On reaching Jerusalem the two disciples entered through the eastern gate, made their way along the narrow streets by the light of the rising moon, and went to the upper room where Jesus had spent the last evening before His death. They knew they would find the other disciples there. The door was securely barred. They knocked to be let in, but no answer came. All was quiet. Then they gave their names. The door was carefully unbarred, they entered, and Another, unseen, entered with them. Then the door was locked again, to keep out spies.3TC 467.2

The travelers found all of their fellow disciples in surprised excitement. Various ones were saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two, panting from their hurried journey, told how Jesus had appeared to them. Some were saying that they could not believe it, for it was too good to be true, when suddenly another Person stood before them. No stranger had knocked for entrance, and they had heard no footstep. The disciples were startled. Then they heard the voice of their Master, clear and distinct, “Peace to you.”3TC 467.3

“But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.3TC 467.4

“But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, ‘Have you any food here?’ So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.” “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” Faith took the place of unbelief, and they acknowledged their risen Savior.3TC 467.5

We Will Recognize Our Loved Ones

The face of the risen Savior, His manner, His speech, were all familiar to His disciples. As Jesus rose from the dead, so those who sleep in Him will rise again. We will know our friends, as the disciples knew Jesus. In the glorified body their identity will be perfectly preserved. We will recognize those we love.3TC 467.6

Jesus reminded His disciples of the words He had spoken before His death. “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.’ “ Christ’s life, His death and resurrection, the prophecies that pointed to these events, the sacredness of God’s law, the mysteries of the plan of salvation, the power of Jesus to forgive sins—all these they were to make known to the world.3TC 467.7

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” Christ would give His Holy Spirit to them more abundantly after His ascension. But He breathed His Spirit on them now to impress them with the fact that without the Holy Spirit they could not fulfill their official duties in connection with the church.3TC 468.1

The gift of the Spirit is the gift of the life of Christ. It endows the receiver with the attributes of Christ. Only those who possess the inward working of the Spirit and in whose life the Christ-life is revealed are to minister in behalf of the church.3TC 468.2

“If you forgive the sins of any,” said Christ, “they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Christ here gives no liberty for anyone to pass judgment on others. This right belongs to God. But He places a responsibility for the individual members on the organized church. The church has a duty to those who fall into sin to warn them, instruct them, and if possible to restore them. Deal faithfully with wrongdoing. Call sin by its right name. Declare what God has said about lying, Sabbath breaking, stealing, and every other evil. If they persist in sin, the judgment you have declared from God’s Word is pronounced on them in heaven. The church must show that she does not approve of their deeds, or she herself dishonors her Lord. She must deal with sin as God directs, and heaven ratifies her action.3TC 468.3

But there is a brighter side. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” Let this thought be your focus. The shepherds should speak to the erring about the forgiving mercy of the Savior. Let them encourage the sinner to repent and believe in Him who can pardon. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Place the trembling hand of the repenting one in the loving hand of Jesus. Such a forgiveness is ratified in heaven.3TC 468.4

Only God Can Forgive

Only in this sense does the church have the power to free the sinner from the sin. We can obtain forgiveness of sins only through the merits of Christ. God gives no person or human organization the power to free anyone from guilt. The name of Jesus is the only “name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.3TC 468.5

When Jesus first met the disciples in the upper room, Thomas was not with them. He heard the reports of the others that Jesus had risen, but gloom and unbelief filled his heart. If Jesus had really risen, there could be no hope of a literal earthly kingdom. And it wounded his pride to think that his Master would reveal Himself to all except him. He was determined not to believe, and for a whole week he brooded over his misery.3TC 469.1

He repeatedly declared, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” He would not exercise faith that was dependent on the testimony of his fellow disciples. He loved his Lord, but he had allowed jealousy and unbelief to take possession of his heart.3TC 469.2

One evening Thomas decided to meet with the others in the familiar upper room. He had a faint hope that the good news was true. While eating their evening meal, the disciples talked of the evidences Christ had given them in the prophecies. “Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’”3TC 469.3

Turning to Thomas, He said, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” The doubting disciple knew that none of his companions could have told the Master about his unbelief. He had no desire for further proof. His heart leaped for joy, and he threw himself at the feet of Jesus, exclaiming, “My Lord and my God!”3TC 469.4

Jesus accepted his acknowledgment but gently reproved his unbelief: “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” If the world now followed the example of Thomas, no one would believe, for all who receive Christ must do so through the testimony of others. Many who, like Thomas, wait for all cause of doubt to be removed will never have that desire fulfilled. They gradually become confirmed in unbelief. They are sowing seeds of doubt, and they will have a harvest of doubt to reap. Then when faith and confidence are most essential, many will find themselves powerless to hope and believe.3TC 469.5

Jesus’ treatment of Thomas shows how we should treat those who make their doubts prominent. Thomas had been most unreasonable in dictating the conditions of his faith, but Jesus’ generous dealings with him broke down all the barriers. We seldom overcome unbelief by controversy. But if we reveal Jesus, in His love and mercy, as the crucified Savior, many once-unwilling lips will speak Thomas’s acknowledgment, “My Lord and my God!”3TC 469.6

The Walk to Emmaus

By the Sea Once More