THE LAST WEEK OF JESUS' PUBLIC MINISTRY AND HIS CRUCIFIXION

The Appearance of Jesus to the Apostles (Thomas Being Absent) and Those With Them

-Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25

-“…[A]t evening, being the first day of the week…” (John 20:19), while the two disciples who had

 returned from Emmaus were talking, Jesus appeared in the midst of them with the words, “Peace

 be unto you.”

            -Notice also from John 20:19 that the disciples were assembled behind closed (“locked” – NIV)

             doors “for fear of the Jews.”  “Jesus had been taken from them, and it was natural that they

             should apprehend that the Jews would next attempt to wreak their vengeance on his followers.

             Hence, they met in the evening, and with closed doors, lest the Jews should bring against them

             the same charge of sedition that they had against the Lord Jesus. It is not certainly said what was

             the object of their assembling, but it is not unreasonable to suppose that it was to talk over the

             events which had just occurred, to deliberate about their condition, and to engage in acts of

             worship. Their minds were doubtless much agitated. They had seen their Master taken away and

             put to death; but a part of their number also had affirmed that they had seen him alive.  In this

             state of things they naturally came together in a time and place of safety” (Barnes).

-Upon Jesus’ sudden appearance, the initial reaction of the disciples was one of fear.  Similar to the

 night Jesus approached the apostles while they struggled on the Sea of Galilee (see pgs 46-47 of

 this study), they initially thought that they were seeing a spirit.  However, with assurance from

 Jesus, they understood otherwise.

            -“He showed them his hands with the nail prints in them and his side into which the soldier had

             thrust his spear.  In so doing, he convinced them that he was not a ghost or apparition and that

             their eyes were not deceiving them; and additionally, he provided evidence that he was the same

             one they loved and with whom they had been associated for over three years.  Thus at once he

             gave them proof both of his reality and resurrection” (Woods, pg 427).

-Mark 16:14 informs us that Jesus “upbraided them” – the apostles – for their slowness in believing

 the truth of the resurrection.

            -“The eleven apostles were unbelievers regarding the fact of the resurrection, at first; and their

             reluctance to believe the two who came back from Emmaus and Mary Magdalene may have

             stemmed partially from human pride” (Coffman, Mark, pg 361). 

            -They had dismissed the reports given by the faithful women and did not believe the two

             disciples who had returned from Emmaus.  Yet, it seems that they had readily accepted the

             word delivered by Peter.  Do you suppose that these apostles simply couldn’t accept the fact

             that Jesus had appeared to others before He had appeared to them?

-These servants of Christ transitioned from disbelief resulting from doubt to disbelief “…because of

 joy and amazement…” (Luke 24:41, NIV).  They thought it was too good to be true.

-“After imposing unmistakable evidence upon their sight, touch and hearing, the risen Lord now

 gives another evidence of his resurrection and reality.  He asked: ‘Have you here anything to eat?’”

 (Boles, Luke, pg 473).  They gave Him a piece of fish and perhaps honeycomb (see KJV), probably

 from the meal they had been sharing at the time of Jesus’ appearance.  He took it and ate.

-Jesus then informed the apostles:  “…as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21).

 To help them with this task, “…He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”

 (John 20:22, NASB).

            -“Breath, in the Bible, symbolized life; here, John describes this action of the Lord in the same

             manner that the Holy Spirit explains the coming of life into the tenement of clay out of which

             God made man. (Gen. 2:7.)…Tempting though it is to conclude from the tense of the verbs in

             verse 22 that the Spirit came as the Lord spoke, the following considerations seem effectively to

             refute this assumption: (1) Their commission to carry the gospel to all the world did not at that

             moment begin; on the contrary, they were expressly instructed to ‘tarry’ in Jerusalem and there

             await the promise (of the Spirit) from the Father (Acts 1:1-5); (2) the message they were to

             proclaim would not be valid until the Day of Pentecost described in Acts 2:1ff; (3) The tense of

             the verbs in verse 23 is present (forgive, retain); this power they did not begin to exercise until

             Pentecost when the Holy Spirit, in baptismal form, come [sp] upon them. (Acts 2:4)” (Woods,

             pgs 427-428).

            -“While some scholars argue that this “breathing” upon the disciples referred to a reception of

             the Holy Spirit at that moment in time, this view does not seem to comport with the full range of

             New Testament evidence” (Jackson, www.christiancourier.com/articles/999-what-did-jesus-

             mean-when-he-said-receive-ye-the-spirit). 

-In conjunction with the receiving of the Holy Spirit, Jesus also references the remitting or

 retaining of sins.  Of course, God is the One who remits or retains sins.  Yet, this is done through the

 avenue of the Gospel of Christ - through its acceptance or rejection.  Since these apostles would be

 given the Great Commission to take the Gospel to the world, they would in turn be active

 participants in the process.    

            -“It was a promise that the Holy Spirit would come to them and when he came they would be

             authorized to lay down the conditions on which they could be forgiven.  God alone forgives

             sin, and the apostles proclaimed the conditions as he gave them on which sins could be

             forgiven and which they could not be forgiven” (Lipscomb, pg 313).

-Thomas was absent from this wonderful occasion.  When confronted once again with the truth of

 Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas remained doubtful saying, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of

 the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not

 believe” (John 20:25).  Unbeknownst to him, he would get that opportunity but he would have to