Second Sunday of Easter (C)

 Second Sunday of Easter Year C [Jn 20:19-31]

24.04.2022

The Risen Lord Appears to the Disciples

Readings: (1) Acts 5:12-16 (2) Rev 1:9-11a.12-13.17-19

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” (that is, Sunday) 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.

Further, this appearance has a double significance:

(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)   The gift of 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)   The gift of the 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)   A mission mandate, with the words: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (20:21). He sends them into the world to continue the mission for which his Father had sent him. This mission should be understood in terms of John’s main themes – to share God’s (divine) life, light and truth with others; to dispel darkness of sin and death and to love one another as he loved and to lay down their life in humble and sacrificial service for others.  

(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 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”, or excluding them, etc.

If deeply rooted prejudices, hatted, segregation, discrimination, divisions, ill-treatment based on racial, caste, tribal, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diffrences exist within our Christian community, worse still, within religious communities and clergy, 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 that the Risen Lord is present in all situations of life, we begin to ‘see’ his presence 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; youy 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.