This is the first appearance of Jesus to His disciples, the original twelve without Judas Iscariot and Thomas, though there may have been others present. Fear gives way to joy when they recognize Jesus (vv. 19-20), and He greets them with the words, ″Peace be with you!″ (v. 19).
When the others told Thomas they had seen the Lord (v. 25), he was sceptical. He knew all about wishful thinking and optical illusions. He wanted the proof that only touch and sight could give (v. 25), otherwise he would not believe.
There will always be those who claim that the record of Christ’s death and resurrection is fantasy, myth, or legend.
The prerequisite of a real resurrection is a real death. John asserts the real death of the Lord Jesus. He mentions several times that Jesus is crucified by Roman soldiers, who presumably are experienced executioners (vv. 16, 23-24).
When hearing that Jesus was to leave them, Peter promised to lay down his life for Him. However, Jesus tells Peter that before dawn, Peter will deny Him three times (John 13:37-38).
This is the record of the arrest (John 18:1-11), trial (18:12-14, 19-24, 28-40), and sentencing (19:1-16) of the Lord Jesus. It is an eyewitness account (John 19:35).
These last verses are all about our unity. First, our unity with the apostles (v. 20-21)-we stand in unity with the apostles when we believe their words, God’s message.
Jesus has taught the apostles well. He has passed on the words God gave Him (vv. 8, 14). The apostles therefore know that Jesus has come from the Father (v. 8) and they are hated by the world because they are no longer part of the mass of humanity in rebellion against God (v. 14).
Conversation is the usual basis of relationship. The Upper Room Discourse that began with an acted parable (John 13:1-17) now ends with the Lord Jesus praying.