The gospel of john 20 chapter read slavic. New Testament

At the very first day weeks, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, when it was still dark, and sees that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb.So, he runs and comes to Simon Peter and another disciple, whom Jesus loved, and says to them: They took the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they laid Him.

Immediately Peter and another disciple came out and went to the tomb.They both ran together; but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first.And, bending down, he saw the sheets lying; but didn't enter into the coffin. Following him comes Simon Peter, and enters the tomb, and sees only sheets lying,and the kerchief that was on his head, not lying with linen, but specially bundled in another place.Then another disciple also entered, who had previously come to the tomb, and saw, and believed.For they did not yet know from the Scriptures that He was to be raised from the dead.So the disciples returned to their homes again.

And Mary stood at the tomb and wept. And when she cried, she leaned into the coffin,and sees two angels sitting in a white robe, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay.And they say to her: wife! Why are you crying?

He says to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing; but did not know it was Jesus.

Jesus tells her: wife! Why are you crying? who are you looking for?

She, thinking that this is a gardener, says to Him: sir! if you have carried it, tell me where you have put it, and I will take it.

Jesus says to her: Mary!

She turned and said to Him: Ravboni! - which means: "Teacher!"

Jesus tells her: do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God."

Mary Magdalene goes and announces to the disciples that she has seen the Lord and what He told her this.

On the same first day of the week in the evening, when the doors at home where His disciples gathered, were shut up for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be with you!Having said this, He showed them His hands and feet and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.Jesus said to them a second time: peace to you! as the Father sent me, So and I am sending you.Having said this, he blew, and said to them: receive the Holy Spirit.To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, on that they will remain.

Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came.The other disciples said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger into the nail marks, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.

After eight days His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came when the doors were locked, stood in the midst of them and said: Peace be with you!Then Thomas says: put your finger here and see my hands; give me your hand and put it in my side; and do not be an unbeliever, but a believer.

Thomas answered Him, My Lord and my God!

Jesus tells him: you believed because you saw me; blessed are those who have not seen and believed.

Jesus did many other miracles in front of His disciples, which are not written in this book.But this is written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

20:1 On the first [day] of the week on the day after Saturday. Today this day of the week is known as "Sunday".
In Judea, in Hebrew, all days of the week were named according to the days of the week: the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and the day of rest (Shabbat).
The name "Sunday" as the first day of the week - they did not have.
See also the discussion of Mt. 28:1.

Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, when it was still dark and sees that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb
Here it is not necessary to see a contradiction with Mt. 28:1: at dawn on the first day of the week(“at the rising of the sun,” Mark 16:2).
John may have been referring to the time when Mary left the house, and the weather forecasters might have been referring to when she approached the tomb. It is also possible that Mary arrived at the tomb earlier than the other women described by the weather forecasters.
It cannot be said about Mary that she was from a timid dozen: not everyone dares to make such a path to the cemetery in the dark and alone.

20:2 So, he runs and comes to Simon Peter and to another disciple whom Jesus loved. To Peter and John

And he said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
The expression “we don’t know where they put it” from the lips of Mary alone says, firstly, that she was still not alone, as weather forecasters report. And, secondly, that the women did not expect the resurrection of Jesus, despite the fact that he repeatedly spoke about it before.
As we can see, even those who heard a lot from Christ himself did not necessarily immediately understand the meaning of his words. Moreover, today one should not expect that the reader of Scripture will immediately be able to understand everything from the first reading.
(about where the body of Christ was eaten if he was resurrected in the form of a spirit - see the analysis of Luke 24:3)

20:3-8 They both ran together; but the other disciple ran faster than Peter, and came first to the tomb.
Naturally, the students did not take Mary at her word, so they decided to make sure with their own eyes that she was telling the truth.
As you can see, the strengths and abilities can be different for the disciples of Christ, so the speed of movement is the same. Someone lags behind, someone overtakes, but this is normal. It is not normal - it is not adequate to treat this: the lagging behind should not be offended by the overtaking one, and the overtaking one should not exalt himself over the lagging behind.
The main thing is to reach your destination. John ran faster.

Simon Peter comes after him and enters the tomb.
However, Peter is bolder. This is what happens among Christians: one runs faster, the other acts more boldly, and together they do God's work.

Then another disciple also entered, who had previously come to the tomb, and saw, and believed.
John had to believe the words of the woman Mary.
There is often such a fuss under the sun: they look at the one who speaks, and do not hear WHAT the speaker says, therefore they often cannot believe, stumbling over the PERSON of the speaker the truth.
For many, for example, it is very difficult to imagine that God can decide to reveal something important through a woman; for some reason, it is still believed that only men are worthy of this lot.
But Scripture - as we see, showed a completely different turn of events, revealing to Mary what was hidden at that time from men: the fulfillment of the prophecy about her resurrection.

John and Peter carefully examined the tomb and saw complete order in it: it didn’t look like someone broke into the tomb and dragged away only the body of Jesus Christ: it’s unlikely that they began to unwind the burial sheets, they would have dragged them away with them and with a scarf on their heads , they would not neatly fold everything and put things in order in the tomb.

20:9 For they did not yet know from the Scriptures that He was to be raised from the dead.
So, the disciples of Christ did not expect the resurrection of Christ and were puzzled by what happened to the body of the Lord.
They still did not know from the Scriptures at that time that this is exactly how the death of Christ was supposed to happen - with the subsequent resurrection NOT on the LAST day, as he spoke about the resurrection of his followers and as was promised to the Jews (11:24), but almost immediately, on the third day after death (Acts 2:25-32, 13:35-37)

Many Christians still have not figured this out and believe that the resurrection of the dead occurs in the same way as it happened with Christ: on the third day, not taking into account that only about Christ was predicted in Scripture the resurrection on the third day .
From here - and different customs and superstitions were formed. On the third day - ONLY Christ is risen. All the rest, including those who should be with him in heaven, will not be resurrected soon (John 6:39,40,11:24, 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17)

20:10,11 So the disciples returned to their homes again. 11 And Mary stood at the tomb and wept. And when she cried, she leaned into the coffin
Everyone, except Mary, dispersed, but she was sincerely saddened that she could not do everything that was supposed to be done during burial with incense over the body of Jesus.
Maria generally understood little of what was happening, but her heart loved her most Christ. It was enough for him to open up to her and encourage her. Knowledge alone puffs up, and love for Christ is the foundation of the foundations for a believer.

20:12,13 and sees two angels sitting in a white robe, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay
At this point, the data of the four Gospels somewhat diverge: in Matt. 28:2 speaks of one angel, in Mk. 16:5 - about one young man, and in Lk. 24:4 - about two men who are also called "angels" (24:23).
This is not necessarily a contradiction, since the angels could have a human appearance, and one of them could be especially singled out, perhaps for the reason that only he spoke.
What Mary saw might be different from what the other women saw because she was left alone in the tomb after Peter and John left.

And they say to her: wife! Why are you crying? He says to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him. Anxiety about the fate of the dead Jesus did not give her peace, she was in great need of consolation.

20:14-16 Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing; but did not know it was Jesus.
Mary did not immediately recognize the person standing next to her as Christ: she could not even think that the person standing next to him could be Christ, because Christ died.
Yes, and the resurrected Jesus looked, most likely, completely different, and therefore was not recognized by Mary: he resurrected in the form of a spirit (1 Peter 3:18), and the spirit, apparently, can take any form and look different.

15 Jesus says to her, Wife! Why are you crying? who are you looking for? She, thinking that this is a gardener, says to Him: sir! if you carried it tell me where you put it and i will take it
As we can see, here the spirit of Christ appeared in the form of a gardener (for the idea that spirits have the ability to appear in different forms, see p.
OK. 24:3 1 ). Let us also pay attention to the fact that if Jesus had risen in his body, as the supporters of the bodily resurrection of Christ teach, then his body and face would have to be severely disfigured by wounds and bruises. But here a man was revealed to Mary with a normal appearance, which Mary was not at all afraid of. This once again shows the ability of the spirits, who Jesus became after the resurrection, to appear in different images.

Jesus says to her: Mary! She turned and said to Him: Rabbi! - which means: Teacher!
And only when he addressed her by name, as Jesus addressed - then she felt that it was him.
And who else, besides Mary, could confirm this inner confidence of her? No one: only she herself KNEW by sensations HOW Christ called her and could distinguish him by voice and address.

Here we debunk the idea of ​​the current opinion that women are “unsuitable” for understanding God’s intentions: if we think, say, according to the pattern of the scribes-Pharisees, then one would expect that Christ, after his resurrection, would have to be the first to appear to his apostles, to the brothers to whom he revealed conclusion of the New Testament. Moreover, women in Judea were relegated to the background in terms of authority.
But no: the stereotyped thinking of the scribe-Pharisee is not suitable for all occasions. And the first, strange as it may seem, Jesus appeared and revealed the fulfillment of the prophecy about his resurrection - not to the future members of the Jerusalem governing council of the first Christian congregation, but to a woman, moreover, a former harlot.

Christ has his own logic: whoever loves him and grieves for him most of all, who did not rush to leave with nothing, who wanted answers and made efforts for this (remember, Mary was not afraid of the dark and did not rush to leave the tomb) - Christ revealed himself to him .
20:17 Jesus says to her: do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father;
Possible translation: “do not hold” or “do not hold back” (Global BOC, Co.P, V. Kuznetsova) That is, Jesus does not talk about some magical phenomenon of touch, but only asks Mary not to delay him.

but go to my brethren and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.
Jesus explained to Mary that for the time being he could not be counted on, the continuation of his path was not here, he had to follow on, and Mary had to inform the disciples about the ascension of Christ.

Interestingly, even after the resurrection, Jesus called Jehovah – HIS Father and HIS God, just like the God of the resurrected Jesus – both the Father and the God of people.
This means that Jesus Christ cannot be Jehovah Himself, descended from heaven in the flesh, as some Christians teach. And part of Jehovah God - Jesus cannot be either. He - integral a spiritual person, but ANOTHER, NOT Jehovah, but His son.

20:18 Mary Magdalene goes and announces to the disciples [that] she saw the Lord and [that] He said this to her.
And again, the brothers should have wondered: how is it that God revealed to a woman what was not revealed to them? They had a choice: not to believe her words and to believe. In the first case, with the disappearance of the body of Christ from the tomb, they had the opportunity to check whether Mary was telling the truth or not. Now they didn't have that option. It only remained to trust her word, believing that Jesus revealed to her a prediction for a speedy ascent to the Father.

20:19 A series of proofs that the person who returned from non-existence is none other than Jesus Christ.
Evidence #1: Christ appears out of nowhere in a locked room.
On the same first day of the week in the evening, when the doors [of the house] where His disciples were assembled, were locked for fear of the Jews

The doors are tightly locked for fear of the Jews. The disciples could not meet openly at that time for fear of the Jews. It makes no sense to call fire on yourself on purpose, knowing the hostile attitude towards yourself and, thereby, provoking difficult circumstances for yourself. Wisdom helps to understand that such caution is not dictated by cowardice, but by prudence: artificially creating difficulties for oneself is not according to Christ.

However, the detail about the locked doors is mentioned by John for a reason:
Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them: Peace be with you!
That is, the disciples would have to think about how Jesus could get into a locked room. Locked doors are not a hindrance to Christ, but it is also not a fact that he enters through closed doors, he just appears, and no one knows where from.

The appearance of Jesus in the room with the doors locked is also consistent with the testimony of two other disciples, who told that Jesus, being with them in the house, suddenly became invisible (Luke 24:31).

20:20 Evidence #2: Jesus shows off his arms, legs, and ribs, the parts of his body that were wounded. Seeing that the wounds of Jesus are safe and sound, and shown in their original form, the disciples should have guessed that Jesus is in front of them, which means that he still rose from the dead, as Mary had previously reported:
Having said this, He showed them His hands and feet and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Many, showing these texts, believe that Jesus resurrected in his former body and therefore believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, and not in the form of a spirit.
However, we reflect again, as in the text 20:15 : If Jesus were resurrected again in human body, then God, renewing his body at the resurrection, would not have left on it any holes from nails, or wounds from beatings, or a disfigured face. As he will not leave in the resurrected people - flaws and shortcomings from their former bodies, but will renew them, make them fresher than in youth (Job 33:25)

Jesus, resurrected in the form of a spirit, appeared to the apostles in the form of a body ONLY with wounds from nails (note, about the disfigured face, about bruises and wounds from beatings - nothing is said, because it was impossible for Christ to be disfigured, he would have frightened the disciples to death) - in order to strengthen in the disciples the belief that it was he was resurrected, the same Jesus who was crucified on Golgotha ​​on Nisan 14.

