'Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto yon: as My Father hath
sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on
them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins
ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain,
they are retained.'--JOHN xx. 21-23.
The day of the Resurrection had been full of strange rumours, and of
growing excitement. As evening fell, some of the disciples, at any
rate, gathered together, probably in the upper room. They were brave,
for in spite of the Jews they dared to assemble; they were timid, for
they barred themselves in 'for fear of the Jews.' No doubt in little
groups they were eagerly discussing what had happened that day. Fuel
was added to the fire by the return of the two from Emmaus. And then,
at once, the buzz of conversation ceased, for 'He Himself, with His
human air,' stood there in the midst, with the quiet greeting on His
lips, which might have come from any casual stranger, and minimised the
separation that was now ending: 'Peace be unto you!'
We have two accounts of that evening's interview which remarkably
supplement each other. They deal with two different parts of it. John
begins where Luke ends. The latter Evangelist dwells mainly on the
disciples' fears that it was some ghostly appearance that they saw, and
on the removal of these by the sight, and perhaps the touch, of the
hands and the feet. John says nothing of the terror, but Luke's account
explains John's statement that 'He showed them His hands and His side,'
and that, 'Then were the disciples glad,' the joy expelling the fear.
Luke's account also, by dwelling on the first part of the interview,
explains what else is unexplained in John's narrative, viz. the
repetition of the salutation, 'Peace be unto you!' Our Lord thereby
marked off the previous portion of the conversation as being separate,
and a whole in itself. Their doubts were dissipated, and now something
else was to begin. They who were sure of the risen Lord, and had had
communion with Him, were capable of receiving a deeper peace, and so
'Jesus said to them again, Peace be unto you!' and thereby inaugurated
the second part of the interview.
Luke's account also helps us in another and very important way. John
simply says that 'the disciples were gathered together,' and that might
mean the Eleven only. Luke is more specific, and tells us what is of
prime importance for understanding the whole incident, that 'the
Eleven... and they that were with them' were assembled. This interview,
the crown of the appearances on Easter Day, is marked as being an
interview with the assembled body of disciples, whom the Lord, having
scattered their doubts, and laid the deep benediction of His peace upon
their hearts, then goes on to invest with a sacred mission, 'As My
Father hath sent Me, even so send I you'; to equip them with the needed
power, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost'; and to unfold to them the solemn
issues of their work, 'Whose sins ye remit they are remitted; and whose
sins ye retain they are retained.' The message of that Easter evening
is for us all; and so I ask you to look at these three points.