Gospel Of John — Chapter 20

Friday, February 24, 2006— 2:00 P.M

PRAYER -PSALM 44

A. OUR FALL-WINTER 2005-2006 SESSIONS

The Gospel of John alternating with rotating topics. Introducing Orthodoxy; Orthodox Saints; Church History; Our and Other Churches; Parables of Christ, Contemporary Ethical Issues, etc.

B. WHAT WE WILL DO TODAY

Today, we will continue our study of the Gospel of John in the light of the writings and commentaries of the Church Fathers, and other Orthodox and some non-Orthodox commentaries. The 20^th chapter of John tells of the women who first came to the tomb of Christ and found it empty, how the disciples ran to the empty tomb, how Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, and Thomas’ doubt and belief .

C. UNDERSTANDING THE PASSAGE FROM THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

Comments from, ‘The Orthodox Study Bible; St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 14; St. Augustine, On the Gospel of.John, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 7; Orthodox Study Bible; Panagiotes Trembelas, Commentary on the Gospel of.John; John Kolitsaras, The New Testament The Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of St. John. Oxford, 1824. Collegeville Bible Commentaty: The Gospel According to John and the .Johannine Epistles. Panagiotes Trembelas, Commentary on the Gospel According to John: Text and Interpretive Rendition. Athens Zoe Publications. St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel According to S. John, vols. I & 2. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts. All quotations may be edited for the sake of clarity.

D. THE READING FOR TODAY - - JOHN 20

   ¹Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ²So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
   Orthodox Study Bible: “First day of the week:  The theme of Sunday is the Resurrection,  ‘the living monument of Christianity’ (St. Athanasios). In no way is Sunday the ‘Old Testament Saturday’ or Sabbath. The Resurrection transforms time, marking Sunday as both the eighth day (symbolic of eternity) and the first day of the week (symbolic of the first day of creation) (p. 264).

   St. John Chrysostom: “He arose while both stone and seals lay over Him. But because it was necessary that others should be fully satisfied, the tomb was opened after the Resurrection, and thus what had come to pass was confirmed. This then was what moved Mary. For being entirely full of loving affection towards her Master, when the Sabbath was past, she could not bear to rest, but came very early in the morning, desiring to find some consolation from the place. But when she saw the place, and the stone taken away, she neither entered in nor stooped down, but ran to the disciples, in the greatness of her longing. For this was what she earnestly desired, she wished very speedily to learn what had become of the body. This was the meaning of her running, and her words declare it. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him’" (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 14, homily 85, 4, p. 320).
   St. Cyril of Alexandria:  “So deep-rooted and impregnable was her faith that she was not induced to esteem Christ less highly because of His death upon the Cross, but even when He was dead, called Him Lord, as she had been accustomed to doing, thereby showing a God-loving spirit” (Commentary on the Gospel According to S. John, vol. 2, bk 12, p 650).

   ³Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. ⁴They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; ⁵and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
   Cyril of Alexandria:  “When these men (I mean Peter, and John the writer of this book, for he gives himself the name of the other disciple) heard these tidings from the woman’s mouth, they ran with all the speed they could, and came to the sepulcher in haste, and saw the marvel with their own eyes, being in themselves competent to testify to the event, for they were two in number, as the Law required” (Commentary on the Gospel According to S. John, vol. 2, bk. 12, p 650).

⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, ⁷and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples went back to their homes.
   Cyril of Alexandria: “As yet they did not meet Christ risen from the dead, but infer His Resurrection from the bundle of linen clothes, and henceforth believed that He had burst asunder the bonds of death, as Holy Writ had long ago proclaimed that he would do. When, therefore, they looked at the course of events in the light of the prophesies which turned out true, their faith was rooted on a firm basis” (Commentary on the Gospel According to S. John, vol. 2, bk. 12, p 650-651).

   Chrysostom:  “They draw near with great eagerness to the sepulcher, and see the linen clothes lying, which was a sign of the Resurrection. For neither, if any persons had removed the body, would they before doing so have stripped it; nor if any had stolen it, would they have taken the trouble to remove the napkin, and roll it up, and lay it in a place by itself. But what would they have done? They would have taken the body as it was. On this account John tells us by anticipation that it was buried with much myrrh, which glues linen to the body . . . in order that when you hear that the napkins lay apart, you may not endure those who say that He was stolen.

