I am intrigued by the way in which, due to the manner of our reading of the Gospels, we can unbalance our understanding of the earliest Christian communities and their understanding of Jesus. Today, we read John’s account of the Lord’s sending of the Holy Spirit and of doubting Thomas (John 20:19-31). Curiously, it is Thomas’ reaction to the news of the resurrection which takes centre stage when in fact the reverse should be the case – how very typical of us human centred people. If we think of Acts 2, and its very different approach, where Pentecost is time-separate from the Passion and Resurrection, indeed from any interaction with the physical Jesus, we think of it as a great event. Why then do we lose the impact of John’s account? Matthew has, at the end of his Gospel, a brief commissioning of the disciples and the giving of the Spirit too, so I guess we need to reflect upon how the different evangelists were using the experience; but Jesus has already during his earthly life (Matt 16:19) given Peter and later the rest the power to bind and loose sins. Clearly then, for John, all these post-resurrection powers given the disciples are thoroughly focussed on their future ministries. It’s about the gift of Christ to the Church in continuing ministry by his chosen ones.
In our Gospel from John, we have already had two other experiences of the risen Lord; the first with Peter and John (the Beloved Disciple) at the empty tomb; and where John, seeing the absence of the body and the neatly folded grave clothes so unlike robbers in their haste, understands what has happened. The second is the Mary Magdala in the garden incident, where the risen Lord calls her by name and she then knows who he is; and now this further account. I just wonder if it’s the distinction between the initiative of the Lord in contrast to that of us humans which is so important. This is made more apparent in John when we read all the ‘resurrection’ accounts in John together. The point being made with Thomas after all is that it is the action of the risen Jesus, deliberately inviting Thomas to ‘have a good poke at his wounds’ which makes the disciple understand. But it is Jesus who takes the lead in our Reading, and the Greek uses a rare verb for Jesus’ giving of the Holy Spirit, ‘He breathed’ on them, used in Genesis for God’s breathing life into his creation; so that what we have here for the disciples is a re-creation of them for ministry. Their ‘commissioning’ is to be modelled on his life, which thereafter makes their authority to forgive, or indeed retain, sins quite an issue, for as we have seen in the Gospels. Jesus was not into Jewish righteousness or morals.
Our Reading from Acts (5:12-16) certainly suggests that the disciples were modelled on Jesus, as this account of the earliest Jerusalem Judeo-Christian movement does appear to mirror the earthly life of Jesus very closely, with its emphasis on healing; even to the extent of Peter’s shadow having restorative qualities on those the powerful believed ‘sinners’.
When we come to the Apocalypse (1:9-13.17-19), written by a different John, exiled on Patmos in the Aegean, this mirroring of Christ is once more a significant feature, as the writer shares in the sufferings of Christian Churches, in communities of believers in the seven great cities of Asia which he writes to, (removed from our reading) and who it appears were all having a rough time. He says he is imprisoned for preaching and witnessing to Jesus, and clearly for him understanding of the scriptures was a vital tool in understanding Jesus and the redemption and new life he brings. I think therefore we must think of this writer as some time later than the formation of the Church, since the faith had by this time spread far from Palestine, to the Kingdom of Asia, to its great cities; and not to churches (Ephesus excepted) that Paul had any ministry in. Yet we know that Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis Philadelphia and Laodicea were powerful and cosmopolitan land owning territories, ideal for the spread of the gospel.
All of our Readings then focus on Jesus’ initiative; the significance of visions for the writer of Apocalypse, unfathomable as many of them are to us, should not detract from his overall message. It is Jesus we follow and our Readings over Eastertide will emphasise this again and again, and it is him we must trust. Whenever we forget this and just think it’s all our own initiative we need to think again. The Lord is truly risen and is guiding the Church through his Spirit.
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