to him far too good to be true

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (vv. 51–54).

Those who reject the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ remain outside the sphere of salvation, for as Paul wrote in Romans 10:9, it is only “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, [that] you will be saved.”

Scripture records at least ten distinct appearances of Christ between the resurrection and the ascension: to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18), to other women who had been at the tomb (Matt. 28:8–10), to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–32), to Peter (Luke 24:34), to ten of the eleven remaining apostles, Thomas being absent (Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–25), to all eleven apostles, with Thomas present (John 20:26–31), to seven of the apostles on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1–25), to more than five hundred disciples, probably on a mountain in Galilee (1 Cor. 15:7), to James (1 Cor. 15:7), and to the apostles when He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:3–11). In addition, the risen Christ later appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–9), and several subsequent occasions (Acts 18:9; 22:17–18; 23:11).

Jesus’ presence conveys something more, a lesson and a description of what it means to experience this Jesus and to become one of his disciples filled with his Spirit. In a passage that has seen lengthy debate among interpreters, Jesus breathes on his disciples, filling them with his Spirit.

The Lord then sent Mary to the apostles to tell them of His impending ascension: Go to My brethren and say to them, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” For the first time the disciples, who had been referred to as slaves or friends (15:15), are called Christ’s brethren. It was through His work of redemption on the cross that this new relationship with Him was made possible. It is “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). God adopts as His sons (Rom. 8:14–15; Eph. 1:5) those who believe savingly in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:26). As a result, Jesus “is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:11), and has become “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). Reflecting this new relationship, the Lord’s message to the disciples referred to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.

But unlike the Synoptics John takes us far deeper into the details of what transpired on Easter morning. Matthew and Mark provide minimal information about the resurrection appearances. Matthew reports a meeting of Jesus with Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” at the tomb (Matt. 28:2) and then tells us how Jesus met the disciples later (28:9), who “clasped his feet and worshiped him.” Mark says that the circle of women included Mary Magdalene as well as Mary the mother of James and Salome (Mark 16:1), but his shorter ending (to 16:8) gives no resurrection appearance. Luke refers as well to the visit of the women and adds to Mark’s list that Joanna was there too (Luke 24:10). But for Luke, the chief story that conveys the importance of this day comes in 24:13–35, when Jesus appears along the Emmaus road to two disciples.

John’s Gospel takes us in new directions. Three sections divide the chapter. (1) John begins by richly supplementing the Synoptic story, telling us about a personal reunion between Jesus and Mary Magdalene (20:1–18). While this story could fit easily into the minimalist tomb stories in the Synoptics, for John it is an important vehicle for telling us things about Jesus and what it means for Christians to have a transformed relationship with the resurrected Lord. Embedded in this account is the most explicit “empty tomb” description in the New Testament. Peter and the Beloved Disciple race to the tomb and become eyewitnesses, pointing to the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection

John has designed chapter 20 in order to instruct us as readers about two chief themes: the historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection and the nature of what it means to be his disciple in the era of his resurrection.

Jesus had foretold His resurrection (2:17; Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; 9:31; Luke 9:22),

“Life” is one of John’s key words; he uses it at least thirty-six times. Jesus offers sinners abundant life and eternal life; and the only way they can get it is through personal faith in Him.

If sinners need life, then the implication is that they are dead. “And you hath He quickened [made alive, resurrected] who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). Salvation is not resuscitation; it is resurrection (John 5:24). The lost sinner is not sick or weak; he is dead.

This life comes “through His name.” What is His name? In John’s Gospel, the emphasis is on His name “I AM.” Jesus makes seven great “I AM” statements in this Gospel, offering the lost sinner all that he needs.

Eternal life is not “endless time,” for even lost people are going to live forever in hell. “Eternal life” means the very life of God experienced today. It is a quality of life, not a quantity of time. It is the spiritual experience of “heaven on earth” today. The Christian does not have to die to have this eternal life; he possesses it in Christ today.