   For a thief would not have been so foolish as to spend so much trouble on a superfluous matter. For why should he undo the clothes? And how could he have escaped detection if he had done so? Do you not see that he would probably have spent much time in so doing, and be found out by delaying and loitering?

   But why do the clothes lie apart, while the napkin was wrapped together by itself? This occurred so that you may learn that it was not the action of men in confusion or haste, the placing some in one place, some in another, and the wrapping them together.  From this they believed in the Resurrection. On this account Christ afterwards appeared to them, when they were convinced by what they had seen” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 85, 4, p.320-321).

¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. ¹³They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." ¹⁴Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." ¹⁶Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
    Chrysostom:  “Full of feeling somehow are women, and more inclined to pity. I say this, lest thou should wonder how it could be that Mary wept bitterly at the tomb, while Peter was in no way so affected. . . .  She stood shedding tears. Because hers was a tender nature, and she as yet knew not accurately the account of the Resurrection; whereas they, having seen the linen clothes and believed, departed to their own homes in astonishment. . . . These then went their way: but she stood at the place, for, as I have said, even the sight of the tomb tended greatly to comfort her. At any rate, you see her, in order to ease her grief, stooping down,  and desiring to behold the place where the body lay.

And therefore she received no small reward for this her great zeal. For what the disciples saw not, this saw the woman first, Angels sitting, the one at the feet, the other at the head, in white; even the dress was full of much radiance and joy” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 86, 4, p.323).

   Orthodox Study Bible:  “This is the first of four post-Resurrection appearances (epiphanies) of Christ reported in John. He also appears to ten of the Apostles that evening (20:19-23); eight days after the Resurrection to the eleven Apostles, including Thomas (20:24-29); and to seven of the Apostles as they are fishing in Galilee (21:1-19)” (p. 265).

 ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
   Orthodox Study Bible:  “Mary Magdalene is the first to see the risen Christ and becomes ‘the apostle to the Apostles” (p. 265).

  St. Augustine:  “To touch Christ spiritually with the heart is to know that He is equal to the Father. This was the reason that he did not permit Mary to touch Him, and said ‘Do not touch me [Greek, me mou aptou=do not touch me], for I have not yet ascended to the Father.’ . . . Why was he unwilling to be touched by her, because He wanted it to be a spiritual touch. The spiritual touch takes place from a pure heart. Who is it that touches Christ with a spiritual touch? The person of a pure heart touches Christ who understands Him to be coequal with the Father. But whoever does not yet understand Christ’s Godhead, that person reaches out only to flesh, and not to the Godhead”

   Was not His resurrection announced by women to the men, that so the serpent should by a sort of counterplot be overcome? For because he first by the woman announced death to man, therefore to men was life announced by a woman” (On the Gospel of.John, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 7, p. 476).

¹⁹On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." ²⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." ²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
   Collegeville Bible Commentary:  These verses form a key passage in the theology of John. “The disciples receive the Holy Spirit at this second coming of Jesus: the eschaton,  the final era is now; future is present. . . .  Now, as this first encounter with the believing community, he breathes the Spirit again as He celebrates the re-creation of God’s people.

   Simultaneously, he sends out these disciples just as the Father had sent him (v. 21). His mission becomes theirs; His work is placed in their hands. And that mission, that work, is to manifest God who is love in their words and deeds. Through them now, enlivened by the Spirit, with the presence of God become known and seen and felt in the world” (p. 89).

   Panagiotes Trembelas:  “In this case, He uses the words ‘Peace be with you” as an introduction to their mission, which Jesus wanted to entrust, to His Apostles. He wants to give the peace to them, not just as believers, in anticipation of the their future mission. Peace is the foundation of the apostolic work, which is the message of reconciliation brought by Christ to all (see 2 Corinthians 5:20). The first greeting of peace had as its purpose to calm their agitation, so that with calmness they would pay attention to the truth of the resurrection. The second greeting had as its purpose to encourage them to take up the mission assigned to them, whose burdens and responsibilities and other difficulties would conceivably once again cause them stress. In the Old Testament, Gideon received the command for his mission by means of a blessing of Peace (Judges 6:22-23). Christ is our peace. If Christ is with us, peace is with us. Christ now sends the Apostles, to bring Peace to the world (Isaiah 52:7). And Christ now grants them Peace, not only for their own sakes, but so that they can give it to all the ‘sons and daughters of peace’ (Luke 10:5-6)” (Commentary on the Gospel According to John: Text and Interpretive Rendition, pp. 704-705).

