Late on the first Easter Sunday, after the Lord had risen from the sepulcher, ten of the disciples gathered for the evening in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem (John 20). They were afraid and probably confused. Since their leader had been crucified by the Roman power, as organized by their own Jewish leaders, they feared that now his followers might also be hunted down and punished. They closed and locked the doors. Were any of the women there? The story does not say, but Peter and John were, who saw and talked with the angels that morning, and the stories of the women were known. Some time must have been spent wondering and perhaps arguing - was He really alive? How could they know it was really Him? This kind of thing, coming back to life after you’re dead, this doesn’t happen in this real world, there must be some mistake!

Then two of the followers, not of the twelve, but the two that had gone to the village of Emmaus, came in, excited and bursting with their news. They had seen Him! They had walked with Him for seven miles and He had told them wondrous things! They had only recognized Him when He broke bread and ate with them. "Don’t doubt us, it really was Jesus!"

And then as they all talked and argued, there He was, standing with them in the room. "Peace be unto you," He said, and He showed them His hands and feet and His side, where he was wounded. He calmed them, and told them that just as he had come down to mankind, so they must go out and teach to all people all the true things that He had taught in the years He was with them.

It was these truths about how to live one’s life that were saving, not the disciples themselves. These saving truths have the power to remit or retain sins, because they were from the Lord, the disciples only transmitted them from the Lord to those who would listen and take them to heart. Then He breathed on them - representing His holy spirit - so that they would not only want to pass these truths on to people, but would also be given the words to say whenever the times came. And then He was gone again.

Thomas was not there that night. We don’t know why. And Thomas, when he heard the story, just could not swallow it. "Except I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe", he said. (John 20:25.)

The next verse tells us that the next Sunday they gathered again, and that Thomas was present this time. As before, the Lord was suddenly there, saying again, "Peace be unto you", and then directly to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger… and reach hither thy hand… and be not faithless but believing". Now Thomas's response was, "my Lord and my God". It seems as if the Lord came this time just to convince Thomas, because it was Thomas who needed Him.

I think He does work this way. I am reminded of another story, from the gospel of Mark (Mark 9:17-27) where a father comes to Jesus with a young son who is possessed by a devil, and asks Jesus to cure him, and is asked in turn: "Do you believe I can do this?" In Mark 9:24 the father responds. Crying out, he said with tears, "I believe, help thou my unbelief."

I think many people have this conflict between lingering doubts and a desire to have the doubts taken away. If we carry on and make our decisions in life as if the doubts were indeed gone, then indeed they will lose their strength and actually will be gone.

These are the only details given of these two meetings in Jerusalem. Chronologically the next post-Easter stories are the ones that take place in Galilee.

John does go on to say at the end of his gospel "...many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God...." (John 20:30-31). Perhaps there were more post-Easter stories that weren't written down, but the ones we do have are strong. For the disciples who were involved, there was an unstoppable impact from the life and teachings of the Lord, and His crucifixion, and physical death, and now - in these stories - His resurrection. Hearing the Lord's charges to them, these Galilean fishermen and their colleagues launch out into the wide world, and work to achieve the Great Commission, enduring hardships and persecution, and succeeding - probably beyond their wildest dreams!

337. I. Saving faith is in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ.

Saving faith is in God as Saviour, because He is God and man, and He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, so that they are one. Those therefore who approach Him, at the same time approach the Father, that is, the one and only God, and saving faith is in no other. We are to believe or have faith in the Son of God, the Redeemer and Saviour, who was conceived of Jehovah and born of the Virgin Mary, and was named Jesus Christ. This is evident from His own often-repeated commands, and later from those of the Apostles. The following passages show clearly that He commanded faith in Himself:

Jesus said, This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have everlasting life, and I should raise him up on the last day,John 6:40.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him, John 3:36.

So that everyone who believes in the Son may not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, John 3:15-16.

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in Me shall not ever die, John 11:25-26.

In truth I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life, John 6:47-48.

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty, John 6:35.

Jesus cried out saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. If anyone believes in me, as the Scripture says, streams of living water will flow from his belly, John 7:37-38.

They said to Jesus, What shall we do to perform God's work? Jesus answered, This is God's work, to believe in Him whom the Father has sent, John 6:28-29.

So long as you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may be sons of light, John 12:36.

He who believes in the Son of God is not judged; but he who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God, John 3:18.

These things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and so that by believing you may have life in His name, John 20:31.

If you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins, John 8:24.

Jesus said, When the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will try the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, for not believing in Me, John 16:8-9.