On the Gospel of John, Part 50: Adamic Dawn

On the Gospel of John, Part 50: Adamic Dawn

In our last presentation on John chapter 20, The Open Tomb, we discussed various aspects of the events of the morning following the resurrection of Christ, and sought to properly correlate John’s account with the descriptions which are found in the other three gospels. While we will continue doing that here, to some degree, we will shift our focus to the significance of the resurrection itself, because the risen Christ also represents what we may call the Adamic Dawn, as it provides for us an assurance that Yahweh our God transcends His Creation, that He Himself takes responsibility for His Creation, and that therefore we must also understand that His promises of eternal life for the Adamic man and salvation for all of the children of Israel are assured in His resurrection.

The ancient Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans, the earliest Adamic cultures from which we have significant literature, all believed in the immortality of the souls of men and an underworld in which they dwelt, and often even in the judgment of men for their deeds after death. The early Greeks and others also expressed a belief in the possibility of resurrection from among the dead, although not in Christian terms, and attributed many of the same beliefs to the ancient Galatae, Gauls or Germans, attributing their bravery in battle to beliefs they had in their own immortality.

These beliefs, being found among the various Adamic nations, should not be viewed as competitors or as truthful alternatives to what is found in the Hebrew scriptures. That would merely be a repeat of the mistakes of the past and a failure to learn from our history. Rather, they should be viewed as reflecting certain core beliefs that the earliest Adamic ancestors of each of those nations, as they are listed in the genealogies found in Genesis chapter 10, had all held in common in prehistoric times. As the nations multiplied and were separated from their primordial ancestors, the myths began to diverge and suffered different embellishments in diverse places, as they were also influenced by the wayward pagan beliefs of alien peoples – those groups related to the people whom the Hebrew scriptures identify as Nephilim, which are the so-called fallen angels.

But Yahweh, the God of Israel, announced long before it ever happened through His prophets that He would cause His people to forget the names of the idols of the alien nations, and to worship Him as He was their Savior and Redeemer, Yahshua Christ. The fulfillment of those and many other prophecies concerning both the Messiah and the children of Israel proves beyond doubt that He is true, and that therefore the Christian perspective of these things is indeed the true perspective regardless of how intriguing or how similar the beliefs of the surrounding nations had been.

Another signal proof that the God of the Bible is true lies in the fact that most White Europeans, or their near ancestors, have possessed and read Hebrew Bibles, while Marduk, Ishtar, Tammuz, Bel in all of its variations, Isis, Osiris, Zeus, Apollo, Anath or Athena, Artemis, Dagon, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Dionysius, Odin, Freya, Baldur and perhaps thousands of other ancient Aryan idols are all dead and practically forgotten, except for a few New-Age lunatics and their Jewish and other non-White companions. So this is true in spite of recent developments, where once again we live in a sinful and apostate society in which the worship of some of these idols has been revived by the enemies of Christ and the fools who follow after them.

In Genesis chapter 3, as soon as the account of the fall of Adam is related, there is a promise of redemption for him and his entire race, where we read in reference to Adam that “now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.” As we have explained frequently, the cherubim which were placed to keep the way of the Tree of Life were intended to preserve it, and later they are found atop the Ark of the Covenant wherein the law was kept, so we should discern that the keeping of the law is the path to the Tree of Life, and keeping it man preserves his own race rather than engaging in the race-mixing which had initially caused his fall. So in the period leading up to the dispersion of the sons of Noah over 2,500 years after the fall of Adam, in accordance with the chronology of the Septuagint, the race must have had a relatively common mythos which is reflected in the common beliefs found in the records of the later historical nations.

The keeping of the law which is the way of the Tree of Life is also the way by which the Messiah, Yahweh God incarnate, had come into the world, as we read in Galatians chapter 4, “4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law...” He Himself is the True Vine, who said in John chapter 15 “5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” Yahshua Christ being the Tree of Life, the keeping of the law is also the path to Him, and that is why no bastard will ever be accepted by Him because every bastard comes into the sheepfold by some way other than the door of the sheep.

In a passage which I have quote frequently, in chapter 2 of the Wisdom of Solomon, we see a contrast of the righteous and the wicked, where the wicked are enemies of God and not His Adamic children, and it says “18 For if the just man be the son of God [or in Greek, properly ‘a son of God’], he will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies.” Next, Solomon puts words into the mouths of those enemies, who are evidently devils, or false accusers: “19 Let us examine him with despitefulness and torture, that we may know his meekness, and prove his patience. 20 Let us condemn him with a shameful death: for by his own saying he shall be respected.” Then Solomon responds to his dialogue: “21 Such things they did imagine, and were deceived: for their own wickedness hath blinded them. 22 As for the mysteries of God, they knew them not: neither hoped they for the wages of righteousness, nor discerned a reward for blameless souls.” The enemies of God scoff at the thought that the children of God are promised immortality and rewards in the afterlife. So Solomon professes: “23 For God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of his own eternity. 24 Nevertheless through envy of the devil came death into the world: and they that do hold of his side do find it.”

