The suggested Gospel reading for this Sunday (the second Sunday after Easter) is John 20: 19 – 29. It is John’s account of the disciples meeting with Jesus on Easter evening. Remember, up to now not all of them had encountered the risen Jesus.
The fearful disciples were gathered together behind locked doors when “Jesus came and stood among them”.
It is tempting when reading the whole passage to focus on the second part, the story of Jesus and Thomas. (I wonder how many sermons would be preached on doubt and doubting Thomas today if our churches were open?)
However, reading through the passage I was drawn to the first part (verses 19 – 23).
First off, I was struck by the following verses
21 Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20: 21 – 22 NIV
Jesus breathing on the disciples. No Covid 19, 2 metre distancing then! But more seriously it was Jesus giving the Holy Spirit to the disciples.
We think of the Holy Spirit being given to the disciples on the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter. That is how it is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (written by Luke.) And no doubt I’ll be writing about that in 7 weeks times.
It’s often said that the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples at Pentecost was the start of the Church. Pentecost is often referred to as the Birthday of the Church. (And of course, when I say “Church” I mean it in the sense of the body of Christ, Christ’s followers.)
In many respects we tend to think of Easter and Pentecost as two separate things. And that owes much to the way Luke has written his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
However, John’s understanding is different. For John, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Resurrection are interlinked. And both signpost the disciples to their purpose following the Resurrection – to fulfil the mission Jesus has given them. Jesus says
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. John 20:21
In John’s view there are two sides of the same coin. When the Church celebrates Easter, it also celebrates the beginnings of its mission. When the Church celebrates the beginning of its mission and being given power through the Holy Spirit, it also celebrates Easter. For John, the church’s ongoing life as a community of faith, as the people who continue Jesus’ work in the world, all come from Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus’ Easter promises and gifts.
Perhaps the most difficult part of the Easter / Pentecost story is fathoming out precisely what Jesus commissions the faith community, the Church, to do. As I’ve said, in the passage we are thinking about, Jesus says “’As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’”
But sending us to do what? The passage goes on to talk about the forgiveness of sins. That then is clearly part of what the Church is to do. Something that would have been very challenging for the first disciples. (Don’t forget, it was the fact that Jesus said he forgave sins, that in part caused the Jewish authorities to have him arrested and executed.)
However, a few days earlier, during the Last Supper (as recounted by John) Jesus told the disciples something else:
34 ‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ John 13: 34 – 35 NIV
By loving one another as Jesus loves, we as Jesus disciples, reveal God to the world. And by revealing God to the world, the Church makes it possible for the world to enter into relationship with God. Through that relationship with God sins may be forgiven and salvation attained. Our mission then is not to be the judges of right or wrong, but to bear unceasing witness to love of God in Jesus.
You may feel that it is difficult to fulfil that mission, as we are “behind locked doors”, like the earliest disciples. Yet it is possible. Over these last few weeks, I’ve been on the receiving end of that love. The emails of thanks, the phone calls of thanks, the cards and letters of thanks, for what I am doing are all evidence of you fulfilling God’s mission. And I know you will be doing that to one another (so important at present) and to the wider world too.
Gail O’Day in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary says of the passage we’ve been thinking of
“To celebrate the resurrection is also to celebrate the beginnings of the church’s mission in the world. Jesus lives, not because he can walk through locked doors and show his wounds to frightened disciples, but because he breathes new life into those disciples through the gift of the Spirit and commissions them to continue his work.” New Interpreters Bible Commentary John © Abingdon Press 1995
I have been drawn to that part of the passage too especially the breathing part relating to the Holy Spirit
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