Although it would be difficult to say for certain what level of believing is here envisioned, it certainly marks an example of the fact that the beloved disciple is a symbol of those who at this stage had not seen an appearance of the risen Lord and yet believed (cf. 20:29). It must be remembered that the combination of seeing and believing has been a repeated theme in John (cf. 2:23; etc.). Many had seen his signs and had failed or refused to believe (cf. 6:30; 9:38–41; 12:37; etc.). But to believe without seeing the actual reality was marked by the evangelist for special note (cf. 4:50; 9:35–36; 20:29).

Furthermore, it is particularly noteworthy that the beloved disciple is the only person in the Gospels who is recognized as having reached a point of believing as the result of seeing the empty tomb. Given the trauma of the crucifixion, the fear and bewilderment of most of the followers of Jesus was not allayed by the sight or reports of the empty tomb (cf. John 20:1–2; Matt 28:5; Mark 16:8; Luke 24:11, 17). It took the appearances of the risen Lord himself to convince most followers that the resurrection was a reality. The beloved disciple, however, is here viewed as the model for the believing community.

The beloved disciple believed without an appearance, and Mary Magdalene recognized the Lord, as will soon become evident, when her name was called (20:16).

It is fascinating to note that the Johannine evangelist has described transformative recognition occurring through the use of one word at this point. In the sea story it occurred when the disciples responded obediently to the stranger on the shore and cast their nets (in what seemed to be a foolish act) on the other side of the boat (21:6–7). In the Lukan Emmaus story the recognition occurred in the breaking of bread. What should be concluded from these examples is that recognition of Jesus does not need to follow a single pattern. Coming to the point of conviction that Jesus is alive is probably as varied as the nature of the people who believe.

Normally the term shalom (Hebrew)/Salam (Arabic) is the common Semitic greeting to others in the community. The context of a theophany, the divine appearance, was expected to strike terror in the life of a human because of the common Semitic belief that to see God would mean that one would die or be “undone” (cf. Judg 6:22–23; Isa 6:5; 8:13; cf. also Rev 1:17; Heb 10:31). To have God say “fear not” or to place a hand on the person indicated that the appearance did not bring with it judgment (cf. Rev 1:17–18).

Jesus does not disparage the faith of Thomas (“So now you believe because you see me?”) but simply cites a fact (“Because you have seen me, you have believed”). Thomas’s faith is anchored to sight. Then Jesus goes on to utter a blessing not on those who see and believe—which is certainly a virtue paraded throughout the chapters of the Gospel. Rather, he offers a blessing on those who believe but have not seen.

At first reading it looks like Thomas was more unbelieving than the other disciples, but this was not necessarily the case. They do not seem to have believed Mary Magdalene when she said she had seen the Lord—it was not until Jesus appeared to them that they were filled with joy (20). Earlier references to Thomas reveal one who was dogged in his commitment to Jesus (11:16) and honest about his doubts (14:5). He refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead unless he actually saw the prints of the nails and spear wound for himself. By the way, this shows that the disciples and the evangelist were talking about a bodily resurrection of Jesus, not some spiritual survival beyond death.

The appearance of Jesus to Mary was so unexpected that she did not realize that it was Jesus. The fact that He appeared to Mary rather than to Pilate or Caiaphas or to one of His disciples is significant. That a woman would be the first to see Him is an evidence of Jesus’ electing love as well as a mark of the narrative’s historicity. No Jewish author in the ancient world would have invented a story with a woman as the first witness to this most important event. Furthermore, Jesus may have introduced Himself to Mary first because she had so earnestly sought Him. She was at the cross while He was dying (John 19:25), and she went to His tomb early on Sunday morning (20:1).

