Imagine the Talmidim’s confusion after they saw the empty tomb! It’s like hiding your phone from yourself and then not remembering where it is, thinking it’s lost forever. You eventually find it tucked into the couch cushions! Yeshua coming back from the dead is like that; sometimes we forget that with God, nothing is truly lost. Hope may feel hidden, but it’s right there, waiting to be found!
Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord
20 10 So the talmidim returned home, 11 but Miryam stood outside crying. As she cried, she bent down, peered into the tomb, 12 and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Yeshua had been, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 “Why are you crying?” they asked her. “They took my Lord,” she said to them, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 As she said this, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing there, but she didn’t know it was He. 15 Yeshua said to her, “Lady, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?” Thinking He was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you’re the one who carried Him away, just tell me where you put Him; and I’ll go and get him myself.” 16 Yeshua said to her, “Miryam!” Turning, she cried out to Him in Hebrew, “Rabbani!” (that is, “Teacher!”)
“Rabbani!” (That is, “Teacher!”), literally, “My great one!” or “My teacher!” As a title, “rabban” was conferred only on the heads of the central academy and of the Sanhedrin. Gamli’el I, quoted at Acts 5:34–39, is known in Jewish history as Rabban Gamli’el. Apparently, the term was used more broadly in informal conversation. Although there is no evidence that Yeshua was ever ordained a rabbi, Matityahu 23:8 implies that He and His talmidim regarded Him as one.
17 “Stop holding onto me,” Yeshua said to her, “because I haven’t yet gone back to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Stop holding onto me, not, as in KJV, “Do not touch me,” which suggests a fragility about His post-resurrection physical state contradicted by the rest of Yochanan’s Gospel. Yeshua had work to do and was not to be kept from it even by Miryam’s joyful attention.
18 Miryam of Magdala went to the talmidim with the news that she had seen the Lord and that He had told her this.
The Talmidim Commissioned
19 In the evening that same day, the first day of the week, when the talmidim were gathered together behind locked doors out of fear of the Judeans, Yeshua came, stood in the middle and said, “Shalom aleikhem!” (Peace be with you.) 20 Having greeted them, He showed them His hands and His side. The talmidim were overjoyed to see the Lord. 21 “Shalom aleikhem!” Yeshua repeated. “Just as the Father sent me, I myself am also sending you.”
The talmidim were hiding behind locked doors out of fear of the Judeans, concerned that the Judeans would not be satisfied with the death of their leader but would pursue the followers as well. The rendering found in most versions, “for fear of the Jews,” besides being misleading in the first-century context (1:19), reinforces the stereotype of Jews as bogeymen. Messianic Jews and Christians who are paranoid that if they witness clearly to Jewish people, they will be persecuted, and who find it easier to remain ghettoized behind locked doors out of fear of “the Jews,” would do better to obey the Great Commission (Matityahu 28:19), relying for confidence on God, “our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20). [I certainly have not done that!] Yeshua miraculously appears but greets them as usual: “Shalom aleikhem!” Yeshua’s post-resurrection appearances combine the supernatural with the ordinary in a way that makes the mixture seem normal rather than mysterious and otherworldly.
22 Having said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Ruach HaKodesh! 23 If you forgive someone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you hold them, they are held.”
Breathed … the Ruach HaKodesh. Yeshua’s breathing was meaningful (see Yochanan 3:8) but symbolic. The talmidim actually received the Ruach HaKodesh power a month and a half later, at Shavuot (Acts 2:4); see also Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8.
Thomas Sees and Believes
24 Now T’oma (the name means “twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Yeshua came. 25 When the other talmidim told him, “We have seen the Lord,” he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into the place where the nails were and put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe it.” 26 A week later his talmidim were once more in the room, and this time T’oma was with them. Although the doors were locked, Yeshua came, stood among them and said, “Shalom aleikhem!”
The talmidim came together again eight days later. By Jewish reckoning, the first and last days are counted; therefore, this was a week later (circumcision “on the eighth day” is performed one week after a male baby is born). Apparently, from the very beginning the believers took note of the fact that Yeshua rose from the dead-on Yom Rishon (“the first day of the week”), that is, between Saturday sunset and Sunday sunset, which is why Gentile Christians, using a midnight-to-midnight calendar, celebrate Sunday, though not the biblical Sabbath, as a special day in the week. But the Jewish believers evidently met on Saturday nights (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). Also see Revelation 1:10.
27 Then He said to T’oma, “Put your finger here, look at My hands, take your hand and put it into My side. Don’t be lacking in trust, but have trust!” 28 T’oma answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Yeshua said to him, “Have you trusted because you have seen Me? How blessed are those who do not see, but trust anyway!”
The Purpose of This Gospel
30 In the presence of the talmidim, Yeshua performed many other miracles which have not been recorded in this book. 31 But these which have been recorded are here so that you may trust that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by this trust you may have life because of who he is. [1]
“ That you may trust” presents the theme and purpose of Yochanan’s Gospel. On the basis of the book’s testimony, Yochanan calls for people to believe in Yeshua – the world’s King and Savior, as well as God’s Son – and receive the eternal life that comes through His death and resurrection (3:16–17).
If you struggle to talk about faith in public settings without feeling awkward, practice starting conversations by using everyday situations as conversation starters. For instance, if someone mentions a recent challenge, respond by sharing how prayer has given you peace during tough times. This opens the door for sharing your faith more naturally, making others curious about your relationship with Yeshua, while also inviting them into a conversation about hope. I have done this myself when I go to the local grocery store every week. Yes, that’s my mission field.
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[1] Yochanan 20:10 – 31
