John 20: 19-23 From Peace to Proclamation

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Vs 19…Jesus appears to the disciples in Jerusalem that very evening (this is on a Sunday). Meaning this is still considered the day Jesus resurrected. We are told the disciples locked themselves in a room because they feared the Jewish leaders who had just crucified Jesus. Back then, if you were known to be involved with Jesus, you would be put to death. So, the disciples, all 11 and possibly more disciples, gathered according to Luke 24:33-36. Why were they gathered? Possibly to comfort one another or to support one another in this moment of weakness. Notice how they gathered on a Sunday just as we gather on Sundays to go to church (but that's not the point).

The disciples are showing their fleshly weakness which is FEAR. Now keep in mind that the door was LOCKED, yet Jesus was still able to come inside the room. Why? Because no physical or emotional barrier can keep Jesus away from the people He loves ( did you catch that? Nothing can keep Jesus away from the ones He loves). As Jesus came in and stood among the disciples, He said “Peace be with you”. This peace that He mentions is not a feeling, but a person- Jesus himself. HE IS PEACE, and He brings forgiveness, comfort, restoration, and the beginning of a new mission. He is establishing His kingdom on the first day of the week.

However, it is important for us to know that when we feel fear, confusion, emotionally blocked or distant to God, or you feel unsure of the future... know that Jesus is right there with you. Jesus enters your situation, no matter what it might be. No locked door- no anxiety, trauma, doubt, or weakness can keep Him out. Scripture says in Ephesians 2:14 “ For He Himself is our peace.” So, when Jesus says, “Peace be with you,” He is essentially saying “I am with you.” In other words, you are not abandoned, you are not defeated, you are not alone, fear does not win because He is with you. He is saying to His disciples “I am here in the middle of your fear, MY presence is stronger than what you are facing. Your heart can rest even while the situation is messy. What scares you cannot, overpower me!”

It goes the same way when you feel spiritually attacked or when you are facing something you can't control. He says, “ I am with you in this!!” Not after the situation. Not once you have calmed down. But in the middle of it.

Vs 20…As Jesus appeared to them, you can imagine how freaked out the disciples were to see Jesus. Luke 24:37 says, “But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.” This is the reason why He showed them His wounds. He is making witnesses by showing that He is alive.  Back then, even now in some cultures, you will hear that the Jews tried to spread the rumor that Jesus’s body was stolen by the disciples to claim He wasn't really the Messiah (this claim is false!!). Jesus made sure from that day for 40 days and nights to reveal himself to many to make witnesses that He died and resurrected, to speak about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3 says, “ After His suffering, He presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them for forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” That day, He showed His disciples His hands (where the nails were) and His side (where the spears pierced Him). He is opening His heart to them by showing His wounds.  He showed His wounds to prove that He isn't a ghost, or a vision, or an imagination. The marks remained, not as a sign of weakness, but as a sign of salvation and triumph. By showing them, it's like Him telling the disciples “Death could not hold me!!.” The same Jesus who died is the same Jesus who rose. His wounds are His identity, His victory, and most of all, His love made visible.

When the disciples saw Jesus, their fear changed into joy. Their circumstances did not change, but His presence changed their hearts. Just like us when we encounter Jesus, our hearts change. You don't talk like you used to or do things like you used to when you meet Jesus on a personal level. Really reflect how much He has shaped you and changed you for the better. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ. He is a new creation. The Old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  You become a new creation, reborn from the inside out. Your old identity, old sin, old patterns, old shame, old way of thinking just dies. God gives you a new heart, a new desire, a new purpose, new mind, and a new spiritual life. You are made different because you are made live by Jesus

Vs 21… Jesus repeats the blessing of peace, and it's intentional! He is saying, “ You can't do this mission without MY peace. You’re not going in fear- you're going covered in my presence.” The reason why He says this is because He is sending His disciples on a mission. Just as the Father sent Him with divine purpose, He is doing the same with us. Jesus was sent in love, in truth, to reveal the Father, to serve, and to shine light in darkness. Jesus is transferring His mission to his disciples to speak God's word, reveal God’s heart/ truth, and demonstrate God’s love. We will not be alone; we will be sent in His authority, with His spirit, and for His glory.

Vs 22… Jesus breathed on the disciples, and this echoes to Genesis 2:7. “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” God breathed into Adam, and he became a living being. As Jesus breathes on the disciples, He is making them spiritually alive, just as God gave physical life to Adam. This is considered the second creation, to be born again, the birth of a new humanity. This is also how Jesus is giving a proclamation that He is God by giving a new life. 

So Jesus breathed to the disciples the Holy Spirit. Before this, the disciples followed Jesus externally. Now, His spirit lives inside the disciples. He is fulfilling His promise He made earlier.

• John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

• John 14:17 “even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

• John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

• John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come”

There is a difference, however, in Acts 2 and John 20:22 when it comes to receiving the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2, the disciples are given the external power of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecost. John 20:22, the disciples receive the internal dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Think of it like this:

• John 20:22 → new birth, indwelling

• Acts 2 → empowering for ministry and boldness.

  
  

Notice how there is a flow when it comes to reading these verses. 

• First ,it talks about Peace. How being in the presence of Jesus changes our hearts. Now we will be covered in His peace. 

• Second, talk about Purpose. How we are given a purpose just as the Father has given a divine purpose to Jesus. He transfers that mission on to us to share the gospel and become a reflection of Jesus. Moreover, He makes sure we are given what is needed to do it.

• Third, we are given the Power of the Holy Spirit. Our Holy Spirit is what guides us to sharing the gospel and with whom.

• Fourth, is the Proclamation. He gives us the authority to carry the gospel.

Isn't that amazing?

Vs 23… To clarify about this verse, Jesus has not given humans the power to create forgiveness or deny salvation. Only God can forgive sins. We are only able to proclaim forgiveness. When we share the gospel, when someone comes into faith to believe in Jesus, we are then able to  say “ your sins have been forgiven because God has forgiven them through Jesus.” You are announcing the reality based on their response to Jesus. Many people believe the Pope has authority to forgive or save but this is FALSE! We only carry the responsibility to warn people of judgment, announce forgiveness through Jesus, and to call people to repent. This authority is connected to the Holy Spirit, the spirit guides proclamation. We only announce what God has already established. We speak on behalf of Jesus. When we preach, heaven confirms to what the gospel declares:

• Whoever believes in Jesus and receives Him is forgiven.

• Whoever rejects Jesus, rejects the Father and is still living in sin, therefore is still condemned.

  
  

John 3:16-18 says “16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

• We do not control who is forgiven, who is saved, and who is rejected.

• We do control whether we share the message, invite people to repent, and whether we speak the truth.

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