He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The use of the Greek verb breathed on (ἐμφυσάω, emphusaō) to describe the action of Jesus here recalls Gen 2:7 in the LXX, where “the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” This time, however, it is Jesus who is breathing the breath-Spirit of eternal life, life from above, into his disciples (cf. 3:3–10). Furthermore there is the imagery of Ezek 37:1–14, the prophecy concerning the resurrection of the dry bones: In 37:9 the Son of Man is told to prophesy to the “wind-breath-Spirit” to come and breathe on the corpses, so that they will live again. In 37:14 the Lord promised, “I will put my Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you in your own land.” In terms of ultimate fulfillment the passage in Ezek 37 looks at the regeneration of Israel immediately prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom. The author saw in what Jesus did for the disciples at this point a partial and symbolic fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, much as Peter made use of the prophecy of Joel 2:28–32 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:17–21. What then did Jesus do for the disciples in John 20:22? It appears that in light of the symbolism of the new creation present here, as well as the regeneration symbolism from the Ezek 37 passage, that Jesus at this point breathed into the disciples the breath of eternal life. This was in the form of the Holy Spirit, who was to indwell them. It is instructive to look again at 7:38–39, which states, “Just as the scripture says, ‘Out from within him will flow rivers of living water.’ (Now he said this about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were going to receive; for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”) But now in 20:22 Jesus was glorified, so the Spirit could be given. Had the disciples not believed in Jesus before? It seems clear that they had, since their belief is repeatedly affirmed, beginning with 2:11. But it also seems clear that even on the eve of the crucifixion, they did not understand the necessity of the cross (16:31–33). And even after the crucifixion, the disciples had not realized that there was going to be a resurrection (20:9). Ultimate recognition of who Jesus was appears to have come to them only after the postresurrection appearances (note the response of Thomas, who was not present at this incident, in v. 28). Finally, what is the relation of this incident in 20:22 to the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2? It appears best to view these as two separate events which have two somewhat different purposes. This was the giving of life itself, which flowed out from within (cf. 7:38–39). The giving of power would occur later, on the day of Pentecost—power to witness and carry out the mission the disciples had been given. (It is important to remember that in the historical unfolding of God’s program for the church, these events occurred in a chronological sequence which, after the church has been established, is not repeatable today.)

saw and believed. With sudden intuition he perceives that the only explanation is that Jesus has risen from the dead. This theme of seeing and believing climaxes in v. 29.

How appropriate that Mary Magdalene was the first follower of Jesus to arrive at his tomb on resurrection morning. The Light of the World (8:12) had driven the darkness of seven demons from her soul (Luke 8:2); and now she came, while it was still dark, to witness the dawning of the new creation era. “Light and life to all he brings,”

Jewish people took the first seven days of mourning so seriously that mourners could not wash, work, have intercourse or even study the law. Jewish culture was serious about expressing rather than repressing grief. That the body is missing and thus people are prevented from bestowing final acts of love would be regarded as intolerably tragic; even tomb robbers usually left the body behind.

Jesus’ breathing on them recalls Genesis 2:7, when God breathed into Adam the breath of life (it might also be relevant that later Jewish tradition sometimes connected this passage with Ezek 37, when God’s Spirit or wind revives the dead). Jewish literature especially connected the Holy Spirit with the power to prophesy, or speak for God.

The authority Jesus gave the apostles to pronounce the forgiveness of sins is extended through the church by the preaching of the gospel. Where can we go, with certainty, for the assurance of pardon? Not to the works of our hands, nor to the idols of our hearts. Only by believing the gospel of God’s grace can we expect to hear Jesus say to us, “Peace be with you.”

His first words, Peace be with you! were a conventional greeting similar to šālôm in Hebrew. But the words were now invested with a deeper and fuller meaning (cf. 14:27; 16:33; Rom. 5:1; Phil. 4:7).

The words He spoke to them, “Peace be with you” (cf. 14:27), were intended to calm and reassure the terrified disciples, who thought they were seeing a ghost (Luke 24:37; cf. Matt. 14:26). They also complemented His words on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), since it was His work on the cross that brought about peace between God and His people (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:14–18).

