John 20:20, commentary and pictures

On the evening of the first day of the week the risen Jesus came to His disciples gathered in grief and despair in the upper chamber with doors shut and fastened for fear of the Jews. He showed them His wounded hands and pierced side with the marks of the nails, and His hands and feet, to prove that He was the same Jesus who had been crucified and was now alive, leaving no room for doubt. When they saw the Lord and recognized Him by His wounds with His familiar voice and form, their unbelief turned to faith and their fear and sorrow turned to gladness and joy. In holding out His hands and speaking peace He declares that He alone has taken away sin and ransomed and redeemed humanity, so that men have peace with God and are saved by His work and not their own, and that peace remains His legacy to His church. That recognition sent them as the Father had sent Him under the Holy Spirit's guidance with responsibility concerning forgiveness, and still brings present comfort when He draws near to the suffering believer with outspread hands speaking peace. Their gladness after anguish also parallels believers who after the disappointment of 1844 again saw Jesus by faith as their compassionate High Priest ministering in the heavenly Most Holy Place.

Setting and Proof

The appearance took place on the evening of the first day of the week, with the disciples assembled behind doors shut and fastened for fear of the Jews. They had gathered in grief and despair in the upper chamber where the last supper had been held, fearing they would suffer the same fate as their Teacher. It belongs to the two occasions on which Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples in the upper chamber after His resurrection. They were gathered in Jerusalem during Passover week, and He told them to remain in Jerusalem for a time before they went to Galilee.

He showed them His wounded hands and pierced side, with the marks of the nails, to prove that the risen Lord was the same Jesus who had been crucified. Seeing Him and the marks of His crucifixion gave evidence of His resurrection that made the eleven certain He had risen. That evidence left no room for doubt or unbelief that He was alive, and faith and joy took the place of unbelief. In showing Himself He presented His hands and feet, and when the disciples saw that it was the Lord their fear was turned into joy.

The disciples recognized Him by the wounds in His hands together with His familiar voice and form, and their recognition brought them to worship Him. At Emmaus He put His hands on the bread and blessed it in His own manner, and at the sound of His voice the disciples saw the wounds in His hands and knew the well-known form of their Master. The sight brought spellbound awe and full joy as they realized they had walked and talked for hours with the same One who endured the agony of the Garden and the shame of the cross and gained victory over death and the tomb. He is One before whom angels fall prostrate in worship, yet who seeks lonely and desponding disciples to teach and comfort them.

He returned to the disciples on the same day after ascending to His Father. He had gone to hear that God accepted His sacrifice and to receive power from Him. After this He showed Himself to them and allowed them to touch Him.

Faith, Peace, and Mission

When they saw the Lord they were glad, for He showed His wounded hands and pierced side as proof that the risen One was the same Jesus who had been crucified. The nail marks confirmed His identity, and as they recognized and acknowledged their risen Saviour their unbelief gave way to faith. Fear and sorrow were turned into joy and gladness, with faith and joy taking the place of unbelief.

His greeting of peace together with His wounds gave comfort in a trying hour, and that peace is His legacy left to His church. That comfort continues under the guidance of the Holy Spirit for those who accept Christ by living faith. In saying peace and holding out His hands He declares that it is He alone who has taken away sin and ransomed humanity and redeemed man. Christ the Mediator has overcome, so men have peace with God and are saved by His work and not by their own. Jesus lifted up as the sinner's Redeemer is the bread of life to hungry souls, and looking to Him gives faith and peace, which then appears in a holy life and service to others.

That recognition led into His sending them as the Father had sent Him, with His gift of the Holy Spirit and their responsibility concerning the forgiveness of sins. His followers are to work as He worked only under the Holy Spirit's supervision, and no one should presume to undertake God's work without the Spirit evidently upon them. Those who enter His school as His students receive power to become sons of God. They need not be troubled or anxious, because He will ratify His word and fulfill all His promises to them.

Prophecy and Comfort

The gladness of the disciples when they saw the risen Lord after the anguish and disappointment of His death foreshadows the experience of believers after the disappointment of 1844, who again saw Jesus by faith as their compassionate High Priest ministering in the heavenly Most Holy Place and soon to come as King and Deliverer. Their joy in beholding Him alive answers to the renewed sight of Christ in heaven after hope had seemed to fail. Their renewed hope and confidence in His Messiahship illustrates how those who discovered the truth of the third angel's message rejoiced and regained hope, as if brought back to life, and began again to proclaim the Lord's soon coming.

Christ still makes Himself present to a suffering believer in sympathy with hands outspread speaking peace, and the sight of His hands with His greeting brings sweet peace pervading the soul and rest of heart in the hope and faith of the gospel. That presence gives a sense of the canopy of God and the deep influence of the Holy Spirit, with perfect security, assurance of sustaining grace, removal of fear, grateful feeling for His love and protection, and trust without misgiving for a dreaded journey ahead, even when suffering and sickness are not healed. The gladness of the disciples on seeing the Lord becomes present comfort in wakeful hours of night pain through repeating comforting scriptural promises over and over. It leaves lasting security with the Word of God as sufficiency and Christ as hope, Redeemer, life, and crown of rejoicing.

When Jesus reveals Himself to His people they know Him at once as Jesus and are glad when they see the Lord. They confess their sins to God and to one another with broken and weeping hearts, then rejoice while the place is filled with the mellow light of heaven. They hear His musical voice say peace, and His peace becomes theirs.