April 3, 2014: John Chapter 20

The Gospel According to John Chapter 20

Originally posted Wednesday, April 30, 2008

John Chapter 20:1-10 The Resurrection

John's resurrection passages are unique in every way. The prominence of Mary Magdalene as the first to carry the "good news" of the risen Christ is noted. The close association of Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved is repeated, but with Peter receiving the greater attention as the leader of the disciples. We are introduced to Thomas and his reluctance to believe without seeing becomes the stated purpose for the writing of the Gospel. The first appearances are in the Jerusalem area, probably Bethany. These are followed by the final appearance on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee). It will be here that Peter is commissioned as the leader of the disciples and we learn the important role of the disciple whom Jesus loved.

We begin with the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary Magdalene. She has come to the garden before day break with one or more of the other women to begin the rite of mourning. She finds the tomb open with the stone rolled aside. Looking inside she finds it empty and runs to Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved to report what she has seen. Peter and the "other disciple" (the disciple whom Jesus loved) ran to the tomb and found everything just as Mary had told them. The other disciple arrives first but does not enter the tomb. He stoops to peer through the low opening (about three feet high), sees the linen body wrappings but does not enter. Peter follows and enters the cave tomb. He finds the horizontal semicircular shelf that had been cut into the rock about three feet wide and two feet off the ground. On the shelf were the linen wrappings with the linen head cover neatly rolled and placed apart from the wrappings. When Peter came out of the tomb the other disciple entered and saw the same scene as Peter. But he not only saw the linen wrappings and cloth, he saw and understood the meaning of the emptiness of the tomb. Resurrection! The disciple whom Jesus loved becomes the first person to experience what only faith apart from reason can accept and he believed.

John Chapter 20:11-18 Jesus Appears to Mary

While Peter and the other disciple were returning to the city Mary remained weeping by the tomb. Looking into the open chamber through the cloud of her grief she saw what eyes could only perceive to be angels, two beings dressed in white and seated on the empty shelf. The heavenly messengers question the cause of her tears. She expressed her dismay that Jesus had been taken from the tomb and that she did not know where his body had been taken. As she was speaking she turned to look out of the opening as if to see some sign or trail to follow and find where Jesus had been laid. There was a man whom she did not recognize standing there in the gathering light. He asked her who she was looking for. Thinking he was the one who had taken away the body she pleads with him to tell her where it was. As she turns to let her eyes scan the garden area the man called to her in a strong voice, "Mary!" In the speaking of her name she knows it is Jesus, the teacher. She is one of his sheep. The Shepherd calls the sheep by name and the sheep know the Shepherd's voice and they follow him. She tries to embrace him but he resists. She has recently heard him speak of going away for a little while to someplace where she and the disciples could not see him and then return to be with her and all of the disciples. In her joy she believes he has now returned and she seeks to hold on to him lest he leave once more. But he tells her not to hold him back from what comes next in this "hour." She is to tell his new "brothers" in the family of God's children that he is completing the need of this "hour" to ascend to his Father and their Father, his God and their God.

With the first proclamation of the risen Christ, "I have seen the Lord," the Kerygma of the Church, Mary Magdalene becomes the Apostle to the Apostles.

John Chapter 20:19-23 Jesus Appears to the Disciples

From a source close in content to Luke's John writes of the gathering of the disciples. On the evening of the same day, still fearful of being arrested by the Jewish authorities, the disciples are sequestered behind locked doors. Jesus "appears" before them (he does not walk through closed doors) and greets them with the typical Jewish greeting, "shalom alekem." He draws attention to the wounds in his hands and side so there can be no doubt that he is truly Jesus standing in front of them. Then, in a two part rite of passage, Jesus first commissions the disciples as those who are sent into the world just as God has sent Jesus into the world, to do the work that he has done, even to the forgiving or retaining of the sins of the communities they will form and lead in the future Church. With the commission comes the power. Reminiscent of God breathing life into Adam to form the first humanity, Jesus breathes the life giving spirit into the new humanity, the disciples and all who will come after them.

John Chapter 20:24-30 Jesus and Thomas

One of the disciples, Thomas, had not been present when Jesus first appeared. Because he had not seen Jesus he was reluctant to take the other disciples word for the event. What Thomas wanted was the visual evidence. He wanted to see and touch the nail wounds in Jesus' hands before he would believe. The opportunity to put him to the test occurred a week later as Jesus again stood before the disciples. He turned to the skeptic, held out his hands and invited him to put a finger in the wound. He showed Thomas his side and invited him to put his hand where the lance had opened the flesh. Thomas needs to do neither and his doubt melts away. In a burst of liturgical acknowledgement, Thomas speaks the ultimate creedal words of recognition that Christ as the Lord is also the presence of God in the world. Jesus does not relegate Thomas' words to a lesser stage of faith. Rather, he commends to the future, those who will hear the Gospel proclaimed, the happiness of those who have not seen yet believed.

The chapter closes with the mission statement of John's Gospel. This single verse was the end of the first edition, or at least the last of any previous editions that might have been produced. In this verse we read of the intent of the writer. In the edition we have received, the verse extends the blessing Jesus gives to those who will not see yet will come to believe. This book is for those future pilgrims who come seeking new life and new meaning in life. It was written so they will come to believe in the Jesus of the book, in whatever name he bears.