20: 21-23 Jesus said to them a second time: Peace be with you! as the Father sent me, [so] I am sending you. …. To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, on that they will remain.
Jesus empowers his disciples to solve problems in Christian congregations, not to condemn a person to condemnation.

Having said this, he blew, and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit .
Jesus had already risen, had already been glorified, and could already give his disciples a helper from above - the holy spirit from his heavenly Father. Previously, he could not do this (John 7:39

The question arises: why on Pentecost - AFTER this event - did they need to give the holy spirit again?

For at least 4 reasons.
1) to fulfill the Old Testament holiday of gathering the firstfruits of the harvest - Pentecost - in the form of gathering the firstfruits of the spiritual harvest (the first set of anointed ones of the New Testament who received the holy spirit thanks to Christ).
The feast of Pentecost itself marked the entry into force of the New Testament with God: this happened 50 days after the Easter of the New Testament - just like Old Testament was concluded with the people of Jehovah 50 days after the exodus from Egypt
(Ex. 19:1-11).

2) in order to strengthen the faith of not only 11 apostles after their departure to heaven (Thomas was not present during the transfer of the holy spirit to the apostles), but also all those who became members of the first Christian congregation, entering into the New Testament with God on the 50th day after the death of Christ ( Pascha N.Z.): after all, Jesus had already left them and instead of himself gave another helper, as he had promised (John 16:7)

3) 120 witnesses to the phenomenon of the descent of the holy spirit thanks to the resurrected Jesus Christ - this is a serious testimony: if not 11, but 120 people see the phenomenon of the descent of the holy spirit, then the events are not accidental and real.

4) it was necessary to start preaching to a multinational land: all Jehovah's worshipers from different countries flocked to Jerusalem for the holiday, just an opportunity to START fulfilling the work of Jehovah entrusted by Christ.

20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came.
The case that gave rise to the popular expression "Doubting Thomas". He missed only one meeting of the congregation of Christ's disciples, and he lost so much: he did not see Christ and received the gift of anointing with the holy spirit not with all the apostles, but later.

20:25 unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, and put my finger into the nail wounds, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe
You can’t blame him for complete disbelief: of course, it’s much easier to believe in the visible, but even this didn’t help some (recall the example of ancient Israel)
Thomas was not hopeless, rather, he lacked faith in something in part. Otherwise, Christ would not have appeared personally to Thomas for the sake of strengthening his faith: Christ considered it necessary to help Thomas to believe that God had resurrected him and that now he is alive.

It is not worth making hasty conclusions about the unbelief of those who fail to believe in God and His Christ - the first time.

20:26 After eight days... Jesus came...
on this appearance of Jesus to Thomas on the 8th day - also many Christians today build a superstition that the dead come to their loved ones - on the 8th day after the funeral. And if they are not remembered, they will be offended and may begin to harm.
However, we remember that these phenomena occurred only with Christ - a perfect man who appeared on earth - from heaven. With sinful people, born in the simplest human way, such phenomena do not occur.

20:27 says to Thomas: Put your finger here and see my hands; give me your hand and put it in my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing
As we can see, Christ does not condemn him, on the contrary: he patiently helps Thomas to verify the veracity of the words of the other disciples that God raised Christ. But he does not encourage everyone to be like him.
If there is an opportunity to help someone to believe by painstaking and additional clarification of the truth of God from the Scriptures - you should not refuse this to anyone.

20:28 Thomas answered Him, My Lord and my God!
The test had an effect: Thomas was convinced that before him was Jesus Christ, resurrected by God.
What does his exclamation "My Lord and my God!" refer to?
Someone may decide that Thomas says that Jesus is both the Lord of Thomas and his God, which cannot be: Jesus Christ, even after the resurrection, explained who exactly is the God of Thomas and all the other disciples, Jesus himself - in including:
Jesus says to her: do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them: I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God. (John 20:17).

It is known for sure that Jesus always spoke the truth, after the resurrection - too: he is definitely not the God of Thomas and the rest of his disciples. The authenticity and truth of the words of Christ is undeniable. So what was Thomas talking about and why didn't Jesus correct him? (say, I'm not God)

1) The very expression "My Lord and my God" - can be translated by the expression "Lord my God", which is often found in V.Z.This expression is still relevant today. Where did it come from? It is clear that from the ancient history of Israel, therefore, it is reflected in the Bible and has become an idiom (there are many idioms in the Bible: "three days' journey" - meaning "very far"; "cornerstone" - "the basis of something important", "trumpet of Jericho" - "someone is shouting very loudly", etc.).

2) In Israel, the use of this expression was common in cases where the Jews were in an emotional shock due to some improbability of a tragedy or, on the contrary, some kind of miracle that happened before their eyes.
Since any miraculously occurring improbability is from Jehovah, which all the Jews knew very well, they reacted to all improbability, addressing Jehovah with the words "Lord my God"! (e.g. 1 Kings 17:20,21; 1 Chr. 21:17 Ps. 29:3; 39:6; 103:1 Jon. 2:7).
These words expressed admiration for Jehovah and reverent awe before the One who works unseen miracles and always amazes with unseen possibilities.

The same thing happened in the case of Thomas: when he saw the miraculous appearance of Christ before him, who died recently and was buried, he experienced a strong emotional shock: this picture was too incredible. How?! Can Jesus stand before him if he is dead?! Words of admiration for the capabilities of Jehovah and trembling reverence for Him escaped from the lips of Thomas, shocked to the depths of his soul, at the sight of this miracle of miracles: the fact that Jehovah raised Christ, which Thomas did not believe in before, was now confirmed by Thomas’s own eyes and his hands, which checked the certainty of the wounds of the risen Christ.

From this it becomes clear why Jesus did not correct Thomas: since Jesus understood exactly what Thomas meant by saying this (Thomas expressed admiration for Jehovah, which the Jews always expressed in cases of incredible incidents) - therefore he did not take these words personally (there was no need to correct Thomas).

Total: in this textThomas expressed his admiration for Jehovah who resurrected Christ, and not for Jesus Christ. All the apostles and other Jews knew that their omnipotent God is Jehovah, about which Jesus assured them even after he was resurrected, saying that he and all his disciples still had the same God and Father - Jehovah, to whom the resurrected Jesus will soon go to heaven (John 20:17; 16:28; 6:62).
Jehovah, even after the ascension of Christ, and even after a thousand years of the reign of Christ, will remain the God of Jesus and Christians - forever (Rev. 1:6; 21:22; 1 Cor. 15:24).

20:29 Jesus says to him: you believed because you saw me; blessed are those who have not seen and believed.
Jesus uses the situation that has arisen in order to once again show the disciples how IMPORTANT it is to BELIEVE in the INVISIBLE, especially since Christ will no longer come to the majority of future disciples the way he came to Thomas, personally, telling them the good news: for this he sets the apostles .

No one argues, believing in the invisible is much more difficult: for this you need to think and find God in your mind with the spirit of your mind. And whoever can believe in the invisible is blessed.
Everything is possible for God: He helps to believe in the invisible to everyone who makes efforts to find Him and draw closer to Him.

20:30 Jesus did many other miracles before His disciples, which are not written in this book. Jesus, it turns out, performed many more miracles than the evangelists recorded. The main and different in essence were chosen: healing, feeding, resurrection, possession of the elements. So that all of them will be understood later and in a spiritual sense, explaining the essence of the conditions of life in the world order of God.

In general, in life, if you look at it, almost everything seems to be the main thing for us. But from the many main things, one must have time to learn how to choose THAT main thing that will help one become a Christian in the image and likeness of God. For everything in general, the main thing is not only not enough time, but also life. As well as the description of all the miracles of Christ.

20:31 But this is written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
God prompted the apostles to write down only those fragments from the life of Christ that are important for a person to know God through Christ, to get acquainted with His intentions and to believe that thanks to the appearance of Christ on earth and the fact that he sacrificed himself, humanity has a chance to live forever .

Comments on Chapter 20

INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THE GOSPEL FROM THE EYE OF EAGLE

A GOSPEL DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS

SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE OF JOHN

THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH JOHN WRITTEN

THE ORIGIN OF HERESIES

b) In addition, in the era of the writing of the fourth gospel, the heresy known as common name gnosticism. If we do not examine it in detail, we will miss a good deal of the greatness of the evangelist John and miss a certain aspect of his task. Gnosticism was based on the doctrine that matter is inherently vicious and pernicious, while the spirit is inherently good. The Gnostics therefore concluded that God Himself could not touch matter and therefore He did not create the world. He, in their opinion, emitted a series of emanations (radiations), each of which was farther and farther away from Him, until, finally, one of these radiations turned out to be so far from Him that it could come into contact with matter. It was this emanation (radiation) that was the creator of the world.

This idea, in itself quite vicious, was further corrupted by one addition: each of these emanations, according to the Gnostics, knew less and less about God, until one day a moment came when these emanations not only completely lost the knowledge of God, but also became completely hostile to Him. And so the Gnostics finally concluded that the creator god was not only completely different from the real God, but also completely alien to him and hostile to him. One of the leaders of the Gnostics, Tserinthius, said that "the world was not created by God, but by some force very far from Him and from that Force that rules the entire universe, and alien to God, Who stands above everything."

The Gnostics therefore believed that God had nothing to do with the creation of the world at all. That is why John begins his gospel with a resounding statement: "Through Him everything came into being, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being" (1,3). This is why John insists that "God so loved peace" (3.16). In the face of Gnosticism, which so alienated God and turned Him into a being who could have nothing to do with the world at all, John introduced the Christian concept of God, who created the world and whose presence fills the world that He created.

Gnostic theory also influenced their idea of ​​Jesus.

a) Some Gnostics believed that Jesus was one of these emanations that God radiated. They believed that He had nothing to do with Divinity, that He was a kind of demigod removed from the true real God, that He was just one of the beings standing between God and the world.

b) Other Gnostics believed that Jesus did not have a real body: the body is flesh, and God cannot, in their opinion, touch matter, and therefore Jesus was a kind of ghost that did not have a real body and real blood. They believed, for example, that when Jesus walked the earth, He left no footprints because His body had no weight or substance. They could never say, "And the Word became flesh" (1:14). The prominent father of the Western Church, Aurelius Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hypon (North Africa), says that he read a lot of contemporary philosophers and found that many of them are very similar to what is written in the New Testament, but , he says: "I did not find such a phrase among them:" The Word became flesh and dwelt among us ". That's why John in his first epistle insisted that Jesus came itself, and declared that anyone who denies it is driven by the spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:3). This heresy is known as docetism. This word comes from the Greek docaine, What means seem, and the heresy is so called because its followers believed that people only thought that Jesus was a man.

c) Some Gnostics held a variant of this heresy: they held that Jesus was a man upon whom the Holy Spirit descended at his baptism. This Spirit dwelt in Him throughout His life to its end, but since the Spirit of God cannot suffer or die, He left Jesus before He was crucified. The loud cry of Jesus on the cross they conveyed thus: "My Power, My Power! why did you leave Me?" And in their books, these heretics spoke of people talking on the Mount of Olives with an image very similar to Him, although the man Jesus was dying on the cross.

Thus, the heresies of the Gnostics resulted in two kinds of beliefs: some did not believe in the divinity of Jesus and considered Him to be one of the emanations that God radiated, while others did not believe in the human essence of Jesus and considered Him to be a human-like ghost. Gnostic beliefs destroyed both the true divinity and the true humanity of Jesus.

THE HUMAN NATURE OF JESUS

John responds to these theories of the Gnostics and this explains the strange paradox of the double emphasis he puts in his gospel. No other gospel emphasizes the true humanity of Jesus so clearly as does the gospel of John. Jesus was extremely indignant at what people were selling and buying in the Temple (2,15); Jesus was physically tired from the long journey as he sat by the well at Sychar in Samaria (4,6); the disciples offered him food in the same way they would offer it to any hungry person (4,3); Jesus sympathized with those who were hungry and those who felt fear (6,5.20); He felt sad and even wept, as any bereaved would do. (11,33.35 -38); when Jesus was dying on the cross, His parched lips whispered: "I thirst" (19,28). In the fourth gospel we see Jesus as a man, not a shadow or ghost; in Him we see a man who knew the weariness of an exhausted body and the wounds of a suffering soul and a suffering mind. In the fourth gospel we have before us a truly human Jesus.