²⁴Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." ²⁶Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing."

   Cyril of Alexandria:  “I think that the disciple Thomas’ want of faith was extremely opportune and well-timed, in order that, through the satisfaction of his mind, we also who come after him might be unshaken in our faith that the very Body that hung upon the Cross and suffered death was quickened by the Father through the Son. Therefore, also, Paul says, ‘If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ (Romans 10:9). For since it was not the nature of flesh itself which brought back life, but the deed was rather accomplished by the ineffable Nature of God, in which naturally abides a quickening power, the Father through the Son manifested His power upon the Temple of Christ’s Body; not as though the Word (the Son) was powerless to raise His own Body, but because the Father does whatsoever He does, through the Son, for He is His Power, and whatsoever the Son does, proceeds, most assuredly, from the Father.

   We, therefore, are taught, through the slight want of faith shown by the blessed Thomas, that the mystery of the Resurrection is effected upon our earthly bodies, and in Christ as the Firstfruits of the race” (Commentary on the Gospel According to S. John, vol. 2, bk 12, p 682)).

²⁸ Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" ²⁹Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
   Chrysostom:  “For this is of faith, to receive things not seen; since, ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ ( Hebrews. 11:1 ). And here He pronounces blessed not the disciples only, but those also who after them should believe. “Yet,” says someone, “the disciples saw and believed.” Yes, but they sought nothing of the kind, but from the proof of the napkins, they straightway received the word concerning the Resurrection, and before they saw the body, exhibited all faith. When therefore any one in the present day should say, ‘I wish that I had lived in those times, and had seen Christ working miracles,’ let them reflect, that, ‘Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed’326

It is worth enquiring, how an incorruptible body showed the prints of the nails, and was tangible by a mortal hand. But do not be disturbed, . . . for that which was so subtle and light as to enter in when the doors were shut, was free from all density. This marvel was shown, that the Resurrection might be believed, and that men might know that it was the Crucified One Himself, and that another rose not in His stead.

On this account He arose bearing the signs of the Cross, and on this account He eats food. At least the Apostles everywhere made this a sign of the Resurrection, saying, ‘We, who did eat and drink with Him’ (Acts 10:41). As therefore when we see Him walking on the waves before the Crucifixion, we do not say, that that body is of a different nature, but of our own; so after the Resurrection, when we see Him with the prints of the nails, we will no more say, that he is therefore corruptible. For He exhibited these appearances on account of the disciple” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 87, 1, p.327-328).

   The Collegeville Bible Commentary: “ ‘My Lord and my God!’ There is no doubt that John intends this powerful phrasing (Psalm 35:23-24) as a, or better, the, Christian profession of faith. For the Johannine disciple, Jesus is both Lord and God. With this profession . . . John creates . . . corresponding covers to his book of good news: for ‘My Lord and my God’ at the conclusion corresponds to the opening ‘. . . and the Word was God’ (1:1). The two statements are intentionally parallel” (p. 90.)

³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
³¹but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

   Chrysostom:  “John has added, ‘In the presence of His disciples,’ because He conversed with them alone after the Resurrection. Wherefore also He said, “The world sees Me no more.” (14:19 ).  Then, in order that you may understand that what was done was done only for the sake of the disciples, he added, ‘That believing you may have life in His Name.’ Speaking generally to mankind, and showing that not on Him who is believed on, but on ourselves, he bestows a very great favor. ‘In His Name,’ that is, ‘through Him,’ for He is the Life” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 87, 1, p.328).

   Orthodox Study Bible:  “Here is John’s main purpose in writing his Gospel: to lead people to faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, that they may receive eternal life in His name.” (p.266).

CONCLUDING PRAYER From the Sunday Orthros Service

   Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. Your Cross do we reverence, O Christ, and Your holy Resurrection do we hymn and glorify. For You are our God, we know no other but You, we call upon Your name. Come all the faithful, let us worship the holy Resurrection of Christ; for behold through the Cross, joy has come in all the world. Ever blessing the Lord, we extol His Resurrection. For enduring the Cross for us, He destroyed death by death.

   Jesus, having risen from the grave as He foretold, has granted us eternal life and great mercy. Amen.

Home
Ecumenical Patriarchate + Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America + Diocese of Atlanta