After John 17, chapter eighteen talks about the Lord’s being betrayed and judged. Then chapter nineteen talks about His crucifixion for the accomplishing of redemption. In particular, it says that blood and water came out of the Lord’s side (v. 34). Of the four Gospels, only John mentions blood and water. You need to realize that the coming out of blood and water was the Lord’s preparing a place for the disciples. Blood is for redemption, and water is for imparting life. His death, on the one hand, was the shedding of blood for redemption, thus solving the problems we have before God. On the other hand, it was the releasing of the life of God that we may enter into God and have a union with God.
Then in chapter twenty He resurrected. We will read only a few verses, beginning with verse 19: “When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and while the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst.” Please keep in mind that this was His coming. In chapter fourteen He said that He was going; here in chapter twenty He came. He said, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me” (14:19). The “little while” was three days according to the Jewish way of counting days, although it was only less than two days in another way of reckoning. The Lord came again into their midst and showed Himself to them. Verses 19b and 20 of chapter twenty continue, “And said to them, Peace be to you. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced at seeing the Lord.” This proves that He was not merely a soul or a spirit but an actual man. This also fulfilled the word in John 16:22: “But I will see you again and your heart will rejoice.”
Then Jesus said to them, “Peace be to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (20:21). This meant, “Just as the Father has sent Me, being within Me, so I also send you, being within you. I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me speaks His words [14:10]. Now in the same way I also send you from within you and speak My words in you.”
Verses 22 and 23 of chapter twenty continue, “And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whosever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whosever sins you retain, they are retained.” Please keep in mind that the breath the Lord breathed into the disciples was an extraordinary breath. This breath was His transfiguration. He Himself was in that breath. “Receive the Holy Spirit” means “Receive Me. I am now entering into you just as this breath is entering into you. Previously I was in the flesh; I could only be in your midst. Now I can enter into you because I have been transfigured into the Spirit. From now on, I am no longer outside of you but inside of you. Therefore, whosever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whosever sins you retain, they are retained. This is because it is not you who do this work, but it is I who do it. The only reason you have such great authority to forgive and retain the sins of others is that I am in you. You speak these words not by yourself, but it is I who speak My words in you.”
Brothers and sisters, from then on the Lord was not only in the midst of the disciples but also in the disciples. His being in the disciples was invisible but very practical. I would like to ask you, did the Lord Jesus go away after verse 23? According to our concept, there should be an additional sentence in verse 23, saying, “After Jesus spoke this word He went away.” However, there is not such a word in the Bible.
Verses 24 through 26 say, “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails and put my finger into the mark of the nails and put my hand into His side, I will by no means believe. And after eight days, His disciples were again within, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, though the doors were shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be to you.” Please tell me what the story behind the Lord’s coming is. To be precise, the Lord’s coming here is not His coming but His appearing. He never left after He came on the previous Lord’s Day evening. This is because when the Lord breathed into the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” He entered into them and remained within them always; He never left at all.
Verses 27 through 29 continue, “Then He said to Thomas, Bring your finger here and see My hands, and bring your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Does the Bible then say, “After Jesus spoke these words, He went away”? No. John mentions only the Lord’s coming, not His leaving.
After chapter twenty, there is still another chapter—chapter twenty-one. Without John 21 we may still think that the Lord went away. However, this chapter shows us that the Lord was still here. Let us read verses 1 through 7a. Verse 1 begins, “After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.” It was not a matter of coming but a matter of being manifested. He never went, so He did not need to come. Rather, He lived in them. Verses 1b-4 say, “And He manifested Himself in this way: Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two others of His disciples were there together. Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, We also are coming with you. They went forth and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. Now as soon as the morning broke, Jesus stood on the shore; however the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.” They also had no idea how He came. Verses 5-7a continue, “Then Jesus said to them, Little children, you do not have any fish to eat, do you? They answered Him, No. And He said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some. They cast therefore, and they were no longer able to haul it in because of the abundance of fish. Then that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord!” At this time they finally realized that it was the Lord. They did not realize it was the Lord until they saw so many fish. This is similar to what happened with the two disciples on their way to Emmaus (Luke 24); the Lord was in their midst, but they did not know it.
You can read through to the end of John 21, but you will not find that Jesus left them, that Jesus went away. It seems that the Gospel of John does not have a conclusion. John finished his writing, but there was no conclusion to it. In John 20 and 21 he uses two or three examples to show us that after the Lord’s resurrection, He as the Spirit had entered into the disciples to be with them forever, never to leave. At times, due to their weaknesses, He would manifest Himself for them to see. That was not His coming but His manifestation. After His manifestation, He was hidden again. The Lord was still with them; He never left them.
Please keep in mind that this is the work accomplished through the Lord’s death and resurrection. He brings those who belong to Him fully into God, and as the Spirit He Himself abides in them that they may be fully built up together with God and become one with God. This is the temple He raised up. He seemed to say, “Destroy this temple which I obtained in My incarnation, and I will raise it up again in three days. I will resurrect from death and raise it up in resurrection with the resurrection life. I am now living in the body of one man, but after My resurrection I will live in the Body with millions of people.” From our perspective as human beings living in time, today He is still building this temple in resurrection. From God’s perspective, however, He has already resurrected and completed this temple, because with Him there is no element of time.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the Gospel of John. Do not forget that the subject of the Gospel of John is the Word becoming flesh and tabernacling among us. That was a temporary temple; that was a single man. Men destroyed this temple, but the Lord raised it up in resurrection. His death and resurrection were to bring man into God that man might have a union with God. Now He abides in man, and man becomes a temple built by God.