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.
John brings us to the evening of Easter Sunday. The disciples are together behind locked doors because they are afraid (v. 19). Into that fear the risen Jesus comes and stands in their midst. His first word is not rebuke, but peace: “Peace be with you” (v. 19). This is more than a common greeting. It fulfills what he had promised before his Passion: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (Jn. 14:27). The risen Jesus gives to his disciples what they do not have in themselves.
Jesus then shows them his hands and his side (v. 20). John makes clear that the risen Lord is the same Jesus who was crucified. The Resurrection is not the appearance of a different person, nor is it only a spiritual memory of Jesus. The one who stands before them is the one who suffered on the Cross. His wounds remain the wounds of the crucified Lord, but they are now seen in the risen Lord, who has passed through death into everlasting life. When the disciples see him, their fear gives way to joy (v. 20). This also fulfills what Jesus had said earlier, that their sorrow would turn into joy (Jn. 16:20, 22).
Jesus speaks his peace a second time and immediately joins that peace to mission: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (v. 21). Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus is the one sent by the Father (Jn. 3:17; 5:36; 17:18). Now he sends his disciples into the world to continue the work he has given them to do. They do not go with a message of their own. They are sent with his message and with his authority.
Then Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the holy Spirit” (v. 22). This action recalls the moment when God breathed life into the first man (Gen. 2:7). It also recalls the vision of dry bones receiving new life from the breath of God (Ez. 37:9-10). John is showing that the risen Jesus gives new life to his disciples by the Holy Spirit. What Jesus had promised during his ministry now begins to be fulfilled in them (Jn. 3:5-8; 4:10-14; 7:37-39). The risen Lord does not only comfort his disciples. He re-creates them and equips them for what he is sending them to do.
Jesus then says, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (v. 23). In these words the risen Jesus gives his apostles a real responsibility in relation to the forgiveness of sins. He is not speaking only about announcing that God forgives. He is entrusting to them a ministry through which his forgiveness is to be applied in his community. In Catholic teaching, this passage is one of the key foundations for the Church’s understanding of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (cf. Mt. 16:19; 18:18).
The passage then turns to Thomas, who was not present when Jesus first appeared (v. 24). When the other disciples tell him, “We have seen the Lord,” Thomas refuses to accept their testimony unless he can see and touch the wounds for himself (v. 25). John does not hide this. Thomas wants direct proof that the crucified Jesus is truly risen. He is not willing to rest on the word of the others.
A week later the disciples are again inside, and this time Thomas is with them (v. 26). Once more the risen Jesus comes through locked doors and stands in their midst. John does not try to explain the manner of Jesus’ entry. He shows that the risen Jesus is truly present in his body, yet his risen life is no longer subject to the ordinary limits of earthly existence. Once more his first word is peace. Then he addresses Thomas directly and invites him to do exactly what Thomas had demanded: ‘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’ (v. 27).
John does not say that Thomas actually touched Jesus. The focus falls instead on Thomas’s response: “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28). This is the high point of faith in John’s Gospel. At the beginning of the Gospel we are told that “the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). Here, near its conclusion, Thomas confesses Jesus directly as “My Lord and my God” (v. 28). The crucified and risen Jesus is not only master, teacher, or miracle worker. He is truly divine.
Jesus then says, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (v. 29). This blessing reaches beyond Thomas to all later believers. Most Christians will never see the risen Jesus with their bodily eyes as the apostles did. Yet they are not placed at a disadvantage. John is teaching that true faith rests on trustworthy apostolic witness and on what God has caused to be written for the Church. Faith is not blind. It is a response to the testimony God has given.
That is why John ends this section by explaining the purpose of his Gospel: “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” (v. 31). John has selected and written these signs so that readers may believe, or continue to believe more deeply, that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. Faith in him is not an end in itself. It leads to life. John is speaking about eternal life, a share in the life that comes from God even now and reaches its fullness in the age to come (Jn. 3:15-16, 36).
This passage therefore gives several central truths of the Christian faith. The risen Jesus is the same Lord who was crucified. He brings peace to fearful disciples. He gives the Holy Spirit. He sends his apostles as the Father sent him. He entrusts to them a real ministry connected with the forgiveness of sins. He leads Thomas from doubt to confession. And he blesses all who will believe through the apostolic witness handed on in the Gospel.
For the Church, this is not only a story about what happened once in the upper room. It is also a word for believers now. Many know fear, confusion, guilt, and hesitation. The risen Jesus still comes to his disciples with peace. He still calls people to faith. He still gives life in his name. And he still works through the witness and ministry he gave to his Church.
Lord Jesus Christ, you came to your disciples in their fear and spoke peace to them. Strengthen our faith, forgive our sins, and deepen our trust in your word. Lead us, like Thomas, to confess you with sincerity and love: “My Lord and my God.” Give us life in your name and keep us faithful to you. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. John 20:19-31 and notes.
- José María Casciaro, gen. ed., The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008.
- Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010.
- Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, 983-84.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018, 1178-80.
- John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, and Donald Senior CP, eds., The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, 3rd fully revised ed. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2022, 1439-40.
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