The Risen Jesus Appears to the Disciples
John 20:19-23
If you have been with us for the last 30 months as we have walked through three years in the life Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John, it has been an extraordinary journey. Through these sermons I have sought to show who Jesus truly is, so that we would know Him, believe in Him and love Him. We have been impressed by His works of power and amazed by His words of life. We have witnessed Jesus willingly laying down His life as He was lifted up on the cross. John has testified of Jesus’ death, burial and His resurrection. And now, John shows us the risen Christ appearing to His disciples, giving proof that He is the living Lord, sent by the Father to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. Now as the Risen Lord Jesus appears to His disciples He also sends them to proclaim that truth to others. In our text we’ll see that when we see the risen Lord Jesus Christ, He replaces our fear with peace so that our hearts are filled with joy. And Jesus sends joyful believers out to tell others the good news of forgiveness of sins in Jesus. So look with me at John 20:19-23.
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Our text begins by giving us a bit of the context. In John 20:19 we read, “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week …” It’s still Sunday, the Lord’s Day, the very day the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. Mary Magdalene, John, and Peter have all seen the empty tomb; and Mary has encountered both angels and the risen Lord Himself. Jesus has just commissioned Mary to go and tell the disciples that He is risen, and that through Him all of His people are brought into right relationship with God. He calls them brothers because they are now children of God (John 20:17). Mary went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and what He said to her (John 20:18).
John does not tell us what Mark and Luke record in their accounts—that when the disciples were told that Jesus was alive, they thought it was nonsense and they refused to believe it. Rather than being overjoyed at her report, John reports next that (John 20:19), “the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews.” I suppose they had good reason to fear the Jewish authorities. They were followers of Jesus, and He had just been crucified for sedition. They probably thought that the Jews might come after them next. And now, the story was circulating that they had stolen the body of Jesus (Matthew 28:11-15) which would have meant that they would be in danger not only from the Jews but also the Romans. They must have been deeply troubled by the reports that Jesus was alive. What were they to think of all this? What were they to do? Fear, anxiety, and worry often cause us to look anywhere and everywhere except to Jesus.
But the Lord doesn’t leave them alone in their fear. While they are huddled behind closed doors John tells us (John 20:19b), “Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” John doesn’t tell us how He got in, but it appears to be sudden and miraculous. Locked doors cannot keep out the risen Lord!
This bring us to our first point. The Risen Christ gives us:
1. The peace of His presence (John 20:19-21)
“Peace be with you” was a common Jewish greeting, wishing overall well-being to the other person. But in the context here it surely means far more than just a perfunctory greeting. For one thing, the disciples are overrun with fear and in desperate need of peace. You can imagine how startling it would be for the risen Lord to appear suddenly in a locked room where you were already afraid. Luke 24:37 says that they were frightened and thought that they were seeing a ghost. So Jesus repeats “Peace to you” again in John 20:21. Also remember that in the upper room, just before Jesus was betrayed and arrested, Jesus told His disciples (John 14:27), “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” What beautiful words! What an amazing promise! And again, the very last words He spoke to them that night, before He began to pray to the Father, was (John 16:33), “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Now, the idea behind peace, or shalom in Hebrew, is peace with God first and foremost, but also tranquility, safety, harmony, and reconciliation. The word was often used to refer to the peace that will come at the last day when God will restore all things and there will be no more sin, death, or tears. And all of this comes true in Jesus. Peace is with them because Jesus is with them and for them. Jesus gives the peace of His presence.
To assure them of His presence, that it is really Him, Jesus now gives them proof (John 20:20), “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” On that first resurrection Sunday, Jesus showed the disciples His hands and side to convince them of the truth that He was risen bodily. Luke (24:39, 41-43) adds that He invited them to touch Him and then He asked for a piece of broiled fish, which He ate as they watched. There was no mistaking the fact that His wounds, now healed, were from His crucifixion. It was Jesus, and there was no denying it, incredible as that may be.
Jesus gives the disciples a gospel wakeup call as He appears before them and displays resurrection proof to them. After this John tells us (John 20:20b), “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” That word glad means literally to rejoice. Because they saw the risen Lord and experienced His peace they were filled with an overwhelming joy.
