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!

743. 17:14 "These will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings." This symbolizes the Lord's battle with Roman Catholics in France over an acknowledgment of His Divine humanity, because the Lord in that humanity is God of heaven and earth and also the Word.

Their battle with the Lord and of the Lord with them does not mean the kind of battle waged by evil people or with evil people, but the kind waged by and with people who do not yet possess truths concerning the Lord. The Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity and also in respect to the Word (nos. 269, 291, 595); and to overcome them means, symbolically, to convince them by means of the Word. "For He is Lord of lords and King of kings" means, symbolically, "for He is God of heaven and earth." It is because of His lordship over all the goods of heaven and the church that He is called Lord of lords, and because of His kingship over all the truths of heaven and the church that He is called King of kings (no. 664).

It is apparent from this that "these will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings," symbolizes the Lord's battle with Roman Catholics in France over an acknowledgment of His Divine humanity, because the Lord in His humanity is God of heaven and earth.

[2] That the Lord is God of heaven and earth is something He Himself in plain words teaches, for He says:

All things that the Father has are Mine. (John 16:15)

The Father... has given all things into (the Son's) hand. (John 3:35, cf. 13:3)

(Father,) You have given (Me) authority over all flesh... All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine... (John 17:2, 10)

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me... He who (knows and) sees Me, (knows and) sees the Father... (For) I am in the Father, and the Father in Me... (John 14:6-11).

The Father and I are one. (John 10:30)

He also says that everyone who believes in the Lord has eternal life, and that whoever does not believe in Him does not see life (John 3:15, 17-18, 36; 6:47; 11:26, and elsewhere).

Who does not know that the Lord was conceived of God as His Father (Luke 1:34-35)? And who does not know therefore that God the Father, who is Jehovah, assumed a humanity in the world, and consequently that the humanity is the humanity of God the Father, thus that God the Father and the Lord are one, as soul and body are one?

Can anyone accordingly turn to a person's soul, and from there descend to his body? Must one not turn to his humanity, and then turn to his soul?

[3] It is by these considerations and others found in the Word that the Lamb will overcome Roman Catholics in France. Therefore, because they have ceased to worship the Pope, let them worship Him from whom the Pope says that he has all authority over the church and heaven. The Pope is a man, and the Lord is God, and God alone is to be turned to, called upon and revered, or in other words, worshiped.

The Lord alone is the Holy One who is to be called upon (Revelation 15:4).

I know that people will think, "How could Jehovah the Father, the creator of the universe, descend and assume a humanity?" But let them think at the same time, "How could a Son from eternity, who is equal to the Father, and is also the creator of the universe, do this?" Is the case not the same?

People speak of a Father and Son from eternity, but there is no Son from eternity. It is the Divine humanity that is called the Son sent into the world (Luke 1:34-35).

But more on this subject may be seen in no. 962 below.