On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
The locked doors were no obstacle to Jesus, just as the stone that closed the tomb was no hindrance to his resurrection. He came into the locked room and found his disciples with hearts closed down in fear. They heard the words of the women who had seen the risen Lord but could not move themselves to believe. Or if they didn't entirely disbelieve them it was not yet enough to transform their fear into faith. Only an encounter with the risen Lord himself could do this.
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
Jesus had given his gift of peace even before his suffering and death but it was only now and in this way that his disciples were able to receive it. The fact that he still bore the marks of his suffering, reminders of the horrible hour when all hope seemed lost, but now on his glorified body, allowed the doubt and fear of that dark hour to be healed.
The nails had pierced His hands, the lance had pierced His side. For the healing of doubting hearts, the marks of the wounds were still preserved.- Saint Augustine
As a thought exercise we could imagine a scenario where Jesus did not decide to keep his wounds visible on his glorified body. Could he have assuaged the fear of his disciples on the same way? Or would he not have appeared aloof, abstracted and unconcerned with the things of earth? Would not the lack of obvious connection to his passion seem to have in some way trivialized not only the passion itself but also the disciples experience of it? Yet the Jesus they encountered was one still bearing his wounds, still "a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain" (see Revelation 5:6), still a high priest with "something to offer" (see Hebrews 8:3). We are invited to see something very much like this, albeit with the eyes of our hearts, when we hear "Behold the lamb of God" spoken in the context of the mass. Thus it can be healing for our hearts from the wounds of our own doubts the have arisen in the course of our trials in this life.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
The disciples rejoiced just as Jesus promised they would (see John 16:22). Such promises are difficult to believe during trials and suffering but once they are vindicated we are able to learn to trust more deeply. Jesus spoke a word of peace when he met them, but then a second word, this time from a deeper place of recognition, a place where woundedness was glorified. Such peace was the gift of Jesus to his Church, peace that the world could not take away. That the world had tried was visibly evident. But clearly it had failed to do so.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Just as God breathed life into Adam and made him alive Jesus breathed life into his Church making it to live by the Spirit. Just as Ezekiel witnessed, the breath of the Spirit came upon the dry bones of the disciples and gave them new life (see Ezekiel 37:9). The chief obstacle to receiving and living this new life was sin, but the remedy to it was provided right here at the beginning.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.
The disciples experienced the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. And although certain aspects of that outpouring, like the forgiveness of sin, were given only to those in authority, it was not the case that the Spirit was only for a select few or for a specific early age in the life of the Church. We too are invited to join with Mary and the disciples in the upper room in order to ask and to receive to the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this is true no matter what we have already received, however little or however great, for God always has more for us.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
God always has more for us, but we tend to place limits on what he can do in us. The doubts that make us place these limits on him can be healed by looking upon his wounded hands and side, even now present on his glorified body. Just as he was transformed there is nothing to stop him from transforming us except our own stubborn resistance. May his risen presence give us the courage to hope for all he desires to do in us.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
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