his death on the cross.
By his death enmity with God had been removed, God has been satisfied, and reconciliation has been effected.
Without his death he could not say Peace be unto you.
...... he showed unto them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
As the disciples saw his wounds they knew it truly was their Lord and they were glad.
He was not some apparition or a ghost but he was substantial and real.
They had locked themselves in a room for fear of the Jews but since Jesus came their fear had turned to gladness.
Jesus had told them in John 16:22: And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
By this event Jesus kept his promise to the disciples.
John 20:21, Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Jesus said to them a second time "Peace be unto you."
The first message of peace was for peace with God.
Peace with God was accomplished on the cross.
It was the peace realized by the atonement.
This second peace that Jesus bestows is the peace of God.
This comes from communion with God.
A daily walk with God in Jesus Christ.
Both the first and the second peace are necessary to the disciples as Jesus now commissions them to go in his stead.
The disciples were not to go in their own name and with their own program.
They were to go in the same manner that Jesus Christ went as sent by his Father.
As the Father had sent Jesus Christ so were the disciples now sent.
As the Father had commissioned his son they now became sent ones commissioned by the Son to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ.
He had established the pattern and they were to follow that pattern.
He had revealed the Father and now his disciples are to reveal the Son.
His disciples are now to be conformed to the Son so that they may reveal how the Son would speak and walk and live if he were present.
John writes this in 1 John 2:6, He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Christ was sent to reveal the Father with a message of grace and his disciples, we being included, are sent to reveal the Son with a similar message.
His coming to seek and to save that which was lost is to continue in his disciples.
His disciples are to have a message of reconciliation.
John 20:22,23 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
This is a significant event for it reminds us of Gen 2:7 when the LORD God breathed into the nostrils of Adam the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
This connection gives the meaning of this action of our Lord.
The Lord God breathed into the nostrils of Adam physical life.
Jesus Christ, the last Adam, now breathes on his disciples in the same manner and imparts to them the Holy Spirit.
As Paul writes in 1 Cor 15:45, And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
As Jesus Christ is life and the giver of physical life he is also the giver of spiritual life.
This breathing stands for the communication of eternal life to those who believe in him.
Paul calls it the earnest of our inheritance.
It is the making of heirs, joint heirs with Christ.
It is empowerment to do the work of the ministry.
We know the great change that took place at Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out as Joel had prophesied.
But the apostles were to receive the Spirit here for the work of the ministry to carry them to Pentecost.
From this point on the apostles were different men.
They were empowered men.
They were men who were able to receive, for forty days, the instruction of the Lord and to act upon that instruction.
Luke records in Acts 1:14 that they continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.
Peter clearly had an understanding of Old Testament prophesy as he took charge in the matter of choosing an apostle in the place of Judas.
Hadn't Jesus said that the Spirit would guide them into all truth?
These things took place before Pentecost so in the matter of the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit this is the occasion.
And with the Holy Spirit came this statement of Christ: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
It is clear from scripture that only God can forgive sins.
Therefore this cannot be power given to the disciples to forgive sin.
But by being given the ministry of reconciliation they now have power to proclaim the forgiveness of sin.
They are entrusted with the good news of the Gospel and inherent in that good news is bad news to those who receive not the good news.
That is what "whose soever sins ye retain they are retained" means!
The disciples were given authority to declare that those who believe have their sins remitted, and those who do not believe have their sins retained.
The disciples are here given the authority to declare what God does when a man either accepts or rejects His Son.
Any preacher of the Gospel can, by this authority of Jesus Christ, speak this message with authority and is not to be timid about it.
Peter fully understood this when he preached this in:
Acts 10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
And Paul also in: Acts 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: |