Notes on John 20: 19 – 31

After our read through we all said that we might preach from verse 31, as this summed up the gospel and its purpose. Then we had a discussion about whether the gospel, in essence, ends at this verse, and if chapter 21 is an afterthought written by someone other than John. Years ago it was accepted that chapter 21 was not written by John, but now scholarship is divided. We came to the conclusion that chapter 21 may have been written because readers were asking “what happened next questions” about Peter and the other disciples.

Is the peace that Jesus gives in this passage simply a normal form of greeting or does He use a different word? Some commentators said that that word was the usual one while others declared that it was not! We felt that this use of “peace” referred back to chapter 14: 27 where Jesus promises to leave His disciples “peace”.

Verse 21 has echoes of Jesus’ great commission in the synoptic tradition. This particular verse fits well with the other lectionary readings for this Sunday, particularly Acts chapter 2. We had a long discussion about verse 23 and the forgiveness of sins. Does this refer to all readers? Some thought yes, because they subscribed to a priesthood of all believers; while others were more cautious in their interpretation due to the given responsibility of retaining sins! We all believed that we are sent by Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, but were concerned about retaining sins. Some felt that this was a power they did not want, and asked the question whether we truly believed that we had this power. We then thought about what it meant to forgive someone. Does God forgive through us? Is it our job to rebuke and warn that sin is death? We thought that perhaps sin was retained by perpetrators when the sin was not openly recognised. The sinner has to want to change before forgiveness is possible. We felt that the other gospels were crucial to an understanding of this verse, and that to read one gospel only may not be helpful.

There is also a link here to the sending out of the twelve who are told to shake from their shoes the dust from those places where their message is not welcomed. This is a warning about witness. Maybe we should not persist when we are rejected so comprehensibly. We should perhaps go away and come back later!

These verses 21 – 23 are crucial to the rest of the reading. Commission depends on belief and the Holy Spirit.

Time in this passage has been telescoped, as the resurrection, the ascension and the giving of the Holy Spirit seem to happen all at once between verses 19 – 23. From this point onwards the Disciples will be on their own physically but will have the Holy Spirit to guide them. We felt that this was like going from “On Note” to “On Trial”.

This thought led us into a discussion about service preparation and which translation to use when the text is huge as this one is. Some advocated the use of the “The Message” Bible when the text was difficult. This helps to give an easier overall picture. Some preferred to use a more literal translation and help the congregation to come to terms with the words and sentence construction. We also talked about commentaries and how different they are. They all have their own particular view point and theological references. Some are useful for first-time study while others are more helpful to those who have studied longer. William Barclay and the Epworth Commentaries were thought to be useful for first-time readers or learners. We all recognised that the use of older commentaries, while a useful exercise, could provide difficulties not experienced with newer versions. Theological ideas changed over time and so did expressions of faith i.e. in some commentaries the use of the male gender for every reference to humanity could be unhelpful now. Peake’s commentary and Matthew Henry were thought to be useful and also the internet. But care must be taken when using the internet as some American commentaries can be very fundamental. We thought that we should all use what we found helpful but have a variety of commentaries, including one which we did not really like to keep us fresh and asking questions. The different opinions of commentators would remind us of the different opinions in our congregations and keep us real. We should never use a commentary that simply backs up our own opinions. We all agreed that it took a long time to prepare for a service and that we needed the time to fully absorb the text.

Some of us used walking as a meditative exercise but found that we had often forgotten some marvellous insight into the passage by the time we got home. Taking a note book and pen in our coat pocket to write down ideas might help. Too many ideas can also be a problem sometimes and these can take us down a dead end. We needed a map in our heads of where we wanted to get to with our ideas. But sometimes the congregation had its own map. Congregation members who have their own map may find the journey we take them on unsettling, so they will need to be persuaded. This may include several short messages rather than one long one. We also thought that our commentaries should be updated regularly if financially possible.

We then looked at verses 24 – 29. Thomas is more prominent in John’s gospel than the synoptic gospels and he is used here as elsewhere to pose questions that a reader may well pose. In this way Thomas is a comforting character for a reader to engage with. His blunt speech contains certain of Peter’s characteristics seen in the other gospels. Last week in chapter 11 we heard Thomas declare that he was willing to go and die with Jesus. In this passage he declares his belief without restraint, now that he has seen Jesus for himself. Thomas displays a lack of attention to what Jesus has said earlier in the gospel, (chapters 14 – 17). These verses do not tell us that Thomas ever did touch Jesus. It does not say that Thomas doubted in these verses, only that he would like to touch. We wondered about the use of our other senses in worship. Our worship is very much hearing and seeing, but what of smell and touch? Everyone has a different way of learning; and hands on is one that we should not dismiss. But touch can be very difficult for some people, as sharing of the peace in Communion can show. How do we tackle this? The handshake at the end of the service may be an important part of worship for some people. Yet some may have not touched anyone during the preceding week. But we must be sensitive to legislation on children and touch!

Verse 31 reiterates both elements of verse 29 and the gospel’s message that faith leads to eternal life. Some translations read “that you may continue to believe”; others leave out the word believe. Is this critical to understanding?