On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
On the evening of that first Easter day, the Risen Christ appears to His disciples who are gathered behind locked doors "for fear of the Jews" (v. 19). His first words are a profound gift: “Peace be with you.” This peace is not merely the absence of fear but the restoration of communion with God, accomplished by His Passion, death, and Resurrection (cf. Isa. 52:7; Rom. 5:1).
Jesus then breathes on the Apostles and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22). This act echoes the moment of Creation, when God breathed life into man (Gen. 2:7), and anticipates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, marking the birth of the Church (Acts 2:1-4). Here, the risen Christ inaugurates the new creation: those united to Him through the Spirit are made new (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17).
In conferring the Holy Spirit, Jesus bestows upon the Apostles a singular authority: the power to forgive sins. "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained" (v. 23). This establishes the enduring ministry of forgiveness, through which Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, continues to heal the wounds of sin through the Church He founded (cf. 2 Cor. 5:18-20).
Thomas, absent during this first appearance, embodies the struggle of faith that every believer faces. Though he had walked with Jesus, he refused to believe without physical proof. When Christ appears again, He invites Thomas to touch His wounds, leading to Thomas' profound confession: "My Lord and my God!" (v. 28). Thomas' confession is the climactic profession of faith in John's Gospel, affirming Jesus’ full divinity and humanity (cf. Col. 2:9).
Jesus’ response to Thomas—“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (v. 29)—extends the blessing to all future generations of believers. Faith, grounded in the testimony of the Apostles and confirmed by the Spirit, becomes the means by which we enter into the new life offered by Christ (cf. 1 Peter 1:8-9; Rom. 10:17).
The passage closes with an important editorial note: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book” (v. 30). John's Gospel selects signs so that readers “may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in His name” (v. 31). The Gospel’s purpose is thus explicitly evangelical: to lead readers to faith and, through faith, to eternal life.
Lord Jesus Christ, You breathe Your Spirit upon Your Church and entrust to us the precious gift of Your mercy. Strengthen our faith, that we may believe without seeing, and confess You as our Lord and our God. Fill us anew with Your peace, and send us forth to proclaim the life we have found in Your name. Amen!
Sources
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: The Pentateuch. Four Courts Press, 2017
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
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