Varying New Life Experiences
Commentary
As a pastor and a Christian, I have always found the challenge of “Easter” to be not allowing it to be reduced to one climactic Sunday after the 40 days of Lent. That is, how can one celebrate and experience the new life of this season in a way that it is a meaningful part of the spiritual journey, when the rest of the society might give people maybe the afternoon of Good Friday off from work for the weekend of Easter Sunday. The Easter season of new life is not the old life resuscitated (like Lazarus in John 11). New life has both comforting as well as unanticipated stressful experiences in this season.
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Imagine a person who goes back to work or school after the Easter holiday weekend. They are back to the same old daily grind they left the previous Thursday. Acts 2, like the rest of the Luke-Acts narrative, is a reminder that God is still working among his people. In this portion of Peter’s speech, the apostle refers to selections of King David’s Psalms 15, 16, and 110 (LXX version) to suggest that it does no violence to any of David’s psalms to point out that God has been planning on doing greater signs among his people than even King David’s earthly monarchy. David’s reign will take on another form to defeat death, or more specifically not abandon people of faith to Hades (the land of the dead possibly being the place of retribution for unbelievers, depending on which commentary one consults). While David’s tomb is in plain sight, this new David has risen from the grave.
As the Luke-Acts audience is a second generation of Christians who did not actually see and experience Jesus, and for whom the second coming did not arrive, such texts as this remind believers that God will raise them up as he did Jesus. Luke is incrementally laying the groundwork for an argument to a messianic redefinition of the Davidic dynasty in Jesus as the Christ. This was identified as far back as the book of Psalms.
All that has happened to Jesus was a preordained plan. This applies to believers today by suggesting that God also has preordained plans for each of us. The day back in school, work, or at the place of existing in a retirement center or existing to make ends meet financially is not the last word. God is still working with each Christian, as it was preordained as early as the writing of the book of Psalms.
Christians belong to a greater cause than the surroundings of their work, school, or place of residence. For those folks in congregations who often feel that their lives are pointless and not headed in any certain direction, this text is reminder that God is still working in our midst.
A middle-aged mother has sent her last child off to college. The house is lonely as she experiences the “empty nest” reality. She can either decide that there is little else to look forward to, or get involved with church or community activities to work with other parents who are still raising their children. God is still working in her life. The new life is now discovering what God is pointing her to as a mission outside of her home. Luke-Acts also points to a mission outside of the familiar Jewish traditional peoples.
The dream of a young man or woman is crushed when they are told by the military recruiter that their health conditions make entry into the armed forces impossible. Ever since the day of September 11, 2001, he or she has lived for the moment to serve the nation’s armed forces. Acts 2 suggests that maybe God has a newer, less familiar direction for this young person than military service. He or she is told that veterans hospitals need healthcare workers. Possibly this is God closing one door and opening another.
As congregations, is God preparing us to consider directions that traditional churches and denominational offices have not considered in earlier times? If there is a church member who has an out-of-the-box idea to consider, this text might be a good point of departure. [Sources: Gerhard A. Krodel, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Acts (Augsburg Fortress, 1986); Ben Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1998)]
1 Peter 1:3-9
So what if events, life experiences, and things that occur in our society are not getting better and better? That is, progress does not translate into a better future despite the scientific and corporate community’s ability to split up individual parts of any organism or part of creation so they can be reassembled for the good of the people in charge. What if the time era when truth is measured in mathematics and exact sciences has not produced a better society for everyone, but rather a more complex society? This is where power clings to the top of the societal structures, similar to that of the ancient Roman empire. Jurgen Moltmann suggests that this is the difference between a secular philosophy of hope and a theology of hope.
As long as newly acquired knowledge is used to dissect, change, and reassemble parts of creation for the benefit of the ones who hold tightly onto the new technology, discoveries, etc., then we continue to live in a violent world. This is a world where nobody is respected based on the integrity of who God created them to be; rather, their worth is measured in units of how the manipulators of knowledge place value on which parts of God’s creation are worth perpetuating, and which is laid by the wayside. This grim trajectory need not be the final word if we also cling onto the Judeo-Christian idea of a transcendent God (Moltmann, pp. 177-186).
