John 20:23-29

(John 20:23-29)

Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.  But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, 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. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

 

Jesus was crucified by the Jews. For the disciples who had thrown their lives and followed Jesus, Jesus' death couldn't be just one person. It was the death of the beliefs they believed in, and the loss of the direction of life they followed. Above all, the fact that the disciples lived and that Jesus was killed by the Jewish society in which they were to live was also felt as a threat that the disciples who followed Jesus could also be killed by the Jewish society. Therefore, after Jesus' death, the disciples closed the door of the meeting place. They testify that they are "in fear of the Jews." In a world of fear that may harm your life, closing the door is a classic way to deal with fear. It is a part that shows how great the fear of the disciples is and the urgency they face.

Jesus came to the very place where the disciples closed the door in fear. Natural law makes it impossible for someone to come in through a tightly closed door, but Jesus came to them through a closed door. Jesus, who appeared before his disciples in the body of resurrection, says, "If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven, and if you leave them as they are, they will remain."

Disciples full of fear become disciples full of joy. Jesus gave his disciples a mission. It is a mission to save the spirit. It is to save the spirit by forgiving sins. The reason Jesus gave the power to forgive sins was to give His disciples the power to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus appeared to the disciples, Thomas, called Didumo, was not present. Other disciples said, "We have seen the Lord," but Thomas could not accept the words of his colleagues that a dead man, who was crucified and buried in a stone tomb, appeared before his eyes. Because it was impossible for the dead to come back to life in human experience and knowledge, Thomas said, "I will not believe unless I see the nail prints on his hand, put my fingers in his nail prints, and put my hand on his side." Resurrection is a mystery that goes beyond the cognitive system that humans see and think, so anyone other than Thomas would have asked. A few days passed, and on that day the disciples were closed and gathered together, and Jesus came back among them. And Jesus speaks to Thomas. ``Put out your finger here and see my hand, and reach out your hand and put it in my side.
Jesus, who knew Thomas's words, "I won't believe unless I put in my hand," told Thomas to reach out. Of course, the reason Jesus did this to Thomas was to show that there was a resurrection.

Resurrection is a mystery. It is the vastness and mystery of God that cannot be known physically or empirically. Those who are born again of water and the Holy Spirit will also experience resurrection. Real faith begins when you close the door of experience and knowledge and move toward the mystery of God. When the saints open the door wide to the mystery of the resurrected God, in the resurrection, the physical body dies and the spirit body is born.

 

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