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS

On the other hand, no other gospel shows the divinity of Jesus so vividly.

a) John emphasizes eternity Jesus. "Before Abraham was," said Jesus, "I am" (8,58). In John, Jesus speaks of the glory that He had with the Father before the world was. (17,5). He talks over and over about how he came down from heaven (6,33-38). John saw in Jesus the One who had always been, even before the existence of the world.

b) The Fourth Gospel emphasizes, as no other, omniscience Jesus. John believes that Jesus most definitely had supernatural knowledge about the Samaritan woman's past. (4,16.17); it is quite obvious that He knew how long ago the man who lay in the pool of Bethesda was ill, although no one tells Him about it. (5,6); before asking Philip a question, he already knew what answer he would receive (6,6); He knew that Judas would betray him (6,61-64); He knew about the death of Lazarus even before he was told about it (11,14). John saw Jesus as someone who had special supernatural knowledge, independent of what anyone could tell him, he didn't have to ask questions because he knew all the answers.

c) The fourth gospel also emphasizes the fact that Jesus always acted completely on his own, without any influence on him from anyone. He performed the miracle in Cana of Galilee on his own initiative, and not at the request of His Mother (2,4); His brethren's motives had nothing to do with His visit to Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles (7,10); no man took His life, no man could do it. He gave His life completely willingly (10,18; 19,11). In the eyes of John, Jesus had divine independence from all human influence. He was completely independent in his actions.

In refuting the Gnostics and their strange beliefs, John irrefutably shows both the humanity of Jesus and His divinity.

AUTHOR OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL

We see that the author of the fourth Gospel set as his goal to show the Christian faith in such a way that it would become interesting for the Greeks, to whom Christianity has now come, and, at the same time, to speak out against the heresies and errors that arose within the Church. We keep asking ourselves: who was its author? Tradition unanimously says that the author was the apostle John. We shall see that there is no doubt that John's authority is indeed behind this gospel, although it is quite possible that it was not he who wrote it down and gave it its form. Let's collect everything we know about John.

He was the youngest of the sons of Zebedee, who owned a fishing boat on the Sea of ​​Galilee and was rich enough to employ indentured laborers. (Mark 1:19-20). John's mother was called Salome and it is possible that she was the sister of Mary, Mother of Jesus (Matt. 27:56; Mark 16:1). John, along with his brother James, following the call of Jesus, followed Him (Mark 1:20).

It looks like James and John were fishing with Peter (Luke 5:7-10). And John belonged to the closest disciples of Jesus, because the list of disciples always begins with the names of Peter, James and John, and at some great events only these three were present. (Mark 3:17; 5:37; 9:2; 14:33).

By nature, John, quite obviously, was a restless and ambitious person. Jesus gave John and his brother a name voanerges, What means sons of Thunder. John and his brother James were impatient and opposed any self-will on the part of others (Mark 9:38; Luke 9:49). Their temperament was so unbridled that they were ready to wipe out the Samaritan village from the face of the earth, because they were not given hospitality there when they were on their way to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:54). Either they themselves or their mother Salome cherished ambitious plans. They asked Jesus that when He received His Kingdom, He would seat them on the right and left side in His glory. (Mark 10:35; Matt. 20:20). In the synoptic gospels, John is presented as the leader of all the disciples, a member of Jesus' intimate circle, and yet extremely ambitious and impatient.

In the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, John always speaks with Peter, but does not speak himself. His name is among the first three in the list of apostles (Acts 1:13). John was with Peter when they healed the lame man near the Red Gate of the Temple (Acts 3:1 ff.). Together with Peter, they brought him and placed him before the Sanhedrin and the leaders of the Jews; in court, both behaved amazingly boldly (Acts 4:1-13). John went with Peter to Samaria to check on what Philip had done there. (Acts 8:14).

In Paul's epistles, the name of John is mentioned only once. AT Gal. 2.9 he is called a pillar of the Church along with Peter and James, who approved of Paul's actions. John was a complex person: on the one hand, he was one of the leaders among the apostles, a member of the intimate circle of Jesus - His closest friends; on the other hand, he was a wayward, ambitious, impatient and at the same time courageous person.

We can look at what was said about John in the early church age. Eusebius relates that he was exiled to the island of Patmos during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian (Eusebius, Church History, 3.23). In the same place, Eusebius tells a characteristic story about John, borrowed from Clement of Alexandria. He became a kind of bishop of Asia Minor and once visited one of the church communities near Ephesus. Among the parishioners, he noticed a slender and very handsome young man. John turned to the presbyter of the community and said: "I hand over this young man under your responsibility and care, and I call the parishioners to witness this."

The presbyter took the young man to his house, took care of him and instructed him, and the day came when the young man was baptized and received into the community. But soon after that, he made friends with bad friends and committed so many crimes that he eventually became the leader of a gang of murderers and thieves. When John visited the community again some time later, he addressed the elder: "Restore the trust that I and the Lord have placed in you and the church you lead." The presbyter did not at first understand what John was talking about. "I mean that you give an account of the soul of the young man whom I entrusted to you," said John. "Alas," replied the presbyter, "he perished." "Dead?" John asked. "For God's sake, he perished," replied the presbyter, "he fell from grace and was forced to flee the city for his crimes, and now he is a robber in the mountains." And John went straight to the mountains, deliberately allowed himself to be captured by the bandits, who led him to the young man, who was now the leader of the gang. Tormented by shame, the young man tried to run away from him, but John ran after him. "My son!" he shouted, "You are running from your father. I am weak and old, take pity on me, my son; do not be afraid, there is still hope for your salvation. I will defend you before the Lord Jesus Christ. If necessary, I I will gladly die for you, as He died for me. Stop, wait, believe! It was Christ who sent me to you." Such a call broke the heart of the young man, he stopped, threw away his weapon and sobbed. Together with John, he descended from the mountain and returned to the Church and the Christian path. Here we see the love and courage of John.

Eusebius (3,28) tells another story about John, which he found from Irenaeus (140-202), a student of Polycarp of Smyrna. As we have noted, Cerinthius was one of the leading Gnostics. "The Apostle John once came to the bathhouse, but when he learned that Tserinthius was there, he jumped up from his seat and rushed out, because he could not stay under the same roof with him, and advised his companions to do the same. "Let's leave so that the bathhouse does not collapse he said, “because there is Cerinthius inside, the enemy of truth.” Here is another touch to John's temperament: Boanerges has not yet died in him.

John Cassion (360-430), who made a significant contribution to the development of the doctrine of grace and to the development of Western European monasticism, gives another story about John. Once he was found playing with a tamed partridge. The stricter brother rebuked him for wasting his time, to which John replied: "If the bow is always kept taut, it will soon cease to shoot straight."

Jerome of Dalmatia (330-419) has an account of John's last words. When he was about to die, the disciples asked him what he would like to say to them in the end. "My children," he said, "love one another," and then he repeated it again. "And it's all?" asked him. "That's enough," said John, "for it's the covenant of the Lord."

FAVORITE STUDENT

If we have carefully followed what is said here about the apostle John, we should have noticed one thing: we have taken all our information from the first three Gospels. It is surprising that the name of the apostle John is never mentioned in the fourth Gospel. But two other people are mentioned.

First, it talks about the disciple whom Jesus loved. He is mentioned four times. He reclined at the chest of Jesus during the Last Supper (John 13:23-25); Jesus left his mother to him when he died on the cross (19,25-27); he and Peter were greeted by Mary Magdalene upon her return from the empty tomb on the first morning of Easter (20,2), and he was present at the last appearance of the resurrected Jesus to his disciples on the shores of the Sea of ​​Tiberias (21,20).

Secondly, in the fourth gospel there is a character that we would call witness, eyewitness. When the fourth gospel tells how a soldier struck Jesus in the ribs with a spear, after which blood and water immediately flowed out, this is followed by the comment: "And he who saw testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he speaks the truth, that you may believe" (19,35). At the end of the Gospel, it is again said that this beloved disciple bears witness to all this, "and we know that his testimony is true" (21,24).

Here we have a rather strange thing. In the fourth gospel, John is never mentioned, but the Beloved Disciple is mentioned, and, in addition, there is a special witness, an eyewitness to the whole story. Traditionally, there was never any doubt that the beloved disciple was John. Only a few tried to see Lazarus in him, for it is said that Jesus loved Lazarus (John 11:3.5), or rich young man, which is said that Jesus, looking at him, loved him (Mark 10:21). But although the Gospel never speaks of it in such detail, by tradition the beloved disciple has always been identified with John, and there is no need to question this.

But one very real problem arises - if we assume that John really wrote the gospels himself, would he really talk about himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved? Would he have wanted to single himself out in this way and, as it were, declare: "I was His favorite, He loved me most of all?" It may seem unlikely that John would have given himself such a title. If it is given by others, it is a very pleasant title, but if a person appropriates it for himself, it borders on almost incredible vanity.

Maybe then this gospel was the testimony of John, but was written by someone else?

PRODUCTION OF THE CHURCH

In our search for truth, we began by noting the outstanding and exceptional moments of the fourth gospel. The most remarkable thing is the long speeches of Jesus, sometimes occupying whole chapters, and completely different from how Jesus is represented by his speeches in the other three Gospels. The Fourth Gospel was written about 100 AD, that is, approximately seventy years after the crucifixion of Christ. Can what was written seventy years later be considered a literal transmission of what Jesus said? Or is it a retelling of them with the addition of what has become clearer over time? Let's keep this in mind and consider the following.

Among the works of the young Church, a whole series of reports have come down to us, and some of them relate to the writing of the fourth Gospel. The oldest of them belongs to Irenaeus, who was a student of Polycarp of Smyrna, who, in turn, was a student of John. Thus, there was a direct connection between Irenaeus and John. Irenaeus writes: "John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned on His chest, himself published Gospel in Ephesus while he lived in Asia."

Suggests a word in this phrase of Irenaeus that John is not just wrote Gospel; he says that John published (Exedoke) him in Ephesus. The word that Irenaeus used suggests that it was not just a private publication, but the publication of some official document.

Another account belongs to Clement of Alexandria, who in 230 was the leader of the great Alexandrian school. He wrote: "The most recent John, seeing that everything connected with the material and bodily, was properly reflected in the Gospels, encouraged by his friends, wrote the spiritual gospel.

Here great importance has the expression being encouraged by your friends. It becomes clear that the fourth gospel is more than the personal work of one person, and that behind it is a group, a community, a church. In the same vein, we read of the fourth gospel in a tenth-century list called the Codex Toletanus, in which each of the books of the New Testament is preceded by a short summary. Concerning the fourth gospel, it says the following:

"The Apostle John, whom the Lord Jesus loved most of all, was the last to write his Gospel at the request of the Bishops of Assia against Cerinthius and other heretics."

Here again is the thought that behind the fourth gospel is the authority of the group and the Church.

And now let's turn to a very important document, known as the Muratorian Canon - it is named after the scholar Muratori who discovered it. This is the first list of New Testament books ever published by the Church, compiled in Rome in the year 170. It not only lists the books of the New Testament, but gives brief accounts of the origin, nature, and content of each. Of great interest is the account of how the fourth gospel was written:

"At the request of his fellow disciples and his bishops, John, one of the disciples, said: "Fast with me three days from this, and whatever is revealed to each of us, whether in favor of my gospel or not, we will tell it to each other ". That same night it was revealed to Andrew that John should tell everything, and he should be helped by all the others, who then check everything written.

We cannot agree that the Apostle Andrew was in Ephesus in the year 100 (apparently it was another disciple), but it is quite clear here that although the authority, mind and memory of the Apostle John is behind the fourth Gospel, it is not by one person, but by a group.

And now we can try to imagine what happened. Around the year 100, there was a group of people around the apostle John in Ephesus. These people revered John as a saint and loved him like a father: he must have been about a hundred years old at the time. They wisely reasoned that it would be very good if the aged apostle wrote down his memories of the years when he was with Jesus.

But, in the end, they did a lot more. We can imagine them sitting and reliving the past. They must have said to each other, "Do you remember what Jesus said...?" And John must have answered, "Yes, and now we understand what Jesus meant to say..." In other words, these people were not only writing down what spoke Jesus - it would only be a victory of memory, they wrote down that Jesus meant by it. They were guided in this by the Holy Spirit Himself. John thought through every word Jesus ever said, and he did it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit so real in him.