First Peter is written to exiled people who have lost their homes or their lands, which might have carried some prestige and respect for their names or family heritage at one time. [Authorship questions persist. I often simply use “Silvanus” authorship (1 Peter 5:12) as a compromise measure if ever questioned.] Now they are “exiles in dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1). This text has two major points based on faith in a transcendent God whom many in the secular world at large reject. First, the God of creation has an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading and kept in heaven” for believers in the crucified and risen Christ (3:4).
Since social mobility through higher education, employment mobility, or measured abilities did not exist, one had to rely on an inheritance to make any headway in that ancient agrarian economy. With constant global warfare, unpredictable drought, pestilence, or bad weather conditions, one’s inheritance of land or family estates was not guaranteed. The author of 1 Peter is arguing that those who are part of this chosen people in Christ do indeed have a secure inheritance awaiting them in the future. This is a promise of good news of Easter. Some people in the church have had promises broken, betrayals of close loved ones, and the rules change on them often in their lifetime. First Peter assures Christians of their inheritance (specifically, “blessings of prosperity,” Senior, p. 31).
A second point 1 Peter makes is a response to undeserved suffering. The author joins James 1:2-3 and Psalm 26:1-3 in suggesting that suffering is a test similar to fires purifying metals such as gold to make them even more pure. Such suffering may act as a preview to even greater suffering in future times. However, Christians are encouraged to rejoice because the genuineness of their faith is proven to be “more precious than gold” (which was one of the highest monetary units of the times).
As a pastor for many years, I have often struggled with the idea of whether one wishes to tell somebody who has experienced a tragedy that God is testing their faith to make it purer than gold. That is, God takes a loved one or allows a calamity to enter into one’s life as a means to purify their faith. This may or may not be effective in some pastoral situations I have encountered. However, I have bracketed this thought with the idea that we are “exiles” or away from the homeland in the world of 1 Peter. God has not forgotten his people, and will bless them with an imperishable inheritance. However, the pain still hurts. Some people might not be in a mood to “rejoice.” The text does make the valid point that such suffering is exactly par for the course for Christians throughout history and time. There is little evidence that God “raptures” people out of pain, but rather has them grow through it. The reality is that the God of the Cross meets us in these valleys, so any Easter sermon about new life might include an element of the shadow of the cross.
A modern example might be a middle-aged woman who decides to enter into the medical field and attend community college in her area, after her factory job has been outsourced overseas. Not only does she have to deal with new technology since she left high school a couple decades ago, but more and more of the field is online. Documenting seems more critical than time with patients. The insurance requirements for funding grow more complex. She learns all of this during her first year in nursing school in college. Some students grow frustrated and quit! If this is medicine, then the world has changed and they want no part of it. However, this older woman holds her own. She passes and gets her nursing license. Upon working in an urban hospital in her first job, she soon discovers that the changes in charting patients’ medical progress, requirements for insurance reimbursement, and even more charting to do... is like being back at nursing college, but on “steroids.” She rejoices that she is prepared for this reality of the medical field. But this does not diminish the sore feet and aching back of the middle-aged woman, who now feels she is “aging” even faster as a full-time health worker rather than a nursing student. First Peter would invite the healthcare worker to view the reality of the changing medical community through the lens of a God who strengthens our faith, and points us to that eternal inheritance.
Both of these points assume the transcendent God whom Moltmann points to in his book. While the immanent God and reality is ever present, a transcendent understanding of God is one proposed response to losses that the secular philosophy of progress based on the domineering power of scientific knowledge may not be able to deliver. Also, 1 Peter suggests that the transcendent God has a response to unjust suffering. The new life in Easter might have a bitter side according to 1 Peter, but God remains good for God’s promises. [Sources: Jurgen Moltmann, The Living God and the Fullness of Life (Westminster John Knox, 2015); Donald P. Senior and Daniel J. Harrington, Sacra Pagina: 1 Peter, Jude, and 2 Peter (Liturgical Press, 2003)]
John 20:19-31
As long as I have been ordained (29 years now) and preaching from the lectionary, the constant in my universe is “Doubting Thomas” Sunday and John 20. The text itself could be simply read and a short sentence or two spoken about it if need be. Below are some other directions that one might consider.
The reader is made aware that the disciples are in a room behind locked doors due to “fear of the Jews.” (John 20:19). Martyn has argued this to be pointing toward hostilities between the Christian community and Jewish leadership during the writing and editing of John’s gospel. Though it was a bitter conflict in that time, today one might simply identify the opposition as simply “temple leaders” or “Judeans” in order to avoid anti-Semitic verbiage. The root Greek word for “fear” is phobos, specifically meaning “terror” or that which paralyzes people from taking action. What is the source of such terror today in our communities? What kind of Spirit would be needed to free people from such fears? Loss of a major company, an ecological disaster of unclean water, or even fears of a weather storm might be examples.