20:19 the same day. See note on v. 1. the doors were shut. The Gr. word indicates the doors were locked for fear of the Jews. Since the authorities had executed their leader, they reasonably expected that Jesus’ fate could be their own. Peace be with you. See notes on 14:27; 16:33. Jesus’ greeting complements His “It is finished,” for His work on the cross accomplished peace between God and His people (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:14–17).

In other words, the disciples did not provide forgiveness; they proclaimed forgiveness on the basis of the message of the Gospel. Another Greek scholar, Dr. Kenneth Wuest, translates it “they have been previously forgiven them.”

When Jesus meets his disciples after the resurrection, he continually says to them, “Peace” (John 20:19, 21, 26).

Shalom is one of the key words and images for salvation in the Bible. The Hebrew word refers most commonly to a person being uninjured and safe, whole and sound. In the NT, shalom is revealed as the reconciliation of all things to God through the work of Christ: “God was pleased … through [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through [Christ’s] blood, shed on the cross” (Col 1:19–20). Shalom experienced is multidimensional, complete well-being—physical, psychological, social, and spiritual; it flows from all of one’s relationships being put right—with God, with(in) oneself, and with others.

Shalom also means peace with others, peace between parties. It means the end of hostilities and war (Deut 20:12; Judg 21:13). The wise woman of Abel Beth Maakah maintained her city’s shalom, its peacefulness, by averting a siege and war (2 Sam 20:14–22). But shalom does not mean only reconciliation between warring factions or nations (1 Kgs 5:12). It also refers to socially just relationships between individuals and classes. Jeremiah insists that unless there is an end to oppression, greed, and violence in social relationships, there can be no shalom, however much the false prophets say the word (Jer 6:1–9, 14; cf. Jer 8:11).

Shalom consists of not only outward peacefulness—peace between parties—but also peace within. Those who trust in the Lord have inner security; therefore, they can sleep well (Ps 4:8). God gives “perfect peace” (or shalom-shalom)—i.e., profound psychological and emotional peace—to those who steadfastly set their minds on him (Isa 26:3). The result of righteousness before God is “peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isa 32:17).

When the angels tell the shepherds about the birth of Christ, they call him the one who will at last bring peace on earth (Luke 2:14). Jesus is the Prince of shalom who will bring in God’s kingdom of peace that the prophets foretold (Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 14:33). The gospel of Jesus is “the gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15; cf. Acts 10:36; Eph 2:17).

But on the cross, God the Father treats Jesus as the wicked deserve to be treated (2 Cor 5:21). Jesus cries out as he loses his fellowship with the Father and experiences unimaginable inner agony (Matt 27:46). He experiences infinite pain so that we can know endless peace (John 14:27).

Jesus also brings us the peace of God—peace within. The peace of God garrisons our hearts against anxiety, difficulties, and sorrows (Phil 4:4–7). It is possible to have a peace so deep that we can be content in any circumstance, even in times of great difficulty (Phil 4:12–13). The peace of Christ is so closely related to joy (John 15:11; Rom 15:13) that we might say that joy is God’s peace and reconciliation lived out. The God of peace sanctifies us, growing us into Christlike character and maturity (1 Thess 5:23; cf. Gal 5:22).

Finally, Jesus brings us peace with other human beings. Our peace with and from God gives us the resources to maintain unity and love with others through continual forgiveness and patience (Col 3:13–15). Christ is our peace, and by his death on the cross he removes even the high racial and cultural barriers that divide us (Eph 2:11–22).

When all the parts of your body are rightly related to each other, you experience health and physical shalom. When you experience a season of mental well-being, it is because the things your emotions want are those of which your conscience and reason approve. Your inner faculties are rightly related to each other, and you experience psychological shalom—joy and fulfillment. When people share their resources with each other and work together so that shared public services work, the environment is safe and beautiful, the schools educate, the businesses flourish, and poverty and hunger are minimal, then that community is experiencing social shalom.

