John 20,19-31

19 Jesus Appears to the Disciples19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
22 And 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 them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,[4] was not with them when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, 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 disbelieve, but believe.”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed is those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Hello everyone, I am kiki. Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible study”.
We will adopt a relaxed also enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new learning world. Each time I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and problem discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring new knowledge experience to you all. The following is my interview with sister on related issues. Today is the thirty-three lecture on the Gospel of John.
Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!

2.My summary of John thirty-three-time study:

Well, everybody! Firstly, is still my today’s personal study summary.
On the evening of the same day that Mary Magdalene saw the empty tomb, the disciples were hiding together in a locked room because they were scared of the Jewish leaders.
Suddenly, Jesus appeared among them and said, “Peace be with you.” To prove it was really him, he showed them the wounds on his hands and his side. The disciples were overjoyed to see Jesus alive again!
He told them again, “Peace be with you,” and explained that just as God had sent him, he was now sending them to continue his mission.
Then Jesus breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit, saying they had the power to forgive sins.
One of the disciples, Thomas, wasn’t there when Jesus appeared. When the others told him they’d seen Jesus, Thomas refused to believe it unless he could touch Jesus’ wounds himself.
Eight days later, Jesus appeared again, even though the doors were locked. This time, Thomas was there. Jesus invited Thomas to touch his hands and side, and told him not to doubt but to believe.
Thomas was overwhelmed and said, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replied, “You believe because you’ve seen me. Blessed is those who haven’t seen but still believe.”
The story ends by saying Jesus did many other amazing things that aren’t written in the Bible, but what’s included is enough for people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and to have eternal life through him
Now let Ingrid sister make a go further summary.

Hello, in this bible passage the most important thing is, that the disciples still did not believe, that Jesus arose from the death. Jesus told them various times, that he will go to Jerusalem to die and arise from the death, but sometimes, the disciples did not listen good enough, sometimes, they just did not understand what Jesus is telling, because it is a very great thing, that somebody arises from the death.

But now, after Jesus has presented himself to Maria Magdalena, he came through the closed-door inn to them. It was not necessary to open the door, because his glorified body could go everywhere and he greeted with the “greet” Peace with you”.

This fact has a symbolic character, too: Our utter circumstances are never a problem for Jesus. When we would like him to come in in our hearts, he comes, even the circumstances are not optimal. And when he comes, he gives us a strong inner peace that is totally different from the peace of this world.

After presenting himself to the disciples, Jesus had an important message for the disciples: As the father had sent him, so he sends out the disciples. They and all we Christians are called to bring the good message of the gospel, the message, that Jesus came in flesh from heaven to earth, that he gave his life for us on the cross and that he finally arose from the death and went back to his father to all the people in the world.

Further he delivered the Holy Spirit to them and once again he appointed how important it is, to forgive those who have sinned against us, because when we do not forgive, they are not forgiven and as we learned from the bible before: If we behold sin, we are not forgiven neither.

John adds at the end, that he has written down a selection of situations with Jesus with the purpose, that we shall believe.
Today a lot of people commit the mistake, that they want to proof the bible and it is certainly no mistake to have a bit knowledge about the history of the bible.

But the bible is a book who should not be studied with the eyes of science, because God has given his knowledge to the children and simple people.

The bible is first of all a book who has to be believed. And there is no space for bible critic and theological discussion. God’s word is written clearly and understandable, the only thing we have to do is believe.

4. Q list part: base on John 19th items:

Okay. Base on above bible study content, now let me ask sister some related questions.
We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters who have just become Christians.

1.Why were the disciples hiding behind locked doors?

They still did not have the Holy Spirit who made them brave to share the gospel in public. So, they hided themselves because of fear of the Jewish leaders.

2.How did Jesus greet the disciples when he appeared?

He said: Peace with you

3.What did Jesus show the disciples to prove it was him?

He showed them his wounds on his hands and his side.

4.Why did Jesus breathe on the disciples, and what did it mean?

He promised with this action the Holy Spirit. We all need the Holy Spirit to be able to live like Christians, to understand the bible and to remember the Gods Word when we come in situations, there it is necessary how to act according to the bible.

Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples. On the day of Pentecost’s, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven to earth and is living now in every person that has repented from sins and being converted into a Christian.

5.What power did Jesus give to the disciples?

I already mentioned, that we have the power to forgive sins and it is important, that we do this, if not we are not forgiven eighter.

6.Why didn’t Thomas believe the other disciples?

Arise from the death is a very big thing. Thomas was a very negative mood disciple, what we see when they went to the house, there Lazarus died. He often was controlled by his emotions.

It seems that it was not so easy for him to get out of this depression about that his beloved master has died and share the joy of the other disciples, who told that Jesus is living. Maybe he thought, that they became crazy because of their grief and that made them tell a such incredible thing.

7.What did Jesus say to Thomas when he appeared again?

First, he allowed to put his finger in his wound and side, then he said, blessed are those who not see and believe.

8.How did Thomas respond after seeing and touching Jesus?

He was overwhelmed and said: My Lord and my God.

9.What did Jesus say about people who believe without seeing?

They are blessed.

10.Why were these stories written in the Bible?

These stories are written in the bible for that all that read them believe.