Then Jesus arrives and speaks “Peace be with you” (literally Shalom) to his disciples. Commentators believe that it was necessary that Jesus show his hands and side which had been pierced as evidence that Jesus was indeed flesh and blood, not a supernatural spirit being who swooped up and down from the earth. He is indeed God in the flesh (John 1:14). A person who has been severely wounded but can have new life might be one theme of preaching along this line.
This text also points to a receiving of the Holy Spirit that is wrapped up in the Easter event, rather than Pentecost event as Acts 2 reports. Jesus breathes life into the disciples similar to God breathing life into creation in Genesis 2:7. Once this Spirit is received, Christians are to embody Jesus’ mission of forgiveness. This text also points to the church’s office of forgiving and retaining sins (Matthew 16:19). Has the church recently been willing to revisit certain traditional sins and revisit their source and significance? For many mainline denominations, the discussion on sexuality has resulted in much heated debate, if not division, over which sins are to be forgiven and retained. It was not too far back when divorce was a sin that the church had to revisit.
The Thomas story of his doubts can follow a couple paths. First, one can suggest that doubt is not necessarily disbelief, but a struggle in order to believe in a more authentic manner. Thomas was unwilling to take somebody’s word for the appearance of the risen Jesus. Is this wrong? Whose words do we trust in our communities of faith? It used to be that clergy and church authorities had the final word. In a modern consumer culture, many people in the church like to “compare views and opinions.” Yet there are occurrences that must be accepted in terms of “faith and trust.” Once Thomas was convinced, legend holds that not only was he a faithful disciple but he also died a horrible martyr’s death in the nation of India. What would convince any of our folks in church to die for a cause, if need be, in this season of new life or Easter? In John, our God is good for his promises, and wants us to work within community. (The Johannine epistles also make this point.)
This passage also points to the triune God. One can see the Creator who breathes in new life. There is the Redeemer who appears after being crucified, as well as the Spirit or Paraclete that continues to bring new life. If one wanted to tackle a Trinity topic, this text is worth exploring. Moltmann argues that the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) works in concert with one another rather than being over or above the other two persons of the Triune God. This is a good model for the Church.
It has been suggested that John 20:30-31 may have been a conclusion to the gospel, and chapter 21 was added later. When it comes to dealing with the question of the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke being different narrative events than John, it might be reasonable to suggest that John is aware of “other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” (20:30) -- thereby implying that John might be an alternative or supplemental narrative account to the synoptic books, not a contradictory writing. A main thought is that John is written so people come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah (or Christ), the Son of God, and through this belief have life in this Jesus’ name (20:31).
To have life in this Jesus means specifically (the Greek word zoe) life that that is moving forward or has a certain energy to it. Where is the new life and energy in our congregations? Is the new life and energy outside of the congregations? Where does life seem to be moving forward while other forms of life remain steady, intact, but not necessarily moving forward? Where are we experiencing new life such as zoe? [Sources: George R. Beasley-Murray, Word Biblical Commentary: John (Word Books, 1987); J. Louis Martyn, History and Theology of the Fourth Gospel (Abingdon Press, 1968); Jurgen Moltmann, The Living God and the Fullness of Life (Westminster John Knox Press, 2015)]
Alternative Applications
“[Jesus] then said, Peace to you! As the Father sent me, I am also sending you” (John 20:21). This is John’s version of a “commission” of sorts. In each of these texts, one might preach about how are we as a people of God are being commissioned in these times and changing situations. For example, an established congregation sends a handful of seasoned Christians to work with a congregation in a changing neighborhood where people of color now occupy the homes. A white-collar worker leaves a secure position for a major corporation in order to work at a smaller company who has organizational and management problems. He left the security of the larger corporation and took the risk of working at a company who wonders about meeting its bills. He felt a sense of calling and commissioning. Later, the larger corporation he left is bought out and divided into divisions by a hostile corporate raider. Was God commissioning this white-collar worker to seek security and opportunity elsewhere at the smaller company?