20:23 See notes on Matt. 16:19; 18:18. This verse does not give authority to Christians to forgive sins. Jesus was saying that the believer can boldly declare the certainty of a sinner’s forgiveness by the Father because of the work of His Son if that sinner has repented and believed the gospel. The believer with certainty can also tell those who do not respond to the message of God’s forgiveness through faith in Christ that their sins, as a result, are not forgiven.

20:23 See notes on Matt. 16:19; 18:18. This verse does not give authority to Christians to forgive sins. Jesus was saying that the believer can boldly declare the certainty of a sinner’s forgiveness by the Father because of the work of His Son if that sinner has repented and believed the gospel. The believer with certainty can also tell those who do not respond to the message of God’s forgiveness through faith in Christ that their sins, as a result, are not forgiven.

But His first word to them was the traditional greeting, “Shalom—peace!” He could have rebuked them for their unfaithfulness and cowardice the previous weekend, but He did not. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (Ps. 103:10). The work of the cross is peace (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:14–17), and the message they would carry would be the Gospel of peace (Rom. 10:15). Man had declared war on God (Ps. 2; Acts 4:23–30), but God would declare “Peace!” to those who would believe.

Thomas, would place a final faith in him and who, unlike Thomas, would have no opportunity to see him in his postresurrection form. Thomas’s declaration is the last assertion of personal faith recorded in this Gospel. It marks the climax of the book because it presents Christ as the risen Lord, victorious over sin, sorrow, doubt, and death. It also presents the faith that accepts not only the truth of what Jesus said but also the actuality of what he was—the Son of God. In the experience of Thomas, the writer has shown how belief comes to maturity and how it changes the entire direction of an individual life.

Jesus does not disparage the faith of Thomas (“So now you believe because you see me?”) but simply cites a fact (“Because you have seen me, you have believed”). Thomas’s faith is anchored to sight. Then Jesus goes on to utter a blessing not on those who see and believe—which is certainly a virtue paraded throughout the chapters of the Gospel. Rather, he offers a blessing on those who believe but have not seen.

Throughout the Gospel faith and seeing are joined (6:36; 11:40; 6:46–47; 20:25–29). But this means more than seeing Jesus and choosing to believe. It is about a different sort of vision altogether. Many saw Jesus and marveled, but it was seeing through faith that permitted them to see his glory, to recognize his sonship, to respond to his shepherd’s voice. Faith permits a vision, a knowing inaccessible to the person whose sight remains shaped by the world. As C. H. Dodd reminds us, however, “now that He is no longer visible to the bodily eye, faith remains the capacity for seeing His glory.” Therefore we are called to read John’s story and there discover a vision, a knowledge, that invests everything in the historic person of Jesus Christ.

the reader will recall that after Peter professed a willingness to lay down his life for Jesus (13:37), he denied Jesus three times (19:17–27); that in the face of the arresting band, he sliced off the ear of Malchus (18:10) but then backed down to a servant girl (18:17); and that at the sea when he learned it was the Lord on the land, he hastily jumped off the boat and sprang into the water (21:7). As one searches the Gospels, the examples continue to multiply.

20:21–23. Jesus then recommissioned the disciples as His apostles: He was sending them as His representatives, as the Father had sent Him (cf. 17:18). They were sent with His authority to preach, teach, and do miraculous signs (Matt. 28:16–20; Luke 24:47–49). For their new commission they needed spiritual power. So He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. The image and wording of breathing on them recalls God’s creative work in making Adam (Gen. 2:7). Now this post-Resurrection “breathing” was a new kind of creative work for they would soon become new creations (Eph. 2:8–10). This reception of the Spirit was in anticipation of the day of Pentecost and should be understood as a partial limited gift of knowledge, understanding, and empowerment until Pentecost, 50 days later.

17:18 sent me … sent them. In John’s Gospel sanctification is always for a mission. As the Father set apart Jesus and sent him on a mission into the world (10:36; see note on 3:17), Jesus sets apart his followers—who belonged to the world and whom Jesus chose out of the world (15:19)—and sends them on a mission to the world (20:21).

