2nd SUNDAY OF EASTER (A)

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.

Jn 20: 19-31

v. 19. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."

The first day of the week is Sunday. This event occurred on the evening of Easter Sunday, that is, on the day Jesus rose from the dead.

The doors were locked and yet Jesus was able to enter the room. The resurrected body of Jesus was no longer bound by the laws of physics. It has been glorified or transformed. Hence, the stone covering the tomb was rolled back not to let Jesus get out of the tomb but for the women and the disciples to be able to enter and see the empty tomb.

The disciples had reason to hide out of fear. They could be next to be arrested.

Peace be with you is a typical greeting among Jews. But the peace that Jesus bestows is different. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (Jn 14:27). The peace that he bestows is the bounty of the messianic blessings which includes gift of salvation.

v. 20. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The dis-ciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

The body of Jesus was a glorified body, transformed by the resurrection. Jesus became unrecognizable. He had to show them his wounds (nail marks and the wound at his side) to identify himself.

Regarding the joy of the disciples, “So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (Jn 16:22).

v. 21. (Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

Jesus was sent by the Father. He can be called the apostle of the Father. Now Jesus sends his disciples, making them his apostles. Jesus now entrusts his mission to them.
They are to proclaim and live the message of Jesus. They are to call others to membership in the community of believers in Jesus.

v. 22. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit."

This is St. John’s version of the Pentecost event described in the Acts of the Apostles. It was as if the apostles were “confirmed” in the mission that has been entrusted to them.

The act of breathing on them recalls the creation of man in Genesis. “The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being” (Gen 2:7). The Holy Spirit brings about what St. Paul calls a new creation, and the putting on of the new man. “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor 5:17). “And have put on the new man, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator” (Col 3:10).

Pentecost not only marked the coming of the Holy Spirit but also the birth of the Church. Hence, this was also John’s version of the birth of the Church.

v. 23. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave the Sacraments of Eucharist and Ministerial Priesthood to his disciples. Now the Risen Lord gave to his disciples the power to forgive sins, the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

v. 25. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

The disciples were not ready to believe in the Resurrection. It belies the accusation that the Resurrection was an invention of the apostles.

v. 26. Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.

The meeting with Thomas takes place a week later, on this very day the second Sunday of Easter.

v. 28. Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Thomas made an act of faith. What is significant is that no one in the gospels has ever made this act of faith in Jesus. And this act of faith was not the result of seeing. For he could see Jesus but he could not see God. It was faith that made him see God in Jesus (that Jesus was God).

v. 29. Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

These words were spoken by Jesus more for later disciples than for Thomas. For while Thomas at least saw Jesus, we who came later and all those who would come after us would not even have that privilege.