There is one sermon entitled "What Jesus Becomes to the Man Who Knows Him Long." This title is an excellent definition of Jesus as we know Him from the fourth gospel. All this has been excellently expounded by the English theologian A. G. N. Green-Armitage in his book John Who Saw with His Own Eyes. The gospel of Mark, he says, with its clear presentation of the facts of the life of Jesus, is very convenient for missionary; The gospel of Matthew, with its systematic exposition of the teachings of Jesus, is very convenient for mentor; The Gospel of Luke, with its deep sympathy for the image of Jesus as the friend of all people, is very convenient for parish priest or preacher, and the gospel of john is the gospel for contemplative mind.

Green-Armitage goes on to talk about the apparent difference between the Gospels of Mark and John: "Both of these Gospels are in a sense the same. But where Mark sees things flatly, directly, literally, John sees them subtly, penetratingly, spiritually. One might say, that John illuminates the lines of the Gospel of Mark with a lamp."

This is an excellent characteristic of the fourth gospel. That is why the Gospel of John is the greatest of all the Gospels. His goal was not to convey the words of Jesus, as in a newspaper report, but to convey the meaning inherent in them. It speaks of the Risen Christ. Gospel of John - it is rather the gospel of the Holy Spirit. John of Ephesus didn't write it, the Holy Spirit wrote it through John.

WRITER OF THE GOSPEL

We need to answer one more question. We are sure that the mind and memory of the Apostle John are behind the fourth Gospel, but we saw that there is another witness behind it who wrote it, that is, literally put it on paper. Can we find out who it was? From what the early Christian writers have left us, we know that at that time there were two Johns in Ephesus: the apostle John and John, known as John the Presbyter, John the Elder.

Papias (70-145), Bishop of Hierapolis, who loved to collect everything related to the history of the New Testament and the biography of Jesus, left us very interesting information. He was a contemporary of John. Papias writes of himself that he was trying to find out "what Andrew said, or what Peter said, or what was said by Philip, or Thomas, or James, or John, or Matthew, or any of the Lord's disciples, or what Aristion and presbyter John - disciples of the Lord." In Ephesus there were apostle John and presbyter John; and presbyter(Elder) John was so beloved by all that he was actually known by the name elder elder, it is clear that he held a special place in the Church. Eusebius (263-340) and Dionysius the Great report that even in their time there were two famous graves in Ephesus: one - John the Apostle, the other - John the Presbyter.

And now let's turn to two short epistles - the Second and Third Epistles of the Apostle John. These epistles are written by the same hand as the Gospel, but how do they begin? The second epistle begins with the words: "The elder to the chosen lady and her children" (2 John 1). The third epistle begins with the words: "The elder to the beloved Gaius" (3 John 1). Here it is, our solution. In reality, the epistles were written by Presbyter John; they reflect the thoughts and memory of the aged Apostle John, whom John the Presbyter always characterizes with the words "the disciple whom Jesus loved."

GOSPEL DEAR TO US

The more we learn about the fourth gospel, the dearer it becomes to us. For seventy years John thought about Jesus. Day after day the Holy Spirit revealed to him the meaning of what Jesus had said. And so, when John already had a whole century behind him and his days were drawing to a close, he and his friends sat down and began to remember. Presbyter John held a pen in his hand to record the words of his mentor and leader, the apostle John. And the last of the apostles wrote down not only what he heard from Jesus, but also what he now understood Jesus meant. He remembered how Jesus had said, "I have much more to say to you, but now you cannot bear it. When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth." (John 16:12-13).

There was much that John did not understand then, seventy years ago; much has been revealed to him during these seventy years by the Spirit of truth. And all this John wrote down, although the dawn of eternal glory was already breaking for him. When reading this Gospel, we must remember that it told us through the mind and memory of the Apostle John and through John the Presbyter the true thoughts of Jesus. Behind this gospel is the whole church of Ephesus, all the saints, the last of the apostles, the Holy Spirit and the Risen Christ Himself.

UNDERSTANDING LOVE (John 20:1-10)

Nobody loved Jesus like Mary Magdalene. He did something for her that no one else could do, and she couldn't forget it. Tradition says that Mary had a bad reputation, but Jesus restored her, forgave her and cleansed her.

According to the custom of Palestine, the dead were visited within three days after burial. People believed that the spirit of the deceased hovered near the burial for three days, and then moved away, because the body became unrecognizable from the decomposition process. The friends of Jesus could not come to the tomb the next day, because it was the Sabbath. Traveling on the Sabbath was against the law.

Mary came to the tomb not on Saturday, but on the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday. She came very early, at the fourth watch, between 3 and 6 o'clock in the morning. The time was before dawn, but Mary could not stand it and came into the garden to the tomb.

When she arrived, she was surprised and amazed at what she saw there. The tombs in those distant times did not have doors, but in front of the entrance to it there was a recess in the ground, and a stone was rolled along it, like a huge wheel, and rolled it to the opening of the tomb. In addition, as Matthew says, the rulers assigned guards and applied a seal to the tomb so that no one would dare to touch the stone. (Matt. 27:66). Maria was very surprised when she saw that the stone had been rolled away. Two things might have occurred to her: she might have thought that the Jews had carried off the body of the Lord in order to somehow abuse it, not being satisfied with the torment of the Cross, or that thieves had stolen the body in search of prey.

Mary realized that there was something here that she could not handle on her own, and she returned to the city to look for Peter and John. Maria was one of those rare individuals who can love and believe even when they don't understand anything. But it is this kind of love and this kind of faith that ultimately achieves glory.

THE GREAT DISCOVERY (John 20:1-10 (continued))

What particularly touches us in this story is that Peter is still the recognized elder of the apostles. Mary ran to him. Despite the denial of Christ (such a message should have spread quickly), Peter was still in charge. We often talk about Peter's breakdown, but there must have been something extraordinary about a man who could look others in the eye after his flight. There must have been something in a man whom others were ready to leave as their leader even after such a downfall. May his fleeting weakness not obscure in our eyes the moral strength of Peter, and the fact that he was born a leader.

So Mary ran to Peter and John, and as soon as they learned from her what was the matter, they went to the tomb. They did not go, but ran there. John, who was apparently younger than Peter, since he lived to the end of the century, outstripped Peter and ran to the tomb first. He looked inside, but went no further. Peter, with his characteristic impulsiveness, entered the tomb and was greatly surprised by what he saw there. While Peter was wondering, John began to think something: if the robbers took away the body of Jesus, why did they leave the burial robe and the handkerchief that was wrapped around his head?

Reasoning like this to himself, John drew attention to one more circumstance: things were not lying in disorder, but as if no one had touched them at all, with the same folds that should be when a body is wrapped in them. In Greek, this is precisely how it is said that things lay untouched and the handkerchief lay folded separately. The essence of this detailed description of this picture is that the linen and handkerchief lay as if Jesus had evaporated from them. John suddenly realized what was the matter, and believed, not because he read something about it in Scripture, but because he saw everything with his own eyes.

Love plays an exceptional role in this story. Mary, who loved the Lord so much, came to the tomb first; John, the beloved disciple of the Lord and also deeply loving Him, was the first to believe in His Resurrection. Undoubtedly, this will forever remain his most joyful experience. After all, he was the first person who understood and believed. Love opened his eyes to the signs of the Resurrection and his heart to accept it. John looked, understood and believed.

Here we also find one great life principle. We cannot interpret the thoughts of another person if we are not close to him with all our being sincerely. For example, when a conductor is not intimately familiar with a composer's work, he cannot convey his feelings to others through the orchestra. Love is the best interpreter. Love comprehends the truth while the mind wanders in the darkness of uncertainty. Love knows the meaning of things as long as research is still blind to it.

One young artist brought to Dora a portrait of Christ, painted by him, so that he would give him an assessment. Doré hesitated to answer, but finally uttered only one phrase: "You do not love Him, otherwise you would have portrayed Him much better." We can neither love Jesus nor help others understand Him until we give Him our hearts.

THE GREAT IDENTIFICATION (John 20:11-18)

Someone called this event the greatest recognition in all of literature. Mary Magdalene has the honor of being the first to see the Risen Christ.

All these actions are permeated with love. She returned to the tomb. She then went to inform Peter and John, and then she probably fell behind them as they hurried to the tomb. A little later, when she came there again, they were no longer there. So she stood there and wept. There is no need to look for some hidden reasons why Mary did not recognize Jesus. The simplest and most striking fact gives us an explanation: she did not see Him through her tears.

Her conversation with the One she thought was the gardener reveals her love for Jesus: "Sir, if you have carried Him out, tell me where you have put Him, and I will take Him." She did not mention the name of Jesus. She thought everyone should know who she was talking about. Her thoughts were so occupied with Him, that for her there was no one else in the whole world.

"I will take him". How is she with her female powers could do it? Was she really going to take Him? Where did she think to take him? She did not even think about these difficulties. Her only desire was to weep her love over Jesus. As soon as she finished her conversation with the One Whom she took to be a gardener, she again turned to the tomb, thus turning her back to Jesus. And then she heard the only word: "Mary!" and she answered: "Ravvouni" (Ravvouni is the Aramaic form of the word rabbi - teacher, master; there is no difference between them).

So we see there were two simple and profound reasons why Mary did not immediately recognize Jesus.

1. She could not recognize Him because of her tears. They blinded her eyes and she could not see. When we lose a dear person, pain rises in our heart and sheds tears; blind our eyes. But we must remember that at such a time our tears are selfish, because we cry for our loneliness, loss, devastation, that is, for ourselves. We can't, we can cry about someone leaving to become a guest of God. We cry for ourselves. And this is natural and inevitable. But at the same time, we must not let our tears blind us so that we no longer see the glory of heaven and eternal life. There must be tears, but through them we must see the glory.

2. Mary did not recognize Jesus because she tried more to look in a different direction. She could not take her eyes off the tomb and therefore had her back to Jesus. And it is also very similar to us. In such cases our eyes too are riveted to the damp earth of the grave; but we need to take our eyes off her. Our loved ones are not there, although their worn bodies may be there, but man himself, his true nature, is in heaven in fellowship with Jesus, face to face with the glory of God.

When sorrow comes, we must not allow tears to obscure the glory of heaven, and let us not fix our eyes on the earth so much as to forget heaven. One pastor recounts how he once had to hold a funeral meeting for people who had neither Christian faith nor Christian connection: who have no Christian hope." For us, it's just "goodbye, see you with God!" Literally: See you soon.

SHARING THE GOOD NEWS (John 20:11-18 (continued))

There is one very difficult passage in this passage. After Mary met and recognized Jesus, He told her, "Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father." But just a few verses later, we see that Jesus invites Thomas to touch Him. (John 20:27). In the Gospel of Luke we find that Jesus invites the disciples to look at Him: "Behold My hands and My feet; it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). In Matthew we read that the disciples, upon meeting Jesus, "clung to His feet and worshiped Him" (Matt. 28:9). With John, even the turn of speech itself is more difficult. In it, Jesus says: "Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father," as if it would be possible to touch Him when He ascends to the Father. No explanation of this place is entirely satisfactory.

1. The whole thing is given a spiritual significance, and it is said that Jesus can really be touched only after His Ascension, and that it is not physical touch that is important, not hand-to-hand touching, but contact through faith with the resurrected and eternally living Lord. This is undoubtedly true and dear, but it seems to us that this passage is not talking about this.

2. It is also said that the Greek translation from the Aramaic made a mistake. Jesus, of course, spoke Aramaic; John gives us the words of Christ in the Greek translation of the original Aramaic. Therefore, it is assumed that Jesus actually said, "Do not touch me, but before I go up to my Father, go and tell your brethren." That is, in other words: "Now do not waste time worshiping Me in the joy of your discovery, do not go and share your joy with the rest of the disciples." “It is quite possible that this is the correct explanation. In Greek, the imperative mood in the present tense and in the strict sense should mean: “Stop touching Me”, that is: “Do not hold on to Me yourself, because I will soon go to the Father, and I want to see My disciples as often as possible before My Ascension. Go and tell them about your joy and mine, so that not a single minute of my earthly stay is wasted.” This makes sense, and that is exactly what Mary did.

3. But there is another possibility. The other three gospels emphasize the fear of those who suddenly recognized him. AT Mat. 28.10 Jesus says: "Do not be afraid". At Mar. 16.8 says: "I embraced them awe and horror and didn't say anything to anyone, because were afraid". John's account does not seem to have this reverent fear. Sometimes scribes made mistakes in transcribing manuscripts because they were not easy to make out. Some theologians think that John did not write me aptow- "do not touch Me", but me ptoou- "don't be afraid". (Verb ptoein means tremble with fear). In this case, Jesus said to Mary: "Do not be afraid, I have not yet ascended to my Father, I am still here with you."