The verb translated “Touch me not” (KJV) is a present imperative and is probably better translated “Stop clinging to me” (NASB). The reason she must release him is that she must go testify for him in the short time remaining in view of his coming ascension—despite the cultural opposition to sending a woman to testify to such an important event and one so impossible for unbelievers to accept. “Brothers” suggests that 3:3 is now in effect.

In Jewish tradition prophets often appointed their successors. Judaism sometimes conceived of prophets as God’s agents; the sender authorized agents with his authority to the extent that they accurately represented him.

Jesus’ encounter with the fearful, guilt-ridden disciples is a model of what should happen every time we gather together in Jesus’ name to worship God. Jesus comes into our midst and speaks to us by his Word, and then applies the gospel of peace to our souls and breathes his Spirit upon us, commissioning us to go forth as servants of the gospel.

Probably symbolizes that the long-promised gift of the Spirit (7:39; 14:17) is now imminent, anticipating what happens 50 days later on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

20:21–23. Jesus then recommissioned the disciples as His apostles: He was sending them as His representatives, as the Father had sent Him (cf. 17:18). They were sent with His authority to preach, teach, and do miraculous signs (Matt. 28:16–20; Luke 24:47–49). For their new commission they needed spiritual power. So He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. The image and wording of breathing on them recalls God’s creative work in making Adam (Gen. 2:7). Now this post-Resurrection “breathing” was a new kind of creative work for they would soon become new creations (Eph. 2:8–10). This reception of the Spirit was in anticipation of the day of Pentecost and should be understood as a partial limited gift of knowledge, understanding, and empowerment until Pentecost, 50 days later.

20:21–23. Jesus then recommissioned the disciples as His apostles: He was sending them as His representatives, as the Father had sent Him (cf. 17:18). They were sent with His authority to preach, teach, and do miraculous signs (Matt. 28:16–20; Luke 24:47–49). For their new commission they needed spiritual power. So He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. The image and wording of breathing on them recalls God’s creative work in making Adam (Gen. 2:7). Now this post-Resurrection “breathing” was a new kind of creative work for they would soon become new creations (Eph. 2:8–10). This reception of the Spirit was in anticipation of the day of Pentecost and should be understood as a partial limited gift of knowledge, understanding, and empowerment until Pentecost, 50 days later.

We are to take His place in this world (John 17:18). What a tremendous privilege and what a great responsibility! It is humbling to realize that Jesus loves us as the Father loves Him (John 15:9; 17:26), and that we are in the Father just as He is (John 17:21–22). It is equally as humbling to realize that He has sent us into the world just as the Father sent Him. As He was about to ascend to heaven, He again reminded them of their commission to take the message to the whole world (Matt. 28:18–20).

We need to remind ourselves that everybody lives by faith. The difference is in the object of that faith. Christians put their faith in God and His Word, while unsaved people put their faith in themselves.

Had there been no Resurrection, there would have been little motive for them to undertake a mission in his name. But since he had risen, the old commitment was even more compelling. “As the Father has sent me,” he said, “I am sending you.” He had come into the world to fulfill the Father’s purpose and had completed his task. Now he expected them to continue his work in his absence. As the Father had sent him to speak his words, to do his works, and to lay down his life for the salvation of men, so he expected them to deliver his message (John 15:27), to do greater works than he had done (John 14:12), and to give their lives in his service. They would have all the privileges, all the protection, and all the responsibilities that he had during his ministry.

21. Jesus repeated his greeting Peace be with you! This time it came with a commission for his disciples. Instead of reproaching them for their failures, he recommissioned them as his emissaries: As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

