John the Evangelist has a marvellous gift for portraying an important biblical scene in a few chosen sentences. His description of the first Easter evening in the upper room is masterful and captures our attention at once. The frightened disciples were huddled behind closed doors, afraid that the same fate which cruelly overtook their Master would befall them as well. The fact that they had deserted Jesus in his hour of need would only have added to their misery and dejection. Into this precarious situation comes the risen Lord, and rather than upbraid them for their lack of courage his greeting was one of peace.Such deeply moving words of peace signal, that with the resurrection of Jesus , a new era in God’s relationship with mankind has now arrived. Christ by his dying and rising has conquered sin and death, that twofold curse hanging over the human race since the original sin of Adam. As he showed them the wounds in his body the disciples realized that the One they had assumed to be dead was now alive, no longer imprisoned by the power of the grave. John tells us that the disciples were beside themselves with joy at the renewed and wholly unexpected presence of Jesus in their midst. In an instant their whole outlook had changed; despair now gave way to unbounded hope. Life would indeed henceforth be worth living.
That first group of disciples would be the nucleus of a new humanity because of the Spirit which the risen Christ breathed on them. Through the power of his death and resurrection peace and the forgiveness of sin would be forever available to those who believe. That little community in the upper room was the beginning of the new creation we know as the Church, the secure home here on earth which Jesus has founded for all of us. By sharing his Spirit with his disciples, Christ was ensuring that no human power would ever prevail against that Church. The abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and Son, would guarantee that.
The gospel concludes with the experience of Thomas, who would not be convinced that the Lord had risen unless he himself saw and touched him personally. The Lord graciously acceded to Thomas’s request and proceeded to articulate the truth that those who have not seen him but believe are equally blessed. What a consoling truth! Our faith opens the door for the risen Lord to come into our lives in just as real a way as he appeared to Thomas the Apostle. May our faith this Eastertide in the presence of Jesus bring us an abundance of his peace.
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