Second Sunday of Easter Year B
[Jn 20:19-31]
11.04.2021
The
Risen Lord Appears to the Disciples
Readings: (1) Acts 4:32-35 (2)1 Jn 5:1-6
1. Theme in brief:
Liberation
from fears and doubts and mission-empowerment
2. Focus Statement:
Faith in
the power of the Lord’s resurrection can liberate us from our fears due to
which we are shut in, and make us worthy to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
with whose strength we can carry forward his mission of peace and
reconciliation.
3. Explanation of the text
The
sudden appearance of the Risen Lord in the midst of disciples on the evening of
“the first day of the week” in spite of locked doors (“for fear of the
Jews,” 20:19) and barriers of walls, shows that now he has transcended all the
barriers and blocks established by humans due to their
fears (real or imaginary, prejudices, narrow-mindedness and selfishness.
(1) He is now having a spiritual or resurrected body endowed with all the divine glory; hence he can pass through the walls and locked doors (20:19); he is not bound by space and time any more. (2) He is in close solidarity with humanity, offering them something they long for; that is, peace and joy (20:19-21). The scars of wounds on his hands and his side confirm that he is the same Jesus who was crucified (20:20). The joy of the disciples when they see him is only a fulfilment of the promise he made at the Last Supper: “I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you” (16:22).
According to today’s gospel, as the Risen Lord appears to his disciples, he imparts four precious gifts to them:
(1) Peace, with his twice repeated words: “Peace be with you” (20:19, 21). In biblical language peace involves all-round well-being, harmony and building up of human relationships (20:19, 21). In the OT, peace is closely associated with the blessing of God and salvation to be brought by the Messiah. This peace restores them to inner security and fearlessness.
(2) Holy Spirit, with the words: “Receive the Holy Spirit” and with the gesture of breathing on them (20:22). Since breath symbolizes life, it is clear that the Holy Spirit is the Risen Lord’s own breath or life. Just as God had breathed into the nostrils of the first man (Adam) the breath of life, and he had become a living being (Gen 2:7), so also Jesus breathes on his disciples in a similar fashion. By giving them the Holy Spirit he makes them a new creation or imparts new life into them leading to the birth of a new community, the Church. Breathing on them may also refer to prophet Ezekiel’s prophecy to the dry bones (37:1-14). The apostles are now like dry bones – lifeless and full of fear. Like the prophet, Jesus causes his breath or life (= Holy Spirit) enter into the dry bones and they begin to live (Ez 37:9, 14). The Holy Spirit regenerates or rejuvenates them in such a way that they emerge from their hideouts to become courageous witnesses of the Lord.
(3)
(4) Power to forgive or retain the sins of any (20:23). He gives them a share in his power to forgive sins so that they may proclaim the forgiving love of God and carry forward his own earthly ministry of reconciliation.
Though we come to know from the synoptic gospels also that many of Jesus’ disciples had doubted about his resurrection (cf. Mt 28:17), here in John’s gospel Thomas is singled out as a representative of all of us, who sometimes doubt in God’s work and demand physical proofs or spectacular miracles (20:25). The Risen Lord makes use of this episode of the doubting Thomas to point out the necessity of putting our faith in him without seeking for miracles or firsthand experience. He declares people who arrive at such faith based on the testimony of the firsthand witnesses as equally “blessed” (20:29).
4. Application to life
The Risen Lord’s sudden appearance in the
midst of disciples even when the doors were locked for fear of “the Jews” (that
is, Jewish religious authorities), symbolizes his power: (1) to cross the limits of space and time; (2) to liberate us from our fears due to which we are shut in; and (3) to reassure us
in our doubts of
faith. By passing through the walls and locked doors of
the house where the disciples had met, the Risen Lord makes it clear that
now he is present in any situation and place if only we can ‘see’ his presence
with the eyes of faith. He has transcended all the barriers and blocks
established by human nature
or culture such as distinctions of nationality, race, ethnicity, caste, class,
kinship, group, party and religion. He can unlock the doors or break the walls erected by our prejudices, narrow-mindedness
and selfishness.
In our social conversation normally we speak
in these terms: “we" men and “they” women; “we" Christians and “they”
non-Christians; “we" nationals and “they” foreigners; “we" locals and
“they” outsiders; “we” tribals and “they” non-tribals; “we" lay people and
“they” clergy/religious; etc. There is nothing wrong in these expressions as
log as they are mere terms of reference. But we need to examine whether they go
beyond normalcy and
border on racism, casteism, tribalism, groupism, ethnic conflicts, prejudices
or hatred or labeling of “those people there”, etc.
Worse still, if segregation/
discrimination/ ill-treatment based on these factors is practiced within
Christian community which is composed of various ethnicities, races, castes,
cultures and languages, we narrow
down the Risen Christ’s presence to a limited place, group, culture or situation. This is equal to
not believing that Christ is really risen from the dead. Let our attitude be
like this: the Risen Lord is not “here alone” (that is in my kinship circles,
ethnic community, caste, tribe or group alone) but equally present in all
peoples, cultures and situations. If we really believe that Christ is risen
from the dead, we cannot keep him confined to only
our group/ tribe/ caste/ race or restrict him to one situation only. Secondly, if we believe so we begin
to ‘see’ the presence of the Risen Lord not only in pleasant and joyful
situations but also in sorrowful and
painful ones. When sorrow comes, where is he? Can we say: “He is here in our
sorrows because he is risen from the dead.”
