Category: New Testament
Scriptures:
Matthew 28:16-28:20
Luke 24:36-24:53
John 20:19-20:29
Matthew 28:16-28:20
16 But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them.
17 When they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted.
18 Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Luke 24:36-24:53
36 As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
37 But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.
43 He took them, and ate in front of them.
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”
45 Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
46 He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50 He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
51 While he blessed them, he withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven.
52 They worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53 and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
John 20:19-20:29
19 When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
22 When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit!
23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained.”
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn’t with them when Jesus came.
25 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, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 After eight days again his disciples were inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the middle, and said, “Peace be to you.”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”
Commentary
Once Mary Magdalene realized that Jesus had risen from the dead, she went to tell the other disciples, who, except for John, did not know that the empty tomb meant His resurrection (John 20:1–18). However, it does not seem that the disciples initially believed her. At the very least, they did not grasp the significance of what she said. After all, John tells us that the disciples, on the day of Christ’s resurrection, were hiding in a room with the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. The authorities had put Jesus to death, so the disciples believed they were in danger as well. Little did they know that they need have no fear, because Jesus had conquered death. They would become courageous preachers of the cross, but it would take the Holy Spirit’s arrival at Pentecost to give them boldness (Acts 2).
Jesus proved to the disciples that He had risen from the dead by showing them His hands and side, proving that He was indeed the One who had been pierced on the cross (John 20:20). He also commissioned the disciples to go into the world, telling them that He was sending them just as the Father had sent Him. Jesus was not of the world and came into the world to bring salvation (John 1:1–18). The disciples—and ultimately all Christians—were once of the world, are taken out of the world by God’s grace, and then are sent back into the world to proclaim the gospel of salvation, pointing people to Christ (John 17:14–21).