Another application here is when Thomas says, “My Lord and my God” (20:28), along with John 1:1-3, to show that Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus and God are one. This is important in times when many people take a minimalist view of Jesus -- that being, he is another prophet, great teacher, or martyr worthy of following. Christianity’s claim that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh does suggest a certain exclusivist claim. So Christianity as an exclusivist religion is another alternative path to preach this Johannine gospel lesson.
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Imagine a person who goes back to work or school after the Easter holiday weekend. They are back to the same old daily grind they left the previous Thursday. Acts 2, like the rest of the Luke-Acts narrative, is a reminder that God is still working among his people. In this portion of Peter’s speech, the apostle refers to selections of King David’s Psalms 15, 16, and 110 (LXX version) to suggest that it does no violence to any of David’s psalms to point out that God has been planning on doing greater signs among his people than even King David’s earthly monarchy. David’s reign will take on another form to defeat death, or more specifically not abandon people of faith to Hades (the land of the dead possibly being the place of retribution for unbelievers, depending on which commentary one consults). While David’s tomb is in plain sight, this new David has risen from the grave.
As the Luke-Acts audience is a second generation of Christians who did not actually see and experience Jesus, and for whom the second coming did not arrive, such texts as this remind believers that God will raise them up as he did Jesus. Luke is incrementally laying the groundwork for an argument to a messianic redefinition of the Davidic dynasty in Jesus as the Christ. This was identified as far back as the book of Psalms.
All that has happened to Jesus was a preordained plan. This applies to believers today by suggesting that God also has preordained plans for each of us. The day back in school, work, or at the place of existing in a retirement center or existing to make ends meet financially is not the last word. God is still working with each Christian, as it was preordained as early as the writing of the book of Psalms.
Christians belong to a greater cause than the surroundings of their work, school, or place of residence. For those folks in congregations who often feel that their lives are pointless and not headed in any certain direction, this text is reminder that God is still working in our midst.
A middle-aged mother has sent her last child off to college. The house is lonely as she experiences the “empty nest” reality. She can either decide that there is little else to look forward to, or get involved with church or community activities to work with other parents who are still raising their children. God is still working in her life. The new life is now discovering what God is pointing her to as a mission outside of her home. Luke-Acts also points to a mission outside of the familiar Jewish traditional peoples.
The dream of a young man or woman is crushed when they are told by the military recruiter that their health conditions make entry into the armed forces impossible. Ever since the day of September 11, 2001, he or she has lived for the moment to serve the nation’s armed forces. Acts 2 suggests that maybe God has a newer, less familiar direction for this young person than military service. He or she is told that veterans hospitals need healthcare workers. Possibly this is God closing one door and opening another.
As congregations, is God preparing us to consider directions that traditional churches and denominational offices have not considered in earlier times? If there is a church member who has an out-of-the-box idea to consider, this text might be a good point of departure. [Sources: Gerhard A. Krodel, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Acts (Augsburg Fortress, 1986); Ben Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1998)]
1 Peter 1:3-9
So what if events, life experiences, and things that occur in our society are not getting better and better? That is, progress does not translate into a better future despite the scientific and corporate community’s ability to split up individual parts of any organism or part of creation so they can be reassembled for the good of the people in charge. What if the time era when truth is measured in mathematics and exact sciences has not produced a better society for everyone, but rather a more complex society? This is where power clings to the top of the societal structures, similar to that of the ancient Roman empire. Jurgen Moltmann suggests that this is the difference between a secular philosophy of hope and a theology of hope.
As long as newly acquired knowledge is used to dissect, change, and reassemble parts of creation for the benefit of the ones who hold tightly onto the new technology, discoveries, etc., then we continue to live in a violent world. This is a world where nobody is respected based on the integrity of who God created them to be; rather, their worth is measured in units of how the manipulators of knowledge place value on which parts of God’s creation are worth perpetuating, and which is laid by the wayside. This grim trajectory need not be the final word if we also cling onto the Judeo-Christian idea of a transcendent God (Moltmann, pp. 177-186).
First Peter is written to exiled people who have lost their homes or their lands, which might have carried some prestige and respect for their names or family heritage at one time. [Authorship questions persist. I often simply use “Silvanus” authorship (1 Peter 5:12) as a compromise measure if ever questioned.] Now they are “exiles in dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1). This text has two major points based on faith in a transcendent God whom many in the secular world at large reject. First, the God of creation has an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading and kept in heaven” for believers in the crucified and risen Christ (3:4).