No explanation is completely satisfactory and exhaustive, but the second of the three explanations we have mentioned is perhaps the most appropriate and probable.

But be that as it may, Jesus sent Mary to the disciples to tell them that what He had repeatedly told them about would soon be fulfilled, and He would return to His Father. Mary ran and told them the good news: "I saw the Lord!"

The very essence of Christianity is hidden in this message of Mary, because the Christian is the one who can say: "I have seen the Lord." Christianity is not the knowledge of Jesus, but the knowledge of Jesus. It does not mean to argue about Him, but it means to meet Him. It means the certainty that Jesus is alive.

CHRIST'S COMMITMENT (John 20:19-23)

It is highly probable that the disciples continued to gather in the upper room in which they spent their last supper with Christ. But now they were gathering there in fear. They knew of the venomous bitterness of the Jews, who had succeeded in reaching the death of Jesus, and who could now turn on them. So they gathered in fear and trembling, listening to every step outside and every knock on the door, fearing that the messengers of the Sanhedrin were about to come to arrest them too. And as they were sitting like that one day, Jesus suddenly stood in the midst of them and uttered the most common greeting. Peace be with you.” This means much more than “Be at peace from all difficulties,” which means: “May all good things come to you from God.” After this greeting, Jesus gave the disciples a commission that the Church must never forget.

1. He said that as God sent him, so he sends them. Westcott called it the "Charter of the Church." This means the following.

a) This means that Jesus Christ needs the Church, which the apostle Paul calls the "Body of Christ" (Eph. 1:23; 1 Cor. 12:12). Jesus came with a message to all people, and now he was returning back to the Father. And His message will never reach all people unless it is carried by the Church. She has a mouth to proclaim the words of Jesus; legs - to fulfill His orders; hands to do His work. The good news has been committed to the Church. The Church is doing the work of glorifying the Savior throughout the world.

b) It means that the Church needs Jesus. To be sent, it is necessary that there be a Sender who gives strength and authority to the message and Whom one can turn to for help. Without Jesus, the Church has no message, no power, no light and no protection. The church needs Jesus.

c) The commission of Jesus to the Church is placed on a par with the commission of the Father to Jesus. But no one who reads this fourth gospel can fail to see that the relationship between Jesus and God the Father is based on the perfect obedience, humility and love of Jesus. Jesus could only be a perfect messenger of God because of this perfect obedience and perfect love. Therefore, the Church is fit to be the messenger of Jesus and an instrument in His hands only if she is completely obedient to Him and abides in perfect love for Him. The Church should never spread its own ideas, but it should only spread the teachings of Christ - His good news. It should not follow human rules, but should do the will of Christ. The Church suffers damage when it tries to solve its problems with its own strength and wisdom, it did not take into account the will and leadership of Jesus Christ.

2. Jesus breathed on His disciples and gave them the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt that this is a reminder of the creation of man: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7). This is similar to what Ezekiel saw in a field full of dead, dry bones, and heard the words of the Lord: "Come from the four winds, spirit, and breathe on these slain and they will come to life." (Ezekiel 37:9). The coming of the Holy Spirit is like a new creation, like the awakening of life from death. When the Holy Spirit fills the Church, she is reborn to do her work.

3. Jesus said to the disciples: "To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven, on whom you leave, they will remain" (John 20:23). To the true meaning of these words, we must be especially attentive in order to understand it correctly. One thing is clear: no man can forgive the sins of another. But another thing is quite obvious - the Church has a great privilege: to convey to people the message of God's forgiveness. Suppose someone brought us some message from another person. Our assessment of this message will depend on the degree of his acquaintance with that person. If someone undertakes to interpret someone's thoughts for us, we know that the value of his interpretation depends on his proximity to the one he is interpreting.

The apostles had the highest right to proclaim the word of Christ to the world, because they knew Him best. If they saw a man's sincere repentance, they could proclaim to him with full confidence the perfect forgiveness that Christ had bestowed upon him. On the other hand, if they saw that someone had no repentance in his heart and speculated on the love and grace of God, they told him that until his heart changes, there is no forgiveness for him. This phrase does not mean that the right to forgive sins was once entrusted to one person, or a group of people, but it means that the right to proclaim forgiveness was given to the apostles, and then to all the disciples of Jesus Christ, as well as the right to warn that forgiveness is not given to the unrepentant of sins. This phrase speaks of the duty of the Church to proclaim forgiveness to the penitent and to warn the unrepentant that they are depriving themselves of God's mercy.

THE DOUBTER IS CONVINCED (John 20:24-29)

The cross was not a surprise to Thomas. When Jesus said he was going to Bethany after the news came that Lazarus was ill, Thomas said, "Come and we will die with Him." (John 11:16). Thomas was not cowardly, but was a natural pessimist. There is no doubt that he loved Jesus and was ready to go with Him to Jerusalem and die with Him there when the other apostles hesitated and were afraid. What he expected happened, but when it happened, he was so shocked that he could not look people in the eye, and retired somewhere with his grief.

King George the Fifth said that one of his rules of life was: "If I must suffer, let me suffer like a well-trained animal - alone." Thomas wanted to endure his suffering alone, and so when Jesus first came, he was not with the rest of the disciples, and when he found out about it, it seemed to him too wonderful to believe him, and he refused to believe. Stubborn in his pessimism, he declared that he would never believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he himself saw and touched his wounds, and did not put his fingers and hands into the wound from the spear in the side of Jesus (there is no wound on the legs of Jesus references, apparently, during the crucifixion, the legs were often not nailed, but tied). A whole week passed and Jesus again appeared to the disciples. This time Foma was also there. Jesus knew everything about him. He repeated his words, inviting him to experience as he wished. Thomas' heart overflowed with love and devotion, and all he could say was, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus told him, "Thomas, you had to see with your eyes to believe, but the time will come when people will see Me with the eyes of faith and believe."

From this narrative, the character of Thomas becomes quite clear to us.

1. Thomas was wrong when he avoided Christian fellowship. He was looking for solitude, instead of community. And because he was not with his brothers, he missed the first coming of Jesus. We miss a lot when we separate ourselves from the fellowship of believers and strive more for solitude. What communion in the Church can give us will not be given by loneliness. When grief comes and sadness overwhelms us, we often tend to withdraw and not meet people. But just then, despite our sorrow, we must seek fellowship with those who believe in Jesus Christ, for in this way we will more likely meet with Christ face to face.

2. However, Thomas had two great virtues. He couldn't say that he understood when he didn't, or that he believed when he couldn't. It was his uncompromising honesty. Thomas, having doubts, will not pretend that he does not have them. He was not the kind of person who makes certain judgments without fully understanding their meaning. Foma must always be sure, and this cannot be taken away from him.

There is more true, pure faith in a person who strives to be sure than in one who smartly repeats general things that he has never thought through well and in which he does not really believe. Inquisitive uncertainty eventually turns into complete confidence.

3. Another virtue of Thomas was that when he made sure, he recognized everything as it is. "My Lord and my God!" he exclaimed. Foma had no half-heartedness. He didn't voice his doubts just to exercise his mind. He doubted in order to be better convinced, and when he was convinced, he gave himself up to this conviction completely. When a person breaks through doubts to the conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord, he achieves greater certainty than one who mindlessly accepts things that he can never achieve.

THOMAS IN THE LATER DAYS (John 20:24-29 continued)

We do not know exactly what happened to Thomas in the following days, but there is an apocryphal book, The Acts of Thomas, which supposedly represents his story. Of course, this is only a legend, but there may be a bit of history behind the legend. In it, Thomas remains true to his character. Let's take a look at part of that story. After the death of Jesus, the disciples divided the world among themselves so that each would get a certain part for the spread of the gospel. Thomas got India (the church of Thomas in South India originates from him). At first Thomas refused to go there, saying that he was too weak for such a long journey. He said: "I am a Jew, how can I preach the truth among the Hindus?" Jesus appeared to him at night and said: "Do not be afraid, Thomas, go to India and preach the word there, for My grace is with you." But Thomas stubbornly refused to go: "Send me wherever you want, but I will not go to the Indians."

At this time, a traveling merchant from India arrived in Jerusalem. His name was Avvanes. He was sent by King Gundaphorus with instructions to find a good carpenter and bring him back to India with him. Thomas was a carpenter. Jesus came to the marketplace to Avvanes and asked: "Do you want to buy a carpenter?" He replied: "Yes", to which Jesus said: "I have a carpenter slave and I want to sell him", and at the same time he pointed to Thomas standing aside. They agreed on a price, and Thomas was sold, and the sale agreement read: "I Jesus, the Son of the carpenter Joseph, I confirm that I sold My servant Thomas Avvanes - the merchant of the Indian king Gundaphorus." When the deed was signed, Jesus brought Thomas to Avvanes. Avvanes asked: "Is this your Master?" Thomas said, "Yes." Avvanes said, "I bought you from Him." And Thomas didn't say anything, but got up early in the morning and prayed, and then he said to Jesus, "I'll go where You sent me. Thy will be done." This was a true Thomas - slow to believe, slow to agree, but true when he made a decision.

The story goes on to say that King Gundaphorus ordered Thomas to build a palace. Thomas replied that he would fulfill this command. The king gave him a lot of money to buy materials and hire workers, but Foma distributed everything to the poor. He told the king that the palace was gradually being erected. The king suspected something and sent for Thomas: "Have you already built a palace?" the king asked. Thomas answered: "Yes." "Well then, let's go and show it to me," said the king. Thomas answered: You will not see him now, but when you die you will see him. At first the king was terribly angry and Thomas' life was in danger, but then the king believed in Jesus Christ, and thus Thomas brought Christianity to India.

There is something sweet and delightful in the character of Thomas. It was always difficult for him to believe, and obedience was not easy for him either. He had to have confidence, he had to calculate the costs in advance, but when he became confident and accepted all the costs, he was unstoppable and reached the extreme limits of faith and obedience. A faith like that of Thomas is better than a superficial confession, and his obedience is better than silent obedience, which agrees to everything, and then easily changes.

THE PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL (John 20:30-31)

It can be assumed that according to the original plan, the Gospel should have ended with these verses. The next chapter looks like an afterword or appendix. No other verses so well summarize the purposes of all that is written in all the gospels.

1. Obviously, the purpose of the Gospels was not to present a complete life of Jesus. They don't follow Him day after day. They are picky. They do not tell everything that Jesus said and did, but they show what He was like and how He did His work.

2. It is also clear that the Gospels were not meant to be biographies of Jesus. They are called to show Him as Savior, Teacher and Lord. Their aim was not to give information, but to give life. They were to paint such a portrait of Jesus that anyone reading about Him could see that the Man Who spoke and taught and acted thus was none other than the Son of God and Savior, and believing in this, could find the secret of true life.

If we approach the Gospels as stories or biographies, our approach will be in the wrong spirit. We should read them not as historians in search of information, but as people who are searching for God.

Commentaries (introduction) to the entire book "From John"

Comments on Chapter 20

The depth of this book is unparalleled in the world. A. T. Robertson

Introduction

I. SPECIAL STATEMENT IN THE CANON

According to John himself, his book was written especially for unbelievers - "so that you may believe" (20:31).

One day, the Church followed the call of the apostles: in the nineteenth century, millions of copies of the pocket gospels of John were distributed.

The Gospel of John is also one of the most beloved books of the Bible - if not most beloved - for many mature and zealous Christians.

John does not simply list some facts from the life of our Lord; in his book we find many reflections, reflections of the apostle, who was with Christ from the days of his youth in Galilee to his very advanced years in Asia. In his Gospel we find that famous verse which Martin Luther called "The Good News in Miniature" - John 3:16.

If the Gospel of John were the only book in the NT, there would be enough material for study and meditation for the rest of a person's life.

The question of the authorship of the Fourth Gospel has been discussed very widely and vigorously in the last 150 years. The reason for this increased interest lies, no doubt, in the confidence with which the evangelist testifies to the divinity of Jesus Christ. Attempts have been made to prove that this gospel did not come from the pen of an eyewitness, but is the work of an unknown but brilliant theologian who lived fifty or a hundred years after the events he describes. Therefore, it reflects the Church's later teaching about Christ, and not who Jesus really was, what He actually said, and what He actually did.

Clement of Alexandria wrote of how John's close friends, finding him in Ephesus, suggested that he write his own gospel in addition to the synoptic ones. And so, at the instigation of the Holy Spirit, the apostle created his spiritual Gospel. This does not mean that the rest of the Gospels unspiritual. It's just that the special emphasis that John puts on the words of Christ and on the deeper meaning of those miraculous signs that He showed, gives us the right to single out this gospel as "spiritual."

