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!

1156. And slaves and souls of men signifies profaned worship from truths and goods that are from a natural origin. This is evident from the signification of "slaves," as being truths known, which are from the natural man (of which presently); also from the signification of "souls of men," as being the goods corresponding to these truths, which are in general affections of knowing, for "souls of men" here mean those sold for servants, thus things serviceable. These are also called "souls of men" in Ezekiel:

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, were thy merchants, they traded for thy merchandise with the soul of man and with vessels of brass (Ezekiel 27:13).

This is said of Tyre, which signifies the knowledges of truth and good; and "the soul of man" means servants that are sold, thus slaves; and because it is also said "with vessels of brass," "the soul of man" signifies in the spiritual sense serviceable knowledges, "vessels of brass" the same. A man who is sold is also called "soul" in Moses:

If anyone hath stolen a soul of his brethren, and hath made gain of him by selling him, he shall be killed (Deuteronomy 24:7).

A "slave" signifies truth known, because the knowledges of the natural man wait upon and serve the rational man in thinking, and this is why knowledges are signified in the Word by ministries, household servants, services, and slaves, and here by "souls of men." Here as above is meant worship from truths and goods profaned by Babylon.

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith)

[2] All who wish for miracles and visions are like:

The sons of Israel, who, when they had seen so many prodigies in Egypt at the Sea Suph and on Mount Sinai, still within a month turned away from the worship of Jehovah and worshiped a golden calf (Exodus 32:1).

They are also like:

The rich man in hell who said to Abraham that his brethren would repent if one from the dead were sent to them; to whom Abraham replied, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them; if they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded if one rose from the dead (Luke 16:29, 31).

And they are like:

Thomas, who said he would not believe unless he saw; to whom the Lord said, Blessed are those who believe and do not see (John 20:25, 29).

"Those who believe and do not see" are those who do not desire signs, but truths from the Word, that is, Moses and the prophets, and who believe them. Such are internal men and become spiritual; but the former are external and remain sensual, and when they see miracles, and believe only because of the miracles, in their belief are not unlike a lovely woman who within is infected with a deadly disease of which she soon dies, or they are like an apple with a fair skin but rotten at the core, or like filberts in which a worm lies concealed. Moreover, it is known that no one can be compelled to love or to believe, and that love and faith must be inwardly rooted in man. Consequently it is not possible for anyone to be led to love God and to believe in Him by means of miracles and visions, because these compel. For when one does not believe from the miracles in the Word, how can he believe from miracles that are not in the Word?