1. JOHN 20:1-10. The entire first part of this section tends towards the words of John 20:8: “ _And he saw and believed._ ” After this, the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene makes the latter the messenger who should prepare all the disciples for faith, as she had brought the first two to the se... [ Continue Reading ]
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. Vv. 1-18. 1. The other women who are represented in the Synoptics as going with Mary Magdalene to the sepulchre are not mentioned here, and the appearance to all the women which is spoken of by Matthew, Matthew 28:9-10, is omitted by John. The former differe... [ Continue Reading ]
FIFTH PART: 20:1-29. THE RESURRECTION. The fourth part of the Gospel has shown us the Jewish people carrying _unbelief_ with reference to Jesus even to complete apostasy, and consummating this spiritual crime by the crucifixion of the Messiah. In the fifth we see the fidelity of the disciples raise... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene goes to the sepulchre early, while it was yet dark, and she sees that the stone is taken away from the sepulchre;_ 2, _she runs therefore and comes to Simon Peter and to the disciple whom Jesus loved, and says to them, They have taken away the Lord fro... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And they ran both together; and the other disciple ran more quickly than Peter, and he came first to the sepulchre;_ 5, _and, stooping down, he sees the linen cloths lying on the ground;yet he did not enter in._ 6. _Simon Peter, following him, comes, and he entered into the sepulchre; and he beho... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Then entered in also the other disciple who had first come to the sepulchre; and he saw and believed._ 9. _For they did not yet understand the Scripture which says that he should rise from the dead._ 10. _Then the disciples returned to their own homes._ ” The singular verbs _he saw_ and _he belie... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _But Mary was standing near the sepulchre_, _weeping at the entrance;_ 12, _and, as she wept, she stooped down to look into the sepulchre; and she sees two angels_, _clothed in white, sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, in the place where the body of Jesus had lain;_ 13, _and they... [ Continue Reading ]
2. VV. 11-18. Mary Magdalene has just been for the two chief disciples the messenger announcing the empty sepulchre; she receives the first manifestation of the Lord, and becomes for all the messenger of the resurrection.... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _After having spoken thus, she turned herself back; and she sees Jesus standing there, but without knowing that it was Jesus._ 15. _Jesus says to her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing that he was the gardener, says to him: Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus says to her: Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father;but go to my brethren and say to them,I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God._ 18. _Mary Magdalene comes to the disciples and tells them that she has seen the Lord and that he has said these words to he... [ Continue Reading ]
II. THE FIRST APPEARANCE TO THE DISCIPLES: JOHN 20:19-23. The risen Lord advances by degrees in His manifestation of Himself. The appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, prepared for by that of the angels, prepares in its turn, by the message entrusted to Mary for the disciples, for His appearance in... [ Continue Reading ]
1. The appearance of Jesus when the doors were shut (John 20:19; John 20:26) is a point which we are unable to explain. The evangelist has not stated the facts of the case with sufficient definiteness to make any conclusion absolutely certain. That Jesus had a body after His resurrection, which coul... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The evening having come, therefore, on this same first day of the week, the doors of the place where the disciples were being shut because of the fear which they had of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and says to them, Peace be to you!_ 20. _And, after he had said this, he sho... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be to you! As the Father has sent me, even so I send you._ 22. _And, having said this, he breathed on them and says to them, Receive [the] Holy Spirit._ 23. _Whosesoever sins you remit, they are remitted to them; whosesoever sins you retain, they are reta... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 22. The _endowment_ in view of this sending. As there is properly only one mission, there is also only one _force_ for fulfilling it that of Jesus, which He communicates through His Spirit. The words: _Having said this_, serve, like John 20:20, to connect the following act with the preceding wo... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 23. The new work which is intrusted to them is here displayed in all its _greatness;_ the matter in question is nothing less than giving or refusing salvation to every human being; to open and close heaven this is their task. The old covenant had a provisional pardon and a revocable rejection.... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _But Thomas, one of the Twelve, he who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came._ 25. _The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord; but he said to them: Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my han... [ Continue Reading ]
III. THE SECOND APPEARANCE TO THE DISCIPLES (THOMAS): JOHN 20:24-29. A last principle of unbelief still remained in the circle of the Twelve. It is extirpated, and the development of faith reaches its limit in all the future witnesses for Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Eight days afterwards, his disciples were assembled again in the room; and Thomas was with them. Jesus comes, the doors being shut, and he stood in the midst of them, and said: Peace be to you!_ 27. _Then he says to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God!_ 29. _Jesus says to him_, _Because thou hast seen me_, _thou hast believed. Blessed are they who, without having seen, have believed._ ” What produces so profound an impression upon Thomas is not only the reality of the resurrection, which he t... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 29. In itself, this address of the disciple would not have a decisive value. It might be an exaggeration of feeling. But what gives it an absolute importance is the manner in which Jesus receives it. The Lord does not check this outbreak of feeling, like the angel of the Apocalypse, who says to... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CONCLUSION: 20:30, 31. In concluding his narrative, the evangelist gives an account of the _manner_ in which he has proceeded (John 20:30) and of the end which he proposed to himself (John 20:31) in composing it. How are we to explain this so sudden ending, after the conversation of Jesus and T... [ Continue Reading ]