Since social mobility through higher education, employment mobility, or measured abilities did not exist, one had to rely on an inheritance to make any headway in that ancient agrarian economy. With constant global warfare, unpredictable drought, pestilence, or bad weather conditions, one’s inheritance of land or family estates was not guaranteed. The author of 1 Peter is arguing that those who are part of this chosen people in Christ do indeed have a secure inheritance awaiting them in the future. This is a promise of good news of Easter. Some people in the church have had promises broken, betrayals of close loved ones, and the rules change on them often in their lifetime. First Peter assures Christians of their inheritance (specifically, “blessings of prosperity,” Senior, p. 31).
A second point 1 Peter makes is a response to undeserved suffering. The author joins James 1:2-3 and Psalm 26:1-3 in suggesting that suffering is a test similar to fires purifying metals such as gold to make them even more pure. Such suffering may act as a preview to even greater suffering in future times. However, Christians are encouraged to rejoice because the genuineness of their faith is proven to be “more precious than gold” (which was one of the highest monetary units of the times).
As a pastor for many years, I have often struggled with the idea of whether one wishes to tell somebody who has experienced a tragedy that God is testing their faith to make it purer than gold. That is, God takes a loved one or allows a calamity to enter into one’s life as a means to purify their faith. This may or may not be effective in some pastoral situations I have encountered. However, I have bracketed this thought with the idea that we are “exiles” or away from the homeland in the world of 1 Peter. God has not forgotten his people, and will bless them with an imperishable inheritance. However, the pain still hurts. Some people might not be in a mood to “rejoice.” The text does make the valid point that such suffering is exactly par for the course for Christians throughout history and time. There is little evidence that God “raptures” people out of pain, but rather has them grow through it. The reality is that the God of the Cross meets us in these valleys, so any Easter sermon about new life might include an element of the shadow of the cross.
A modern example might be a middle-aged woman who decides to enter into the medical field and attend community college in her area, after her factory job has been outsourced overseas. Not only does she have to deal with new technology since she left high school a couple decades ago, but more and more of the field is online. Documenting seems more critical than time with patients. The insurance requirements for funding grow more complex. She learns all of this during her first year in nursing school in college. Some students grow frustrated and quit! If this is medicine, then the world has changed and they want no part of it. However, this older woman holds her own. She passes and gets her nursing license. Upon working in an urban hospital in her first job, she soon discovers that the changes in charting patients’ medical progress, requirements for insurance reimbursement, and even more charting to do... is like being back at nursing college, but on “steroids.” She rejoices that she is prepared for this reality of the medical field. But this does not diminish the sore feet and aching back of the middle-aged woman, who now feels she is “aging” even faster as a full-time health worker rather than a nursing student. First Peter would invite the healthcare worker to view the reality of the changing medical community through the lens of a God who strengthens our faith, and points us to that eternal inheritance.
Both of these points assume the transcendent God whom Moltmann points to in his book. While the immanent God and reality is ever present, a transcendent understanding of God is one proposed response to losses that the secular philosophy of progress based on the domineering power of scientific knowledge may not be able to deliver. Also, 1 Peter suggests that the transcendent God has a response to unjust suffering. The new life in Easter might have a bitter side according to 1 Peter, but God remains good for God’s promises. [Sources: Jurgen Moltmann, The Living God and the Fullness of Life (Westminster John Knox, 2015); Donald P. Senior and Daniel J. Harrington, Sacra Pagina: 1 Peter, Jude, and 2 Peter (Liturgical Press, 2003)]
John 20:19-31
As long as I have been ordained (29 years now) and preaching from the lectionary, the constant in my universe is “Doubting Thomas” Sunday and John 20. The text itself could be simply read and a short sentence or two spoken about it if need be. Below are some other directions that one might consider.
The reader is made aware that the disciples are in a room behind locked doors due to “fear of the Jews.” (John 20:19). Martyn has argued this to be pointing toward hostilities between the Christian community and Jewish leadership during the writing and editing of John’s gospel. Though it was a bitter conflict in that time, today one might simply identify the opposition as simply “temple leaders” or “Judeans” in order to avoid anti-Semitic verbiage. The root Greek word for “fear” is phobos, specifically meaning “terror” or that which paralyzes people from taking action. What is the source of such terror today in our communities? What kind of Spirit would be needed to free people from such fears? Loss of a major company, an ecological disaster of unclean water, or even fears of a weather storm might be examples.