External evidence

The first written evidence that John was the author of the Gospel in question is found in the writings of Theophilus of Antioch (c. 170 AD). However, there are other, earlier, implicit references and references to the fourth Gospel in Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Tatian, in the Muratori canon, and in the heretics Basilius and Valentinus.

Irenaeus closes the chain of disciples, going from Jesus Christ Himself to John, from John to Polycarp and from Polycarp to Irenaeus. Thus covers the period from the time of the birth of Christianity to the end of the second century. Irenaeus often quotes from this gospel, considering it to be the work of John and perceiving it as recognized by the Church. Beginning with Irenaeus, this gospel received universal recognition, including Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian.

There is speculation that the very end of the twenty-first chapter was added by the elders of the Ephesian church at the end of the first century to encourage believers to accept the gospel of John. Verse 24 brings us back to the "disciple whom Jesus loved" mentioned in verse 20 and also in chapter 13. These instructions have always been taken as referring to the apostle John.

Liberals argued that the fourth gospel was written in end second century. But in 1920, a fragment of the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of John (Papyrus 52, dated using objective methods) was discovered in Egypt. first half of the second century, approximately 125 AD. e.). The fact that it was found in a provincial town (and not in Alexandria, for example) confirms that the traditionally recognized date of writing - the end of the first century - is correct, since it took some time for the manuscripts from Ephesus to spread to the borders of southern Egypt. A similar fragment from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John, Papyrus Egerton 2, which is also attributed to the beginning of the second century, further supports the assumption that this Gospel was written during the life of the apostle John.

Internal evidence

At the end of the nineteenth century, the famous Anglican theologian, Bishop Westcott, argued very convincingly for the authorship of John. The sequence of his reasoning is as follows: 1) the author is undoubtedly a Jew- writing style vocabulary knowledge of Jewish customs and cultural characteristics, as well as the Old Testament subtext that appears in the Gospel - all this confirms this assumption; 2) it Jew living in Palestine(1.28; 2:1.11; 4.46; 11:18.54; 21.1-2). He knows Jerusalem and the temple well (5:2; 9:7; 18:1; 19:13,17,20,41; see also 2:14-16; 8:20; 10:22); 3) he is eyewitness what it is about: the text contains many small details about the place of action, persons, times and customs (4.46; 5.14; 6.59; 12.21; 13.1; 14:5.8; 18, 6; 19.31); 4) it one of the apostles he shows knowledge of the inner life in the circle of disciples and the life of the Lord Himself (6:19,60-61; 12,16; 13:22,28; 16,19); 5) since the author names other students, but never mentions himself, this gives us the right to assume that the nameless student from 13:23; 19.26; 20.2; 21:7,20 - apostle john. Three more important places confirming that the author of the Gospel is an eyewitness of the events described: 1.14; 19.35 and 21.24.

III. WRITING TIME

Irenaeus asserts with certainty that John wrote his gospel in Ephesus. If he is correct, then the earliest possible date is around 69 or 70 AD. e. - the time of John's arrival in Ephesus. Since John nowhere mentions the destruction of Jerusalem, it can be assumed that this has not happened yet. This fact allows us to conclude that the Gospel was written before this terrible event.

A number of very liberal-minded scholars, experts in the Bible, tracing some connection with the scrolls found at the Dead Sea, put forward the version that the Gospel of John was written in 45-66 years.

This in itself is an extraordinary event, since it is usually the liberals who insist on later dating, while the conservatives defend versions of the earlier dates.

In this case, the tradition of the early Church is on the side of the later date of writing.

The case for the end of the first century is strong enough. Most scholars agree with the opinion of Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria and Jerome that the Gospel of John was written the last of the four and is partly based on synoptics.

The fact that this gospel says nothing about the destruction of Jerusalem may be due to the fact that the book was written fifteen or twenty years ago. later when the first shock has already passed. Irenaeus writes that John lived until the reign of Emperor Trajan, who ascended the throne in 98, so it is likely that the Gospel was written shortly before that. The references in the Gospels to "Jews" also more likely testify to a later date, when the opposition to Christianity on the part of the Jews grew into persecution.

So, it is not possible to establish the exact date of writing, but the most likely period is from 85 to 95 AD. e.

IV. PURPOSE OF WRITING AND THEME

The whole Gospel of John is built around seven miracles, or signs, performed by Jesus in front of people.

Each of these signs served as proof that Jesus is God. (1) The turning of water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee (2:9). (2) Healing of the son of a courtier (4:46-54). (3) Healing of the sick near the pool of Bethesda (5:2-9). (4) Feeding the five thousand (6:1-14). (5) Jesus' walk on the Sea of ​​Galilee to save the disciples from the storm (6:16-21). (6) Healing of the blind man (9:1-7). (7) Resurrection of Lazarus (11:1-44). In addition to these seven miracles performed in public, there is another, the eighth miracle that Christ performed in the presence of the disciples after His resurrection - catching fish (21:1-14).

Charles R. Erdman wrote that the fourth gospel "moved more people follow Christ, has inspired more believers to righteous service, and has challenged researchers more than any other book."

It is according to the Gospel of John that the chronology Christ's ministry on earth. If you follow the other three gospels, it would seem that it only lasted a year. The mention of annual national holidays in John singles out a period of approximately three years. Pay attention to the following places: the first feast of the Jewish Passover (2:12-13); "Jewish holiday" (5.1) - it can be either Easter or Purim; the second (or third) feast of Easter (6.4); setting up tabernacles (7.2); the feast of Renewal (10:22) and the last feast of Pascha (12:1).

John is also very precise in his references to time. If the other three evangelists are quite satisfied with the approximate indications of the time, then John notes such details as the seventh hour (4.52); third day (2.1); two days (11.6); six days (12.1).

Style and vocabulary of this gospel are unique and comparable only to the style of the epistles of John.

The sentences are short and simple. The author clearly thinks in Hebrew, although he writes in Greek. Often, sentences are shorter, the more important the thought contained in them. The vocabulary is more limited than in the rest of the Gospels, but deeper in meaning. Pay attention to the following important words and how often they appear in the text: Father (118), believe (100), peace (78), love (45), testify (47), life (37), light (24).

A distinctive feature of the Gospel of John is the author's frequent use of the number seven and multiples of seven. Throughout Holy Scripture, the idea of ​​perfection and completeness is always associated with this number (see Gen. 2:1-3). In this Gospel, the Spirit of God made the revelation of God in the face of Jesus Christ perfect and complete, so examples and various images associated with the number seven are quite common here.

Seven "I am" from the Gospel of John are also known: (1) "bread of life" (6:35,41,48,51); "the light of the world" (8.12; 9.5); "door" (10:7,9); "the good shepherd" (10:11,14); "resurrection and life" (11.25); "the way and the truth and the life" (14:6) and "the Vine" (15:1.5). Less well-known are other "I am" or "this is I" that are not followed by a definition: 4.26; 6.20; 8:24,28,58; 13.19; 18:5.8; twice in the last verse.

In the sixth chapter, which deals with the bread of life, the Greek word for "bread" and "loaves" occurs twenty-one times, a multiple of seven. In the same chapter, the phrase "bread from heaven" occurs exactly seven times, the same number as the expression "descended from heaven."

Thus, we can conclude that John wrote this gospel so that all who read "believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing, have life in his name" (20:31).

Plan

I. PROLOGUE: THE FIRST COMING OF THE SON OF GOD (1:1-18)

II. THE FIRST YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF THE SON OF GOD (1:19 - 4:51)

III. THE SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF THE SON OF GOD (Chapter 5)

IV. THE THIRD YEAR OF MINISTRY OF THE SON OF GOD: GALILEE (Chapter 6)

V. THE THIRD YEAR OF MINISTRY OF THE SON OF GOD: JERUSALEM (7:1 - 10:39)

VI. THE THIRD YEAR OF MINISTRY OF THE SON OF GOD: PEREA (10:40 - 11:57)

VII. THE SON OF GOD'S MINISTRY TO HIS CHOSEN (Ch. 12-17)

VIII. THE SUFFERING AND DEATH OF THE SON OF GOD (Ch. 18-19)

IX. THE TRIUMPH OF THE SON OF GOD (Ch. 20)

X. EPILOGUE: THE RESURRECTION SON OF GOD WITH HIS CHOSEN (Ch. 21)

IX. THE TRIUMPH OF THE SON OF GOD (Ch. 20)

A. Empty grave (20:1-10)

20,1 First day of the week was Sunday. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb until dawn. Probably, the grave was a small crypt dug into a hill or cliff. Stone had the shape of a coin - round and flat. He was rolled up to the entrance, where he tightly entered the groove and closed the entrance to the grave. Mary came to the tomb and saw that the stone has been rolled away. By the way, this happened after resurrection of Christ, as we know from Matthew 28.

20,2 Maria immediately running to Peter and John and, holding his breath, announces that someone has taken away the body of the Lord from the coffin. She didn't say who did it, she just said "they"(in the Russian translation this pronoun is omitted), implying that this is all she knows. It should be noted the fidelity and devotion of women: they were close to the Lord both when He died on the cross and when He rose again. The disciples left the Lord and fled. The women stood, oblivious to the threat to their personal safety. This fact cannot be ignored.

20,3-4 It's hard to imagine what they thought Peter and John, when they hurried from city ​​to the garden at Calvary. John was obviously younger than Peter and came to coffin first.

20,5 Probably, the grave had a low vault, and in order to enter or look inside, one had to bend down.

John saw the sheets lying. Were they unwound or retained the shape of the body they were wrapped around? We suspect the latter is true. But John did not enter coffin.

20,6-7 Arrived at this time Peter and entered the grave without hesitation. He has some impulsiveness, which makes him like us. He also saw lying there linen shroud, but without the body of the Savior.

Detail about board added to show that the Lord's departure was calm and unhurried. If someone stole the body, he wouldn't really spun cloth!

20,8 John entered the grave and saw neatly folded swaddling clothes and a handkerchief. But the words "he saw and believed" mean more than physical vision. They mean that he has comprehended. Before him was the testimony of the resurrection of Christ. It revealed to him what had happened, and he believed.

20,9 Up to this point, the disciples did not really understand the Old Testament Scriptures where it was claimed that the Messiah rise from the dead. The Lord also repeatedly spoke to them about this, but they did not perceive His words. John understood this first.

20,10 So the students again returned to their place - probably to Jerusalem. They decided it was useless to wait at the grave. It is better to go and report what happened to other students.

B. Appearance of Mary Magdalene (20:11-18)

20,11 The first two words are striking: "A Maria." The other two students went home, and Maria... Here again we see the love and devotion of a woman. Much was forgiven her, and therefore her love was great. She carried a lonely watch near the grave and wept, thinking that perhaps the body was stolen by the enemies of the Lord.

20,12 This time, looking into the coffin, she I saw two angels sitting there where the body of Jesus lay. It is wonderful how calmly, without any special emotions, these amazing facts are reported.

20,13 Maria did not seem to be afraid or surprised. She answered their question as if it was normal for them to appear. It is clear from her answer that she still did not understand that Jesus had been resurrected and alive again.

20,14 At that moment, something made her look back. Himself stood before her. Jesus, but she did not recognize Him. It was early morning and it's not quite dawn yet. She was crying incessantly, and naturally her eyes were clouded. Perhaps God did not allow her to know the Lord until the proper time.

20,15 The Lord knew the answers to these questions; but He wanted to hear them from her own lips. She is suggested that this is a gardener. The savior of the world can be very close to people and yet remain unrecognized. He always has a modest appearance - not like the great ones of this world. Answering, Mary did not call Him Lord. Twice she addressed Jesus using the pronoun you. She cared about only one Person, and it seemed to her unnecessary to establish the identity of the interlocutor.

20,16 Maria now heard a familiar voice calling her name. It couldn't be wrong, it's Jesus!

She called him "Rabbouni", which means "Teacher". In fact, she still thought of Him as the Master she knew. She did not understand that now He is more than her Teacher - He is her Lord and Savior. The Lord was ready to teach her a newer and more perfect way to know Him in the future.

20,17 Mary personally knew Jesus as a Man. She saw the miracles He performed while in a human body. Therefore, she concluded: if He imagined her, and Himself is invisible, then she cannot have any hope of blessing. The Lord had to correct the course of her thoughts. He said: "Do not touch me just like a man in the flesh, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. After I return to heaven, the Holy Spirit will be sent to earth. When He comes, He will reveal Me to your heart in a way that you have never known Me before. I will be closer and dearer to you than was possible during my life here."

