Commentary - John 20:19-23

Bird's-eye view

In this magnificent passage, the resurrected Christ appears to His disciples, transforming their fear into joy and commissioning them for their apostolic task. This is not merely a postscript to the resurrection; it is the inauguration of the new creation. The disciples are huddled in a locked room, paralyzed by fear, representing the state of the old world, a world under the dominion of sin and death. Into this locked-down, fearful world, the risen Lord comes, not by breaking down the door, but by passing right through it. He brings peace, demonstrates the reality of His bodily resurrection, and then bestows upon His followers the authority and the power to carry His mission forward. This is a foundational moment for the church, establishing her identity, her message, and her authority, all flowing directly from the triumphant work of Christ.

The scene is dense with theological significance. Christ's greeting of "Peace" is the pronouncement of the gospel itself, the declaration of reconciliation with God. His showing of His wounds grounds their faith not in a spiritual phantom, but in the crucified and risen Messiah. The commission He gives them is a direct extension of His own mission from the Father. And the breathing of the Holy Spirit is a new genesis, a new creation moment, empowering the church for its task of proclaiming the forgiveness of sins. This is where the Great Commission gets its engine, and where the church receives its marching orders.

Outline

Context In John

This passage is the climactic result of everything John has been building towards. The Word who was with God and was God (John 1:1) became flesh (John 1:14), lived among us, was crucified, and was buried. Now, on the evening of the very day of His resurrection, He appears to His chosen followers. This event is the first of several resurrection appearances recorded by John, and it serves as the formal commissioning of the apostles. It directly follows Mary Magdalene's report to the disciples that she has seen the Lord, a report they likely received with a mixture of confusion and nascent hope. Now, that hope is given a solid, tangible foundation. This scene sets the stage for the mission of the church, which will be empowered by the Spirit at Pentecost and will carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 19 So while it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and while the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

The setting is thick with meaning. It is the evening of the first day of the week, the day of new creation. The old Sabbath is past; the Lord's Day has dawned. But the disciples are not yet living in the reality of this new creation. They are behind shut doors, locked in. Why? "For fear of the Jews." The fear of man is a powerful snare, and it had these men completely trapped. They had seen their Master arrested and executed by the Jewish authorities, and they had every reason to believe they were next. This room is a picture of the world without the Spirit, a prison of fear. Into this self-imposed prison, Jesus comes. He does not knock. The doors are shut, but they are no obstacle to the resurrected Lord. This is a demonstration of His glorified body, and more than that, a demonstration of His sovereignty over the very world that crucified Him. He stands "in their midst," the center of their fellowship, the true focal point. And His first word is not a rebuke for their cowardice or their unbelief. His first word is a gift: "Peace be with you." This is not a casual greeting. This is the biblical concept of shalom, wholeness, reconciliation, well-being. It is the summary of the gospel. He has made peace through the blood of His cross, and now He delivers that peace personally to His terrified friends.

v. 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Peace is not a vague, ethereal concept. It was purchased at a great price. To ground their faith in reality, Jesus shows them the receipts. He shows them His hands and His side. These are the marks of His crucifixion, the very wounds that should have been signs of ultimate defeat. But in the resurrection, they are transformed into trophies of His victory over sin and death. He is not a ghost; He is the same Jesus who walked with them, ate with them, and died for them. This is crucial. The Christian faith is not founded on a set of abstract principles, but on a historical event: the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The disciples' response is immediate and profound. Fear is banished, and joy rushes in to take its place. "The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord." This is the characteristic response to the presence of the risen Christ. Where He is, there is joy. Their joy was not based on a change in their circumstances, the doors were still locked, and the Jews were still a threat. Their joy was based on the fact that their Lord was alive and with them.

v. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Jesus repeats His gift of peace, but this time it serves as the foundation for their commission. Having received His peace, they are now to be agents of that peace in the world. The commission itself is staggering in its scope: "as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." The mission of the disciples is to be patterned directly on the mission of the Son. How did the Father send the Son? He sent Him with all authority, to speak His words, to do His works, to reveal His character, and to accomplish His redemptive plan. And now, Jesus sends His disciples in the same way. This is the essence of apostolic authority. It is a derived authority, flowing from the Father, through the Son, to His chosen representatives. They are not to invent their own message or pursue their own agenda. They are to be ambassadors, carrying the message and mission of the one who sent them. This is the foundation of the Great Commission, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ, and on the basis of that authority, He sends us.

v. 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

This is a moment of profound theological weight, a new creation. Just as God breathed into Adam the breath of life in the first creation (Gen. 2:7), so now the Son breathes on His disciples to impart the life of the new creation. This is not to be confused with the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. This is a proleptic, or anticipatory, giving of the Spirit for their specific apostolic task. It is the anointing for the mission He has just given them. He commissions them, and then He immediately equips them. God never sends His people to do a task without providing the necessary resources. The mission is impossible in their own strength, but with the Holy Spirit, they will be enabled to be faithful witnesses. The Christian life, and particularly the work of ministry, is a supernatural endeavor that requires supernatural power.

v. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

Here we come to the authority that accompanies the commission and the Spirit. This verse has been the subject of much debate, but in its context, the meaning is straightforward. This is not giving the apostles the divine prerogative to forgive sins in an ultimate, judicial sense. Only God can do that. Rather, this is a declarative authority. As the ambassadors of Christ, empowered by the Spirit and armed with the gospel message, they are authorized to declare the terms of forgiveness. When they proclaim the gospel, that all who repent and believe in Christ will be forgiven, they are speaking with the authority of heaven. To those who believe, they can authoritatively declare, "Your sins are forgiven." This is what the church does every time the gospel is preached and the sacraments are administered. Conversely, to those who reject the gospel, they are to declare that their sins are retained. They are still in their sins, under condemnation. This is the authority of the keys of the kingdom (Matt. 16:19), the authority to bind and loose. It is the authority to declare what heaven has already decreed. The church does not invent the terms of salvation; it faithfully proclaims them. And when it does, its declarations have heavenly backing.

Application

This passage is not just a historical account; it is a blueprint for the life of the church in every age. First, we must confront our own locked doors. We are often paralyzed by fear, fear of the culture, fear of man, fear of failure. The only antidote to this fear is the presence of the risen Christ. He comes to us not when we are brave, but when we are huddled and afraid, and He speaks peace to our hearts. His peace is not dependent on our circumstances, but on His finished work.

Second, our faith must be grounded in the historical, bodily resurrection of Jesus. We worship a Savior with scars. His wounds are the proof of His love and the source of our salvation. This historical reality is what turns our fear into joy. We do not rejoice because life is easy, but because the Lord is risen.

Finally, we are a sent people. Just as the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sends us. This means our lives are not our own. We have been given a mission, a message, and the divine power of the Holy Spirit to carry it out. This includes the solemn responsibility to proclaim the terms of forgiveness. We are to faithfully declare the gospel, knowing that when we do, we are speaking with the authority of heaven itself. We are to tell people how they can be forgiven, and to warn them of the consequences of unbelief. This is the great privilege and solemn duty of the church, inaugurated in a locked room in Jerusalem, and continuing to the ends of the earth.