Then Jesus arrives and speaks “Peace be with you” (literally Shalom) to his disciples. Commentators believe that it was necessary that Jesus show his hands and side which had been pierced as evidence that Jesus was indeed flesh and blood, not a supernatural spirit being who swooped up and down from the earth. He is indeed God in the flesh (John 1:14). A person who has been severely wounded but can have new life might be one theme of preaching along this line.
This text also points to a receiving of the Holy Spirit that is wrapped up in the Easter event, rather than Pentecost event as Acts 2 reports. Jesus breathes life into the disciples similar to God breathing life into creation in Genesis 2:7. Once this Spirit is received, Christians are to embody Jesus’ mission of forgiveness. This text also points to the church’s office of forgiving and retaining sins (Matthew 16:19). Has the church recently been willing to revisit certain traditional sins and revisit their source and significance? For many mainline denominations, the discussion on sexuality has resulted in much heated debate, if not division, over which sins are to be forgiven and retained. It was not too far back when divorce was a sin that the church had to revisit.
The Thomas story of his doubts can follow a couple paths. First, one can suggest that doubt is not necessarily disbelief, but a struggle in order to believe in a more authentic manner. Thomas was unwilling to take somebody’s word for the appearance of the risen Jesus. Is this wrong? Whose words do we trust in our communities of faith? It used to be that clergy and church authorities had the final word. In a modern consumer culture, many people in the church like to “compare views and opinions.” Yet there are occurrences that must be accepted in terms of “faith and trust.” Once Thomas was convinced, legend holds that not only was he a faithful disciple but he also died a horrible martyr’s death in the nation of India. What would convince any of our folks in church to die for a cause, if need be, in this season of new life or Easter? In John, our God is good for his promises, and wants us to work within community. (The Johannine epistles also make this point.)
This passage also points to the triune God. One can see the Creator who breathes in new life. There is the Redeemer who appears after being crucified, as well as the Spirit or Paraclete that continues to bring new life. If one wanted to tackle a Trinity topic, this text is worth exploring. Moltmann argues that the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) works in concert with one another rather than being over or above the other two persons of the Triune God. This is a good model for the Church.
It has been suggested that John 20:30-31 may have been a conclusion to the gospel, and chapter 21 was added later. When it comes to dealing with the question of the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke being different narrative events than John, it might be reasonable to suggest that John is aware of “other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” (20:30) -- thereby implying that John might be an alternative or supplemental narrative account to the synoptic books, not a contradictory writing. A main thought is that John is written so people come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah (or Christ), the Son of God, and through this belief have life in this Jesus’ name (20:31).
To have life in this Jesus means specifically (the Greek word zoe) life that that is moving forward or has a certain energy to it. Where is the new life and energy in our congregations? Is the new life and energy outside of the congregations? Where does life seem to be moving forward while other forms of life remain steady, intact, but not necessarily moving forward? Where are we experiencing new life such as zoe? [Sources: George R. Beasley-Murray, Word Biblical Commentary: John (Word Books, 1987); J. Louis Martyn, History and Theology of the Fourth Gospel (Abingdon Press, 1968); Jurgen Moltmann, The Living God and the Fullness of Life (Westminster John Knox Press, 2015)]
Alternative Applications
“[Jesus] then said, Peace to you! As the Father sent me, I am also sending you” (John 20:21). This is John’s version of a “commission” of sorts. In each of these texts, one might preach about how are we as a people of God are being commissioned in these times and changing situations. For example, an established congregation sends a handful of seasoned Christians to work with a congregation in a changing neighborhood where people of color now occupy the homes. A white-collar worker leaves a secure position for a major corporation in order to work at a smaller company who has organizational and management problems. He left the security of the larger corporation and took the risk of working at a company who wonders about meeting its bills. He felt a sense of calling and commissioning. Later, the larger corporation he left is bought out and divided into divisions by a hostile corporate raider. Was God commissioning this white-collar worker to seek security and opportunity elsewhere at the smaller company?
Another application here is when Thomas says, “My Lord and my God” (20:28), along with John 1:1-3, to show that Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus and God are one. This is important in times when many people take a minimalist view of Jesus -- that being, he is another prophet, great teacher, or martyr worthy of following. Christianity’s claim that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh does suggest a certain exclusivist claim. So Christianity as an exclusivist religion is another alternative path to preach this Johannine gospel lesson.

