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!

356. And he that sat on him had a bow. That this signifies the doctrine of charity and faith thence, from which evils and falsities are fought against and dispersed, is clear from the signification of one sitting on a white horse, as denoting the Word (of which we have treated just above); and from the signification of a bow as denoting the doctrine of charity and faith, from which evils and falsities are combated and dispersed. That by a bow is signified that doctrine, will be seen in what follows. Here something shall first be said concerning doctrine:

1. That no one can understand the Word without doctrine;

2. That no one can fight against evils and falsities, and dissipate them, without doctrine from the Word;

3. That no one within the church where the Word is can become spiritual without doctrine from the Word;

4. That doctrine cannot be procured from any other source than from the Word, and by no others but those who are in enlightenment from the Lord;

5. That all things of doctrine are to be confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word.

1. That no one can understand the Word without doctrine, is evident from this fact, that the sense of its letter consists of pure correspondences, which contain in themselves spiritual things, thus it consists of such things as are in the world and partake of its nature. Hence it is that the sense of the letter is natural and not spiritual, accommodated, nevertheless, to the apprehension of the simple who do not elevate their ideas above such things as they see before their eyes. For this reason it also contains things that do not appear to be spiritual, although the whole Word inwardly is purely spiritual, because it is Divine. On this account there are many things in the sense of the letter which can serve for no doctrine of the church at this day, and many things which can be applied to various and diverse principles, whence, heresies; but still there are many things intermingled, from which doctrine may be gathered and formulated, especially the doctrine of life, which is the doctrine of charity, and of faith thence. But he who reads the Word from doctrine, sees there all things that are confirmatory, and also many things which lie hidden from the eyes of others; nor does he suffer himself to be drawn away into strange doctrines by those things therein that do not appear to agree, and which he does not understand; for everything of doctrine that he sees therein [appears] to him in clearness, and the rest are obscure to him. Therefore doctrine, which consists of genuine truths, is like a lamp to those who read the Word; and, on the other hand, the Word, to those who read it without doctrine, is like a candlestick without a light, put in an obscure place, by which nothing conducing to salvation can be there seen, known, sought for, and found. Such persons, besides, may be led away into error of every kind, to which the mind inclines from some love, or is drawn from some principle. Hence it is evident that no one can understand the Word without doctrine.

[2] 2. No one can fight against evils and falsities, and disperse them, without doctrine from the Word.

This is evident from this fact, that from doctrine truths can be seen in their own light, and in their proper order, but not from the Word without doctrine, which is manifest from what has just been said; and if truths cannot be seen, neither can falsities and evils be seen, for the latter are opposed to the former; and yet all combat against evils and falsities is from truths, that is, by means of truths from the Lord. Therefore he who reads the Word without doctrine, may easily fight for falsity against truth, and for evil against good, by confirming those things by a wrong interpretation and application of the sense of the letter of the Word; hence it follows that the man is not reformed; for he is reformed by the dispersion of evils and of the falsities thence, by truths applied to the life. This now is what is meant by the white horse which was seen, and by him that sat on him, who had a bow; for by a white horse is signified the understanding of truth from the Word, and by the bow is signified the doctrine of charity and of the faith thence, from which evils and falsities are fought against and dispersed.

[3] 3. No one within the church where the Word is, can become spiritual without doctrine from the Word.

This is evident from what has now been said, namely, that the Word without doctrine is not understood, and that without doctrine from the Word no one can fight against evils and falsities; for man becomes spiritual by a life according to Divine truths (these he does not know without doctrine) and by the removal of evils and falsities, which is not effected without doctrine, as said above; without these two man is not reformed, thus does not become spiritual, but remains natural, and confirms his natural life by the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural, by wrongly interpreting and applying it. It is said, "within the church where the Word is," because those who are out of the church have not the Word, and hence know nothing concerning the Lord; and no one becomes spiritual except from the Lord. But still all those who acknowledge a God, and worship Him under the human form, and live in charity according to a religious persuasion agreeing with the Word, are prepared by the Lord to receive spiritual life, which also they do receive in the other life (concerning which circumstance see the work concerning Heaven and Hell 318-328; and above, n. 107, 195). Man becomes spiritual by regeneration, and regeneration is effected by water and the spirit, that is, by truths and by a life according to them (as may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 173-186; that baptism in the Christian world is for a sign and memorial thereof, n. 202-209, in the same work).

[4] 4. Doctrine can be procured from no other source but the Word, and by none but those who are enlightened by the Lord.

This is evident from this consideration, that the Word is Divine truth itself, and of such a quality that the Lord is in it, for the Lord is in His own Divine truth which proceeds from Him; therefore those who form doctrine from any other source than the Word, do not form it from the Divine truth nor from the Lord. Moreover, in every particular of the Word there is a spiritual sense, in which sense the angels of heaven are, whence there is conjunction of heaven with the church by means of the Word; therefore those who form doctrine from any other source than from the Word, do not form it in conjunction with heaven, whence nevertheless, all enlightenment comes. (That the conjunction of heaven with man is by the Word, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 303-310.) Hence it is evident that doctrine is to be procured from no other source but the Word, and by none but those who are enlightened by the Lord. Those are enlightened by the Lord who love truths because they are truths; these, because they do them, are in the Lord and the Lord in them.

[5] 5. All things of doctrine are to be confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word.

This is evident from this consideration, that the Divine truth is in the sense of the letter in its fulness, for that is the final sense, and in it is the spiritual sense; therefore, when doctrine is confirmed thence, the doctrine of the church is also the doctrine of heaven, and there is conjunction by the correspondences. This may be illustrated by this consideration alone: When man thinks any truth, and confirms it by the sense of the letter, it is perceived in heaven, but not if he does not confirm it; for the sense of the letter is the basis into which the spiritual ideas that the angels possess terminate, nearly in the same manner as expressions are the basis into which the sense of the thought falls and is communicated to another. That this is the case might be confirmed by much experience from the spiritual world; but this is not the place to adduce it.