Then he told her go to His brothers and tell them of His new command.

For the first time the Lord called the disciples "My brothers". They must know that His Father is their Father and His God is their God. Only now have believers become "sons" and "heirs of God."

The Lord Jesus did not say, "Our Father," but: "My Father and your Father." The point is that God is not His Father in the sense that He is our Father. God - Father Lord Jesus from eternity. Christ is the Eternal Son. The Son is equal to the Father. We - adopted sons God's. This relationship begins when we are saved and never ends. As sons of God, we are not equal with God and never will be.

20,18 Mary Magdalene obeyed her mission and became, as someone called her, "the first apostle." Can we doubt that this great privilege was given to her as a reward for her devotion to Christ?

C. His appearance before the disciples (20:19-23)

20,19 It was Sunday evening. The students have gathered together, perhaps in that upper room where they met three nights ago. The doors were locked up out of fear from the Jews. Suddenly they saw Jesus standing in the middle and heard His voice: "Peace to you!" It is clear that the Lord entered the room without opening the door. A miracle happened. It should be remembered that after the resurrection, His body was a real body of flesh and bones. Yet He had the power to pass through barriers and act independently of natural laws. The words "peace to you" have now taken on a new meaning because Christ provided the world with His blood on the cross. Those who are justified by faith have peace with God.

20,20 After the declaration of peace He showed them traces of the sufferings through which the world was obtained. They saw the nail wounds and the spear wound. Joy filled their hearts when they realized it was real Lord. He did as he said. He rose from the dead. The resurrected Lord is a source of joy for the Christian.

20,21 Verse 21 is very beautiful. Believers are not to enjoy His peace themselves. They must share it with others. He sends them peace because the Father sent him to Him.

Christ came into the world as a poor man.
He came as a Servant. He gave his all.
He gladly did the will of the Father.
He took the form of a man. He only did good.
He created by the power of the Holy Spirit.
His goal was the cross.

Now He said to the disciples: "So I send you."

20,22 This is one of the most difficult verses in the entire gospel. We read that Jesus blew on students and said: "Receive the Holy Ghost." The difficulty lies in the fact that the Holy Spirit was not given before Pentecost.

How could the Lord speak these words if these events did not occur simultaneously?

There are several explanations: 1) some suggest that the Lord simply promised that on the day of Pentecost they would receive the Holy Spirit. This is hardly a proper explanation; 2) others point out that the Savior actually said here, "Receive the Spirit," not, "Receive the Holy Spirit." From this they conclude that at that moment the disciples did not receive the Holy Spirit in its entirety, but only a partial ministry of the Spirit, such as greater knowledge of the truth or authority and guidance for their mission. They say that the disciples received a guarantee, or a foretaste of the Holy Spirit; 3) others declare that at this time there was a complete outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. This seems unlikely in view of statements such as Luke (24:49) and Acts (1, 4, 5, 8), where the coming of the Holy Spirit is still spoken of as a coming event. It is clear from 7:39 that the Spirit could not descend in full until Jesus was glorified, that is, until He returned to heaven.

20,23 This is another difficult verse that causes a lot of controversy. The first view is that Jesus actually gave His apostles (and their supposed successors) power forgive sins or leave them. Such an opinion is completely contrary to the Bible, which teaches that only God can forgive sins (Luke 5:21).

Gabelin gives a second point of view: "The promised power and authority are given in accordance with the preaching of the gospel. The disciples only announce the conditions under which the forgiveness of sins can be received, and if these conditions are not accepted, the sins will be left." A third point of view (similar to the second) that we share is that students are given the right to to announce forgiveness of sins.

Let me illustrate a third opinion. The disciples preach the gospel. Some people repent of their sins and accept the Lord Jesus. Students are empowered to tell them that their sins are forgiven. Others refuse to repent and do not believe in Christ. The disciples have the right to say to such that they are still in sin, and when they die, they will perish forever.

In addition to this explanation, we should also note that the Lord gave the disciples special authority to deal with certain sins. For example, in Acts. 5:1-11 Peter used this authority, which resulted in the death of Ananias and Sapphira.

Paul leaves sin on the corrupt (1 Cor. 5:3-5.12.13) and releases sin (2 Cor. 2:4-8). In these cases, forgiveness from punishment for sins follows in this life.

D. Doubt turned into faith (20:24-29)

20,24 One should not jump to the conclusion that Thomas guilty of not being with the students. We do not know the reason for his absence.

20,25 Thomas need accuse of disbelief. He wanted to have visible, material proof of the resurrection of the Lord, otherwise he won't believe. And today, many argue the same way, but it is not reasonable. Even scientists believe in many things that they cannot see and cannot "feel".

20,26 A week later, the Lord again appeared before His disciples. This time Thomas was with them. Again the Lord Jesus entered the room in an unusual way and greeted them with the words: "Peace to you!"

20,27 The Lord spoke very kindly and patiently to His unbelieving follower. He invited him to put his hand into the spear wound in edge, to be convinced of His actual resurrection.

20,28 Thomas made sure. We do not know if he touched the wound on the side of the Lord. But he finally learned that Jesus had risen and is Lord and God. John Boys beautifully wrote about it: "He recognized the invisible Divinity through the visible wounds."

20,29 It is important to note that Jesus accepted worship as God. If He were only a man, He would forbid this to be addressed to Himself. But the faith of Thomas was not entirely pleasing to the Lord. For this belief was based on the visible. More blessed are those who have not seen and believed.

The surest testimony is the Word of God. If we believe the words of God, we are honoring him; and, on the contrary, we do not show respect to Him if we demand additional evidence. We just have to believe, because He said it, and He doesn't lie or make mistakes.

E. Purpose of the Gospel of John (20:30-31)

Not all miracles performed by Jesus are recorded in the Gospel of John. The Holy Spirit chose those of them that most correspond to His plans. That is the book written by John. It is written for readers believed that Jesus- the true Messiah and Son of God. believing they will have eternal life in His name. Have you believed?

1 at the first day weeks, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, when it was still dark, and sees that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb.

2 So he runs and comes to Simon Peter and to another disciple, whom Jesus loved, and says to them: They took the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they laid Him.

3 Immediately Peter and the other disciple went out and went to the tomb.

4 They both ran together; but the other disciple ran faster than Peter, and came first to the tomb.

5 And stooping down, he saw the sheets lying down; but didn't enter in coffin. 6 After him comes Simon Peter, and enters into the tomb, and sees only linen sheets lying, 7 and the cloak that was on his head, not lying with linen sheets, but specially bundled in another place.

8 Then another disciple also entered, who had come to the tomb first, and saw and believed.

9 For they did not yet know from the Scriptures that He was to be raised from the dead.

10 So the disciples returned to their homes again.

11 And Mary stood at the tomb and wept. And as she wept, she bent down into the tomb, 12 and saw two angels sitting in white robes, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay.

13 And they say to her, Wife! Why are you crying? He says to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.

14 Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing; but did not know it was Jesus.

15 Jesus says to her, Wife! Why are you crying? who are you looking for? She, thinking that this is a gardener, says to Him: sir! if you have carried it, tell me where you have put it, and I will take it.

16 Jesus says to her: Mary! She, turning, says to Him: Ravbouni! - which means: Teacher!

17 Jesus said to her, Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.

18 Mary Magdalene goes and announces to the disciples that she has seen the Lord and what He told her this.

19 On the same first day of the week in the evening, when the doors at home, where His disciples gathered, were shut up for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be with you!

20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and feet and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

21 And Jesus said to them a second time, Peace be with you! as the Father sent me, So and I am sending you.

22 Having said this, he blew, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, on that they will remain.

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples said to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger into the nail marks, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.

26 After eight days his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas with them. Jesus came when the doors were locked, stood in the midst of them and said: Peace be with you!

27 Then he said to Thomas: Put your finger here and see my hands; give me your hand and put it in my side; and do not be an unbeliever, but a believer.

On the very first day of the week, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, when it was still dark, and sees that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb. So, he runs and comes to Simon Peter and another disciple, whom Jesus loved, and says to them: They took the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they laid Him. Immediately Peter and another disciple came out and went to the tomb. They both ran together; but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. The evangelist calls the day that we call the Lord's one from the Sabbaths. For Sabbath he calls the week of days, but one of the Sabbaths he calls the first day. In essence, every day is one. But one taken many times and put together makes many. So, the first day is one, taken twice is the second, three times is the third, and so on. Such a day is an image of the future age, which is one day, neither interrupted by night, nor having half a day. God is his Sun, which never sets. As the Lord resurrected on this day, making His corruptible body incorruptible, so we will receive incorruption in the next age. So, on the first day of the week "Mary Magdalene comes." Since the Sabbath has passed, and the law no longer forbids movement, she sets off, wishing to find some solace from the place of the burial of the Lord, and, seeing the stone rolled away from the tomb, she goes with great haste to Peter and John. The Lord resurrected when the stone was still in place, and the seals were intact. But as it was necessary for someone to be witnesses of the resurrection and enter the tomb, the stone was rolled away by the Angel. Mary, who still does not know anything about the resurrection, calls this event the abduction and transposition. - Then the disciples come to the tomb and see only sheets lying; and this was the sign of the true resurrection. For if anyone had moved the body, he would not have exposed it; and if someone stole, he would not take care to twist the boards and lay them separately in a special place, but would take the body as simply as possible. Therefore, the evangelist said beforehand that the body of Christ was buried with much myrrh, which glues sheets to the body no worse than resin, so that when we hear that the veil was lying in a special place, we would not at all believe those who say that the body of Christ was stolen. For a thief would not be so foolish as to use so much diligence on an unnecessary thing and not suspect that the longer he does it, the sooner he can be caught. - At what hour the resurrection followed, no one knows, just as the time of the second coming is unknown. If the Evangelist Matthew says that the earthquake took place late in the evening, and John says that Mary came and saw the stone rolled away in the morning, when it was still dark, then there is no disagreement about this. For, in the first place, according to Matthew, women came late on the Sabbath, and in John now there is no mention of women, when Matthew said this, it would be superfluous to say the same to John; but Mary Magdalene comes in the morning. The comings to the tomb are different: sometimes Mary comes with other wives, sometimes she alone. Hence the disagreement between the evangelists seems to be that they speak of different parishes, each about his own. So, firstly, we say that Matthew is talking about one parish - wives, and John about another, about the arrival of his wife - Magdalene. Then, "deep evening and morning, when it is still dark," which some would call deep morning, coinciding at the same time, so that all this time there is the middle of the night. If you ask how Peter and John and the women entered the tomb when there were guards, then the answer is simple, that when the Lord arose and with an earthquake appeared at the tomb of an angel, then the guards went to announce this to the Pharisees and thus the tomb was freed from military guards, and the disciples could come fearlessly.

And, bending down, he saw the sheets lying; but did not enter the tomb. Simon Peter comes after him, and enters the tomb, and sees only linen sheets lying and the cloak that was on His head, not lying with linen, but especially entwined in another place. Then another disciple also entered, who had previously come to the tomb, and saw, and believed; for they did not yet know from the Scriptures that He was to be raised from the dead. So the disciples returned to their homes again. And Mary stood at the tomb and wept. And when she was crying, she leaned into the tomb and saw two angels sitting in a white robe, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay. And they say to her: wife! Why are you crying? He says to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him. Note, perhaps, the humility of the evangelist, with which he testifies to the thoroughness of the study of Petrov. He himself came first, saw the linen sheets, and no longer investigates, but waits for Peter. And fiery Peter went inside the tomb and carefully examined everything. Then he (John) also entered after him (Peter), saw the burial sheets lying separately from one another, and believed, however, not that the Lord had risen, but that He had been stolen. He believed Mary's words that they had taken the Lord. Why did he believe Mary, and not think about the resurrection? Because they did not yet know the Scripture that He must rise from the dead, and they believed Mary, who suspected the abduction and transfer of the body. So they returned to themselves, that is, on their own, knowing nothing more. Mary, due to the sensitivity and love for tears inherent in women, stands at the tomb and cries. Not finding Jesus, he looks at the place where his beloved body was laid, and in this alone he finds consolation. For this he is rewarded with seeing more than the disciples. She saw what they did not see, namely, two angels. The vision of the Angels was her greatest comfort. And their bright attire, and their sitting, one at the head, and the other at the feet, showed that they know something more, and if they are asked, they can instruct. And the words: "Why are you crying?" full of sincere concern. So that Mary would not be embarrassed like a woman, this question calms her embarrassment. They ask with such participation and meekness: "wife! Why are you crying?" She, with warmth and love, answers: they carried away my Lord, therefore I cry; I don’t know where, and they shifted Him; I would go there and anoint His body, and in that at least I would find some consolation. - You understand how active and ardent Peter is, and how penetrating John is capable of comprehending Divine things. The purely contemplative one precedes with knowledge and talent, while the active one lags behind, however, with zeal and diligence, he overcomes his sharpness, and the active one first sees some Divine mystery. Doesn't something similar happen in the sciences? And here, of the two boys, the incapable and slow one by diligence surpasses the one who is naturally faster and more capable. Similarly, in spiritual matters, the active and unskilled in words often understand better than the contemplative. - Every soul that rules over the passions is called Mary. Purified through dispassion, she sees in Jesus God and Man. For one of the Angels, sitting at the heads, points to the Deity, and the other, sitting at the feet, to the humble incarnation of the Word.

Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing; she didn't know it was Jesus. Jesus says to her: Wife! Why are you crying? who are you looking for? She, thinking that it was the gardener, said to Him: Sir! if you have carried it, tell me where you have put it, and I will take it. Jesus says to her: Mary! She turned and said to Him: Rabbi! which means: Teacher! Jesus says to her: do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene goes and announces to the disciples that she saw the Lord and that He told her this. Why did Mary turn back? As she converses with the Angels, what prompted her to turn back? Probably, while she was talking with the Angels, Jesus suddenly appearing behind her, astounded them, and when they saw the Lord, they immediately discovered that they saw the Lord, and this woman (Mary), noticing this turned back. Perhaps He appeared to the angels in a striking form, but not to Mary in this, but in a humble and ordinary one, which is why she considered Him to be a gardener, precisely of the garden in which the tomb was. For this reason she also says, "Sir, if you bore him," that is, if you stole him, and does not say, "Jesus," but, "Him," as if he knew what was the matter. So if you carried away, that is, took and stole from here, then tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him and transfer Him to another place where He will be buried magnificently. Perhaps she was afraid that the Jews would not abuse the dead body, and therefore wished that it was transferred to another place, unknown to them. The wife's intention is full of love; but she cannot imagine anything lofty. And as she herself could not think of anything lofty, the Lord with His voice makes her know Himself. For He only uttered her name, and thereby imparted knowledge, just as He sometimes let the Jews recognize Himself, and sometimes He was with them, and they did not recognize Him. So in speeches, when he wanted, then he let Himself be recognized. Likewise, now, when he wanted to, then he let Mary know Himself by voice. No doubt He had spoken to her before, "Woman, why are you crying?" But Mary did not find out, because it was not the will of Jesus. And when He desired, she recognized Him by his voice. "She turned and said to Him," How is that? she spoke to him and said: tell me where you put him; and now the evangelist says she's "converted"? It seems to me that she, having said: "Where did you put it," turned to the Angels, perhaps with the intention of asking them what they were amazed at. Then, Christ, calling her by name, amazed her with His voice and drew her to Himself from them, and she, recognizing Him now, said: Teacher! - She wants to approach Him, treat Him as before, and perhaps embrace Him as a lover. But He elevates her thought so that she would think something higher and listen to Him with great reverence. "Do not touch Me," that is, the circumstances are no longer in the same position, and I will no longer treat you the same way. Although He did not say it in words, yet this is the meaning of the words: "I ascend to my Father." I'm in a hurry to get there. And as I hurry there and no longer have such a body to deal with people, then one must be more reverent to Me, to the highest ordinary conversation and touch, that is, conversion. See how many thoughts the evangelist expressed briefly. The Lord said, "Do not touch Me." Then, as if someone asked: why? therefore, he answers, that my body is no longer such as it is typical to be in earthly life, but such as is appropriate for heaven and mountain villages. Then the questioner, as it were, continues: why do you walk on earth when you have such a body? Therefore, he answers, I have not yet ascended to my Father, but I will ascend. For this is expressed by further words: "Go to my brethren and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father," although he will ascend not immediately, but after forty days. Why say so? In order to resurrect her mind and convince her that He is going to heaven, and thereby console her. Calling the disciples brothers, he adds: "and to your Father." God is our Father too, but by grace, but He is the Father of the Lord by nature. Vice versa. He is God to us by nature, but God to the Lord by His humanity. For He became His God when He took upon Himself human nature. Mary, having been honored with such speeches, leaves and announces this to the disciples. That's how good diligence and constancy. Be diligent too, and perhaps you will learn something higher, and from the disciples of the Word you will become a teacher.

On the same first day of the week in the evening, when the doors of the house where His disciples gathered were locked, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle and said to them: Peace be with you! Having said this, He showed them His hands and feet and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them a second time: Peace be with you! As the Father sent me, so I send you. Having said this, he blew and said to them: receive the Holy Spirit. To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, on that they will remain. When Mary announced this to the disciples, it was natural that they either did not believe her, or, having believed, regretted that they did not deserve to see Him themselves. Therefore, on the same day, He appears to them, since, on the one hand, having heard from the wife that He had risen, they were thirsty to see Him themselves, and on the other hand, they were afraid of the Jews and from that even more desired to see this only consolation for them; is "evening" in order to have time to get together; is "when the doors were shut," to show that He was also resurrected when the stone lay on the tomb. Some will wonder how they did not consider Him to be a phantom? But above all, the woman who preceded them produced strong faith in them. Then, He appeared to them in a meek form and with His very voice calmed their agitated thoughts, saying: “Peace be with you,” that is, do not be embarrassed. By this He reminds them of the word which He said to them before their suffering: "My peace I give you" (John 14:27). The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. And about this He also foretold them before the suffering: I will see you, and your heart will rejoice (Jn. 16:22). And since they had an irreconcilable war with the Jews, he again says to them: "peace." Just as he said to women: "Rejoice" (Matt. 28:29), because they were in sorrow, so he gives "peace" to his disciples because of the warfare that they had with them and will have all. Therefore, it is fitting for women to rejoice, because they are condemned to give birth in sorrow, and for men to be peaceful because of the battle for the work of preaching. Shows together the good consequences of the Cross; this is the world. And since the world was won by the Cross, then I send you to preach. To comfort and encourage them, he says: "As the Father sent me, so I send you." You will take over My work; therefore watch, for I will be with you. Notice autonomy. He didn't say, I will ask my Father, and He will send you, but, "I am sending you." Blows and gives them the Holy Spirit. Now He gives them not the perfect gift of the Holy Spirit, for such He will give them at Pentecost, but makes them capable of receiving the Spirit. For the words "receive the Holy Spirit" are the same as being ready to receive the Spirit. One can also say that He gave them some power and spiritual grace, only not to raise the dead and create powers, but to forgive sins. That is why he added: “to whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven”, showing that He gave them this particular type of spiritual gifts - the forgiveness of sins. After His ascension, the Spirit Himself descended and abundantly gave them strength to work miracles and all other gifts. - It is worth knowing why He appears to the disciples not in Galilee, but in Jerusalem. For Matthew (26:32) and Mark (14:28) say that He promised to see them in Galilee. How does He appear in Jerusalem? Some answer: what is it? He didn't say that I would see you only in Galilee, but not in Jerusalem. This means that this is the wealth of love, and not a reason for censure in a lie. Then we can say that He promises to appear in Galilee to all the disciples, but in Jerusalem He appeared only to those belonging to the twelve. So there is no disagreement here. For in Galilee He appeared to all, but in Jerusalem to the twelve. And as there were many phenomena, some evangelists described some phenomena, and others - others. Sometimes two evangelists report the same thing, but what one says in abbreviated form, the other makes up for. - Note, perhaps, the dignity of the priests, it is Divine. For remission of sins is the work of God. Thus they should be revered as God. Even though they were unworthy; what of it? they are ministers of divine gifts, and grace works through them, as it once spoke through Balaam's donkey (Numbers 22:28-30). So, our unworthiness does not hinder grace. And as grace is given through the priests, they should be honored.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came. The other disciples said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger into the nail marks, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. After eight days, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came when the doors were locked; stood in the midst of them and said: Peace be with you! Then he says to Thomas: put your finger here and see my hands; give me your hand and put it in my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered Him, My Lord and my God! Jesus says to him: you believed because you saw me; blessed are those who have not seen and believed. Thomas was not with the disciples. He probably has not yet returned to them from his former dispersion. What does the remark - called Gemini mean? This meaning of the name is Thomas. For as Cephas means stone, so Thomas means twin. The Evangelist mentions this meaning of the name of Thomas, by the way, to show us that he was somehow incredulous and had such a disposition from birth, as the name itself shows. When the other disciples spoke about the Lord, Thomas did not believe, not because he considered them liars, but because he considered the resurrection work impossible. Why and is accused of immoderate curiosity. For, to believe so quickly is frivolous, to persist so strongly is wild and rude. Look, he did not say: I do not believe my eyes, but added: "If I do not put my hand in." But how did he know that there was a wound in his side? Heard it from students. Why does the Lord appear to him not immediately, but after eight days? So that he, listening to the instructions of his fellow students and hearing the same thing, would be inflamed with a great desire and become a firmer believer for the future. The Lord, wanting to show that He was with them even when Thomas expressed the words of his unbelief to his fellow disciples, does not wait until he hears something like this from him, but Himself in advance does what Thomas desired, and uses his own words. And look, at first He says with reproach: "Give me your hand," but then he admonishes: "Do not be unbelievers, but believers." From this it is clear that the doubt proceeded from unbelief, and therefore it is in vain for some in defense of Thomas to say that he did not soon believe because of his thoroughness. For behold, the Lord calls him unfaithful. See how he who at first did not believe, from touching the rib, became an excellent theologian. For he preached two natures and one person in one Christ. Having said: "Lord", he confessed human nature; for "Lord" is also used of people, for example: "Lord! if you have endured Him" ​​(John 20:15). And having said, "My God," he confessed a divine being, and thus confessed the One and the Same Lord and God. The Lord, showing us that faith consists in accepting the invisible , says: "Blessed are those who have not seen and believed." Here He alludes to the disciples who did not touch either the wound from the nails or the rib, but believed, and not only on them, but also on those who will believe later. He said this not in order to deprive Thomas of happiness, but to comfort those who have not seen. For many say: Blessed are the eyes that have seen the Lord. He comforts such, saying that it is more blessed than not to see and to believe. - In what way the incorruptible body was found to have wounds and was palpable by a human hand? All this was a matter of condescension. For the body, which entered through the locked doors, and therefore thin and light, was free from all coarseness. And in order to assure of the resurrection, the Lord shows it like this, and for this he rose again, having the signs of the cross and wounds.Also, what He ate, ate not for the need of the body, but for the assurance of the resurrection. Therefore, just as before the crucifixion, walking on the waves (Mk. 6:48), He had a body of no other nature, so now He shows it tangible and having wounds. However, although it is tangible and visible, it is imperishable. For this is shown to prove it, and not from the necessity and law of the body. For everything that is eaten enters the womb and changes (Matt. 15:17), which Christ did not have after the resurrection; but what was eaten, accepted only for the assurance of the resurrection, was consumed by some invisible and Divine power. Note also how for one person - Thomas - the Lord did not refuse to come down and show the rib in order to save one unbelieving soul; so we should not despise any one, not even the least.

Jesus did many other miracles before His disciples, which are not written in this book. But this is written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. What signs does the evangelist speak of here? Can it really be about those that the Lord did before His sufferings? No, but those that He created after His resurrection. For the evangelist adds: "he did before his disciples." Before the suffering, the Lord worked miracles not before the disciples, but before everyone. Therefore, the evangelist now speaks of those miracles that the Lord performed after the resurrection. For by dealing with the disciples alone for forty days, He presented evidence of the resurrection. Just as before His suffering He worked miracles to confirm that He was the Son of God, so after His resurrection He performed miracles before His disciples to confirm that He was the Son of Man, that is, He bears a body, although incorruptible and most God-like, and no longer subject to the laws of the flesh. So, of the many miracles performed after the resurrection, only these are recorded, and that not out of boasting, or for adding glory to the Only Begotten, but, he says, in order "that you might believe." And what is the benefit and to whom does it apply? Not to Christ. For of what use is our faith to him? But it serves us. "And believing," says, "we would have life in His name." For by believing that He is risen and lives, we prepare life for ourselves, for He is risen and lives for us. And whoever thinks that He is dead, and not resurrected and not alive, he himself judges and affirms death and perdition.