Today’s gospel text highlights two
important aspects of any believer’s life, namely, fears and doubts
of faith. First, the text says that the doors of the house where the
disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jewish authorities (20:19). Like
the apostles, we are often tempted to lock our ‘doors’ out of so many fears in us – both real and imaginary. Just
imagine the conscious and subconscious
fears haunting the minds of many of us – fear of failure in an examination,
of losing in a game or match, of being robbed, of being attacked by an enemy, of
remaining unemployed, of losing a job, of being killed in a bomb blast or
accident, of ridicule/ criticism/ negative remarks by others, of darkness, of
public speaking, of dreadful sicknesses like cancer and heart attack, of being
left alone in old age, of losing one’s dignity and reputation, of breakage of
relationships, of our children getting into deviant or criminal behaviour, of natural or man-made calamities (like accidents,
floods, earthquakes, cyclones), of untimely or unprepared death, etc. There are
also fears of what others may think of us or say to us, especially when we try
to behave a little different from the general trends in our society. Then of
course, there is a fear of the unknown
future.
When these fears (whether real or imaginary) take control of us
and rule over our minds, they keep us chained and locked within the narrow space of our own souls.
Instead of the Lord directing our lives, these fears become an independent force driving
us where we may not like to go. The imaginary or unrealistic (baseless) fears
are our worst masters who control or drive us to wrong directions such as
depression, disappointment, meaninglessness, emptiness, etc. Robin Sharma
rightly says: "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark.
The real tragedy of life is when an adult is afraid of the light.” Quite often
we are afraid of saying and doing what is right. The light of the Risen Lord
can free us from the chains of fears (especially, imaginary or baseless ones),
if we really believe in the power of his resurrection. If the Risen Lord is
with us and for us, who or what can be against us (Rom 8:31-39)?
Armed with
this firm faith, we need to admit our powerlessness to change the things we cannot, and surrender our
lives into the hands of the living Lord. Our outer security may come from
walled compounds, grill-gates, locks, bodyguards, bullet-proof vests,
protective parents and companions; but our inner security comes from the power of the Risen Lord
and his gift of peace – inner
harmony. With his power we can overcome fear of hardship,
distress, danger, persecution, peril and death. Let us
place the bundle of fears before the Risen Lord and ask him to liberate us
from all imaginary fears and give us the grace to face real fears with courage.
Secondly, after fears, come our doubts, epitomized by ‘doubting’ Thomas’ case in today’s
gospel. They too are a part of every believer’s life. Like the apostles, we doubt whether all our efforts will be fruitful; whether our plans
will succeed; whether there is a God who allows the just to suffer; and why
does he allow it? We think, if God could prove his almighty powers through
spectacular miracles and visions, all people of the earth could easily believe
in him. Today’s gospel tells us that seeing extraordinary signs and miracles is
not a guarantee of faith. When Thomas demanded such a proof from Jesus by showing
the marks of nails in his hands and allow him to touch his wounds, Jesus gave
him a chance to do so with another appearance (20:26-27). Today’s gospel does
not tell us whether Thomas really touched Jesus’ wounds. Without arriving at a
deeper level of faith, even if he had touched, he could have said that it was a
ghost or just a hallucination. Unlike the apostles, our faith usually doesn’t
come from direct encounter with the Risen Lord, but from the testimony of
others. The action of the Risen Lord on our life is so mysterious that it cannot
be seen. When unexpected, surprising and extraordinary things or events happen
in our life, some believe in God’s mighty intervention and others do not. Faith
in the Risen Lord leads us to a total surrender or submission to his plans and designs by
acclaiming: “You alone are the Lord of my life; you alone are my Higher Power.
I bow down to you in total submission” (cf.20:28).
At baptism, the Lord
had already breathed his Spirit into us and made us a new creation. In spite of
that we become like dry
bones lacking zeal in Christian commitment. In this
Easter Season we must open our hearts to the Risen Lord and beg him to breathe
his Spirit into us and renew/re-create us. With the empowerment of his Spirit, the Lord continues to send us even today with his mission – to
share his peace where it is broken, to reconcile where there is disharmony, to
breathe a fresh life where there is no life or where people sit in the shadow
of death, to dispel the darkness of sin and to lay down
their life in humble service for others. He opens
the doors of forgiveness for us, so that we too can become agents of reconciliation. Let us ask ourselves whether in our families, neighbourhood and
communities we are known as peacemakers or peace-breakers. Sometimes for the sake of peace and harmony we have
to humble ourselves and accept our mistakes and renounce our views. Do we do
it? If we do so, the winds of new life and joy, harmony and reconciliation –
the breath of the Spirit of the Risen Lord - will blow over our families and
communities.
5. Response to God's Word
What are our present real or imaginary fears? For the sake of peace and harmony, do we humble ourselves to accept our mistakes and bad behaviour? Are we known as peacemakers or peace-breakers? Does our faith in the Risen Lord enable us to recognize his universal presence in people outside our ethnic group and accept the truth from any person of good will? If we nurse strong prejudices and misconceptions about others’ religion, race, caste, ethnic background, past mistakes and bad record, what does it show? Do our occasional doubts of faith finally lead us to a faith-surrender to accept Jesus as our Lord and God? What makes us look like dry bones, lacking vitality?
6. A prayer
Jesus, my Lord and my God, I offer you all my real and imaginary fears
and doubts of faith. Be my driving force when I am plagued with fear of the
unknown. When you, the Risen Lord, are with me and for me, who or what can be
against me? I believe that in all my fears, doubts and perils I am more than a
conqueror through you who loves me. Breathe into me the fresh breath of the
Holy Spirit and re-create me. Here am I; send me with the empowerment of your
Spirit to continue your mission of building up peace, harmony and
reconciliation. Amen.
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