John 20:19-23

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘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.’ 

The season of Pentecost marks the time when the ascended Jesus sends the Spirit upon his followers. While the well-known story of Pentecost is recounted in Acts 2, today’s reading is a kind of preview of Pentecost as the risen Jesus breathes the Spirit upon his disciples and they are sent out in mission.

In John’s Gospel, this passage comes after Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene, who rushed to tell the disciples the good news that Jesus had been raised (John 20:11-18). Now, gathered together in a locked room, Jesus appears to the disciples. In the midst of their fear and anxiety, they see Jesus. 

Jesus begins by wishing them peace. While ‘peace be with you’ was a common greeting at the time, its repetition within the text and its close link with the giving of the Spirit suggests that this is more than a greeting; it is the very peace of God that Jesus brings. This echoes the promise of peace that Jesus had earlier given to his followers. Jesus also tells the disciples that just as the Father sent him – a key theme in the Gospel – so now he sends them. The disciples are sent out in mission to witness to Jesus.

The commission to the disciples is matched by the promise of the Spirit. Jesus breathes on his disciples, and invites them to receive the Spiri. It is the Spirit who will empower and equip them for mission within the world.

The last sentence may seem perplexing, but points to a key part of the Church’s calling. While it is only God who can forgive, Christians know that such forgiveness is found in Jesus and so proclaim its availability to the world. As people respond to the invitation to come to Jesus, so their sins are forgiven – or retained if such an invitation is rejected.

Blessings as we celebrate together the birthday of the Church and pray that the Holy Spirit may continue to renew her.

 To Ponder:

• In what ways have you experienced the presence of Jesus in a time of fear or anxiety?
• How can the Church best proclaim the forgiveness of sins as part of its mission today?