John 21:20-25

Gospel according to John 21:20-25

It was evening on the day Jesus rose from the dead, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Reflections

Today’s Gospel takes us back in time to the first day of the week after Jesus rose from the dead, which was a Sunday, Easter Sunday, in order to reveal something wonderful about our final destination and purpose in life. Although it sounds familiar from previous week’s readings, let us follow the text carefully to discern this extraordinary message:

On that same day, on the first day of Easter, Jesus appeared to the disciples while they were hiding behind closed doors. Let’s stop here for a moment and ponder: Following the greatest miracle of all the miracles--the resurrection--there is this paradox and a wonder. The doors are locked, nevertheless, Jesus stands in front of the disciples. Jesus, who was tortured, dead and buried, is now alive and calling on the disciples.

The text continues by telling us that Jesus greeted his disciples with the traditional greeting of “Peace” and showed them his hands and feet so that they could recognize him and believe that it was really he who appeared to them. This was more than a paradox and a wonder; it was a miracle. After seeing the wounds on Jesus’ languished and dead body, the disciples could now behold them on his perfect, extraordinary, resurrected body.

Next, Jesus sent his disciples into the words to proclaim what they have seen and experienced; to instruct all people in the ways of love, and to renew the face of the earth with good deeds sowing the seeds of peace, hope and charity. This was a command that propelled them forward and outward, beyond their comforts and confines.

Jesus breathed on them his Holy Spirit, the same Spirit which he entrusted to the Father in his last words on the cross. Fifty days after the resurrection, as Jesus promised, the Father sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples to remind them about Jesus’ teachings and to counsel and guide them. At this point we notice that this week’s reading reveals to us the nature of the Trinity: The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit are three different persons, with different attributes, but one in perfect peace, harmony, and unity.

Finally, Jesus gave the disciples powers to forgive sins in his name, which would be honored by the Father. This action ties the work of the disciples--with help from the Holy Spirit, and in Jesus, through him, and with him--to the Father.

Following the course of action in the above passages, we notice that the trajectory always points to the Father. The Father is the origin, the source of love: Jesus descends from the Father as the incarnation of the Father’s love. He completes his mission on Earth, and ascends to the Father. From the Father he descends again, this time in his glorious resurrected body, and appears to the disciples. He strengthens them with his Spirit and promises the Holy Spirit before ascending to the Father in front of his disciples. --No from where one enters this dynamics, the trajectory is always that of a heart shape.

As he establishes the first church, Jesus equips the disciples with visible signs of grace—the sacraments. In the previous readings, we could already identify two: (1) Baptism--belonging to God, and the (2) Eucharist—Jesus with us. In today’s Gospel, Jesus adds two further sacraments which the disciples can administer in His name: (3) Reconciliation—the forgiveness of sins, and (4) Confirmation—the Holy Spirit’s gifts. There are three other sacraments, visible signs of grace, that the Roman Catholic church utilizes in addition to these four sacraments: (5) the Sacrament of Marriage; (6) The Sacrament of the Holy Orders; and (7) the Anointing of the Sick.

With these sacraments, Jesus strengthens the church for the mission and provides miraculous sources of spiritual grace. The path ahead is revealed: As we originate from the Father, we will return to Him after having completed our earthy mission and we will act alongside the Heavenly Hosts to help others arrive to the Father. –We move and act in the love of the Father, or, in the words of Saint Paul: “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The center is love, eternal love, at the heart of the everlasting, eternal God.

The Sacraments offer refreshment during the most arduous part of the journey, our lives in body, mind and spirit or earth. Jesus established them to strengthen us, give us endurance, and renew us, always illuminating the path, and pointing towards the destination.

After a cruel winter, in springtime, when nature reawakens, and when flowers and buds appear to face the light, we see this paradox, behold this wonder, and witness this miracle unfold right in front of our eyes: What was gone, is now alive. What was hidden, came to light. What existed only as a possibility, became reality.

-- Small wonder that our heart calls out: “Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth!” (Psalm 103/104).