The gospel, and the joy of the Lord that comes with it really does change everything. Just as Jesus had promised them His peace, He had also promised them joy. As Jesus encouraged them on that last night before the cross He told them (John 16:20), “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.” And again (John 16:22), “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”
The way to battle fear, worry, and anxiety, is with the gospel. When you see the Jesus for who He is, the living Lord, He gives to you the peace of His presence which results in the joy of the Lord. “The joy of the LORD is your strength,” (Neh. 8:10).
Secondly, the risen Christ gives us,
2. The participation in His purpose (John 20:21)
After assuring them of peace and filling them with joy Jesus says to them (John 20:21), “… As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” You may remember that in John’s Gospel Jesus often emphasizes that He was sent by God the Father. He was sent to do the Father’s will (John 4:34; 6:38-39); to speak the Father’s words (John 3:34; 12:49); and to perform the Father’s works (John 4:34; 5:36). He was sent to bring salvation to the world (John 3:17). In John 18:37, Jesus told Pilate, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.”
Now Jesus tells His disciples (John 20:21), “… As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” By sending us in the same way that He was sent, His purpose becomes our purpose. If Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10), then that is our mission as well. If Jesus came to call “sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:32), then we are called to do the same (Acts 2:38).
So what does it look like for us to be sent as Jesus was sent? As Jesus was sent in the Father’s name (John 5:43), we are sent in Jesus name (Acts 2:38, 3:6). As Jesus obeyed the Father’s will (John 6:38), we obey and teach others to obey the will of Jesus (Matt. 28:20). As Jesus performed the works of the Father (John 5:36), we will do His works also (John 14:12). As Jesus was sent to speak the Father’s words (John 3:36), to preach the gospel (Luke 4:43); we are sent to speak Jesus’ words (Matt. 28:19-20), to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15).
So the risen Lord Jesus has give us the peace of His presence and the participation in His purpose, thirdly He gives us,
3. The power of His Spirit (John 20:22)
John 20:22, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” Here we see a foretaste of what’s to come at Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit comes down, baptizes (Acts 1:5) and fills the disciples (Acts 2:4). Here in John, Jesus is soon to ascend to the right hand of the Father, and when He does the Holy Spirit will then come down upon the church just as He promised. Remember Jesus had told them that He was going away to the Father (John 16:5), but that (John 16:7), “… it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” He had just told Mary to say to them (John 20:7), “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”
So what Jesus does here is either a symbolic or temporary imparting of the Holy Spirit to the disciples. There is obviously great symbolism in Jesus breathing on them. It reflects God’s breathing life into Adam so that he became a living being (Gen. 2:7). Also, it pictures Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, where God told him to prophesy to the breath (the word also means “spirit”) so that the corpses would come to life (Ezek. 37:4-5). The Holy Spirit is the breathe of God that gives spiritual life to dead souls.
The Holy Spirit is active throughout the Bible. Surely the Holy Spirit was active in the lives of the disciples as they met with the risen Lord Jesus over those 40 days following His resurrection and as they waited in Jerusalem for the say of Pentecost. But the Holy Spirit came down in a new permanent baptism to the church at Pentecost. But listen, we’re not meant to get hung up on the issue of what this imparting of the Spirit means in light of Pentecost. What John is showing us is that to live as a Christian, especially on the mission that Jesus has given us, is impossible without the Holy Spirit. Jesus sends us into the world with a Christlike mission; but the trouble is we by ourselves are not all that Christlike. That’s why we need the Holy Spirit of Christ within us, to convert us and conform us to the image of Christ; and to empower us to live out the mission that Christ has given us.
Just before Jesus ascended, He directly linked the power of the coming Spirit to the disciples’ future witness (Acts 1:8): “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[fn] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Bible never commands us to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, because that is a one-time action that takes place at the moment of salvation (1 Cor. 12:13). But it does command us to be continually filled with the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit (Eph. 5:18; Gal. 5:16). Since the Spirit of God must open blind eyes and impart new life to sinners when they hear the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4-6; John 6:63), we must especially rely on the Spirit when we talk to people about the Lord.