The Fourth Gospel speaks often of Jesus being sent into the world by the Father: to do his will (6:38–39; 8:29), to speak his words (3:34; 8:28; 12:49; 14:24; 17:8), to perform his works (4:34; 5:36; 9:4) and win salvation for all who believe (3:16–17). That the disciples were sent to continue the words and works of Jesus is foreshadowed at various places in the Gospel: Jesus urged them to lift up their eyes and see fields ripe for harvest, and told them he had sent them to reap where others had laboured (4:35–38), he said those who believed in him would do the works he had done and greater works than these because he was returning to the Father (14:12); he told them, ‘I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last’ (15:16), saying that when the Counsellor comes ‘he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning’ (15:26–27), and when he prayed for his disciples he said to the Father, ‘As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world’ (17:18). This last text, which parallels 20:21, confirms that the sending of the disciples was ‘into the world’, i.e. with a mission to the world. The other texts reveal the essential content of their mission was to ‘harvest’ men and women for the kingdom by their witness to Jesus by word and deed, alongside the ongoing witness of the Spirit.

In the first part of the Gospel, the Book of Signs, the evangelist records seven signs performed by Jesus: turning water to wine in Cana (2:1–11); raising the royal official’s son (4:46–54); healing the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda (5:1–9); feeding the five thousand (6:1–14); walking on the sea (6:16–21); healing the man born blind (9:1–7); and raising Lazarus (11:1–44). These were, as the evangelist says, but a selection from a far greater number of signs Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples (25).

Many have observed that 20:30–31 would constitute a very appropriate conclusion to the Fourth Gospel. It follows the climactic confession of faith made by Thomas, the last in a long line of confessions, and also refers back to the seven signs recounted in the Book of Signs, and then urges the readers to reflect upon the signs recorded and come to the same faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.

Throughout this Gospel Jesus has been described as the One who was sent by God (e.g., 4:3; 5:23; 6:38). Now with his work nearly completed, his final task is to commission his followers as he was commissioned by the Father. Thus as Jesus was God’s special representative (or agent) in the world, so too his disciples become Jesus’ agents, working in the world and witnessing to the reality of God and the truth of Jesus’ words.

“the most outrageous doubter of the resurrection of Jesus utters the greatest confession of the Lord who rose from the dead.”

Not only can Thomas see that Jesus is alive, but in addition he can touch the mark of the nails and the wound of the spear. John does not say whether Thomas acts on Jesus’ invitation; in 20:29 it is Thomas’s seeing that is credited with his faith. John gives no information concerning the nature of Jesus’ wounds. Have they healed? Are they painful? To consider that he is still suffering or is in mortal danger is to misunderstand the power and character of his resurrection.

His “sending” (pempō, present tense) of his followers was to be patterned on the fact that the Father “sent” (apestalken, perfect tense) him. No major distinction should be made here in the use of two different verbs. The use of the perfect rather than the aorist in reference to the commission of Jesus should be understood to indicate that the mission of Jesus still continues and that the divine mission is not merely in mortal hands.

Thomas’s response forms the high point of confession in the Gospel. What it does is bring the Gospel full circle from the Prologue, where it is emphatically said that the “Word was God” (1:1) to this confession, “My Lord and my God.” In the process of writing this Gospel the evangelist has proclaimed that Jesus was active in creation (1:2), the Word who became incarnate/enfleshed (1:14), the sin-bearing Lamb of God (1:29, 36), the Messiah (1:41; 4:25–26), the Son of God (1:48), the King of Israel (1:48), the new Temple (2:19–21), a teacher sent from God (3:2), a new symbol of God’s power exhibited through Moses (3:14), the evidence of the love of God (3:16), the Savior of the World (4:42), equal with God (5:18), the authority in judgment (5:27), the agent of God (5:30), the fulfillment of Scripture (5:39), the expected prophet (6:14), the “I am” (6:35, etc.), the supplier of living water (7:38), the one who was from God (9:31–33), the Son of Man (9:35), the consecrated/Holy one (10:36), the lifted up one (4:14; 12:32–34), the glorified one (13:31), the preparer of his followers’ destiny (14:2), the nonabandoning one (14:18), the one in whom we must abide and who is the basis for the fruitfulness of his followers (15:5–7), the sender of the Paraclete (15:26), the bearer of truth (18:37), the crucified King (19:15), the risen Lord (20:20) and God (20:26)