The risen Lord Jesus has give us the peace of His presence, the participation in His purpose, the power of His Spirit, and fourthly,
4. The proclamation of His salvation (John 20:23)
Jesus continues in John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” The gospel we proclaim is about the forgiveness of sins. G. Campbell Morgan (The Gospel According to John Revell], p. 321) wrote, “The ultimate reason of the mission of the Church in the world, is to deal with sin.” John Macarthur writes,
“Why did the Father send Jesus into the world? He didn’t send Jesus into the world to bring about social justice. He didn’t send Jesus into the world to improve people’s economic condition. He didn’t send Jesus into the world to elevate our understanding of godly morality. He didn’t send His Son into the world to make people’s circumstances better. He didn’t send Him into the world to raise the economic standards. … Jesus didn’t assault any human institution. He didn’t come for educational purposes; He didn’t come for philanthropic purposes; He never engaged in any effort to remedy social issues. He came into the world to seek and save lost sinners, and bring them salvation, and that is why all believers exist in the world today.”
Everything we do, whether it’s our ministry, our worship, our study of Scripture; whether it’s our spiritual testimony as we shine as lights in the world, has as its objective the mission of Christ to proclaim the forgiveness of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote (1 Tim. 1:15), “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Jesus didn’t come to give you all your earthly desires; He came to save us from the just wrath of God against our sin.
But because the Roman Catholic Church uses John 20:23 to support some false teaching, we need to understand this verse clearly. They interpret it to mean that ordained priests have the authority to forgive or retain the sins of people contingent on private confession and penance. They base this on their false doctrine of apostolic succession through Peter and the popes; on their excessive distinction between clergy and laity; and on their view that penance is necessary for forgiveness. But there are many reasons to reject their view (I was helped here by the comments from Steven Cole).
First, there is no biblical warrant for apostolic succession. The Lord worked through the apostles to lay the foundation the church (Eph. 2:20), but once the church was founded, that authority ceased. Also, the New Testament is clear that there is no distinction between ordained clergy and laity. While there is warrant for ordaining men to ministry, this does not make them mediators between believers and God. Jesus is the only mediator (1 Tim. 2:5). All believers are priests before God, with equal access to His throne of grace (1 Pet. 2:9; Heb. 4:14-16).
Second, only God can forgive sins, which He does the instant a person repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 5:21; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 16:31; 26:18). To add penance or any work to justify us and gain us forgiveness is to fall from grace (Gal. 5:4).
Third, there is no example in the Bible of the apostles forgiving or retaining the sins of anyone. For example, when Peter proclaimed the gospel to the Jews at Pentecost he proclaimed (Acts 2:38), “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” When Peter preached to Cornelius and the others gathered in his house, he did not say, “I forgive your sins in Jesus’ name.” Rather, he said (Acts 10:43), “To Him (to Jesus) all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” Paul never instructed pastors like Timothy or Titus to perform this function, which is a glaring omission if this is the way that God’s people obtain forgiveness of their sins.
Peter didn’t actually forgive the sins of the people he preached to. Rather, he proclaimed the gospel that God would grant forgiveness to them if they would believe in Jesus.
So, what Jesus is speaking of here is evangelism and discipleship. We proclaim the gospel to someone, with the aim to persuade them—by God’s grace—to repent and believe, to forsake their sin and follow Jesus. How they respond to the gospel shows whether or not their sins are forgiven. If we truly repent and believe our sins are forgiven, because Jesus took the punishment due us for our sins upon Himself, and now we are covered in His righteousness. If we reject the gospel we reject Jesus, and thus we are without the righteousness of Christ and still in our sins.
Jesus gives us—the Church—the authority and the mandate to proclaim the gospel. There are many good works we can do, and many we should do; but some of those good things the world does as well. What is the one thing that separates us from everyone else? Preaching the gospel. Proclaiming forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus Christ. This is the one thing we must do!
That’s our commission: To proclaim forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name to all who will believe. That mission is possible because the risen Lord Jesus Christ has given us the peace of His presence, participation in His purpose, the power of His Spirit, and the proclamation of His salvation.
Do you have His peace? Does His prescence fill you with great joy? Are you compelled by His purpose? Are you empowered by His Spirit? If so, are you proclaiming His salvation?