They that hold of his side: not they who merely choose to follow the devil, but they who commit fornication, as the apostles had likened it to the “way of Cain” and the “error of Balaam”, and the fruits of their sin shall never be accepted. In contrast, as we read in 1 John chapter 3, “the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” So a little later on in the Wisdom of Solomon, in the early verses of chapter 3, we read: “1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. 2 In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, 3 And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. 4 For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.” If the just man is a child of God, he shall live forever. It does not matter if an apparently just man is not a child of God, if he is not of the sons of Adam, he is a goat destined for the Lake of Fire.

So the original intention of Yahweh God is for the man of His creation, the Adamic man, to be immortal, which is also evident in the Genesis account, and God shall not fail. Thus Paul wrote, in Romans chapter 5, paraphrasing from the Christogenea New Testament where I will also add some comments: “12 For this reason, just as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the Society, and by that sin death, and in that manner death has passed to all men, on account that all have sinned: 13 (for until the law sin was in the Society; but sin was not accounted, there not being law; 14 but death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned resembling the transgression of Adam, who is an image of the future. [All Adamic men shall be restored to the state in which Adam was originally created.] 15 But should not, as was the transgression, in that manner also be the favor? Indeed if in the transgression of one many die, much greater is the favor of Yahweh, and the gift in favor, which is of the one man Yahshua Christ, in which many have great advantage. 16 And not then by one having committed error is the gift? Indeed the fact is that judgment of a single one is for condemnation [meaning the judgment which was suffered by the innocent and sinless Christ], but the favor is from many transgressions into a judgment of acquittal. 17 For if in the transgression of one, death has taken reign through that one, much more is the advantage of the favor, and the gift of justice they are receiving, in life they will reign through the one, Yahshua Christ.) 18 So then, as that one transgression is for all men for a sentence of condemnation, in this manner then through one decision of judgment for all men is for a judgment of life [the decision by God to die as a man for the redemption of His people, which also demonstrates to them that He keeps His Own law even if they cannot]. 19 Therefore even as through the disobedience of one man the many were set down as sinners, in this manner then through the obedience of One the many will be established as righteous.” Paul himself had summarized what he had expressed here in Romans, where he wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 “22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Here I have also asserted that Yahweh Himself takes responsibility for His Creation, as He had placed the Adamic man in danger of failure because the world was already in a state of sin when Adam was created. The serpent, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil which represents the race of the fallen angels, were already in the garden in Genesis. Therefore the rebellion of the so-called angels who had left their first estate had already taken place and the Creation of God was already corrupted. These things were not revealed to men in Genesis, but they were revealed in Christ as one purpose of His coming which is expressed in Matthew chapter 13, which was to “utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” Since Yahweh placed His Adamic creation in danger from the beginning, He Himself also provided the path to recovery, as the Tree of Life who paid the ultimate penalty in order to redeem them from death, arising from death to ensure His Creation that they also would live.

In our May, 2014 commentary on Romans chapter 7, discussing Paul’s discourse on the law and sin through verses 12 and 13, I wrote the following:

The good in Paul can read the law and recognize that his behaviour which was contrary to the law was sinful, and also acknowledge the punishment which he merited for that behaviour. The good in Paul can recognize that sinful behaviour merited death, and therefore Paul is describing a learning process. The result is that the Adamic man understands how important it is to keep the law of Yahweh in his heart, and to do his best to abide by it. It is important that the sin becomes evident by the commandment, so that the Adamic man can experience sin and by that experience he can learn not to do evil.

Then a little further on in that same commentary:

From the Septuagint, from the Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 15: “1 But thou, O God, art gracious and true, longsuffering, and in mercy ordering all things, 2 For if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy power: but we will not sin, knowing that we are counted thine. 3 For to know thee is perfect righteousness: yea, to know thy power is the root of immortality.” For this same reason, Paul tells the Galatians (in chapter 3 of his epistle to them) “24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Therefore we conclude that the reason for the presence of the children of God in this evil world is so that they may know sin, and learn the importance of obedience.

Each and every Adamic man was created to be immortal. If each and every Adamic man does not have eternal life, then the lessons concerning sin and the need for obedience are pointless, and God has evidently failed. God has failed, because He would not have completely destroyed the works of the devil, who deceived the woman, causing man to sin, and thereby caused man to die. Yet here in Romans we find that God has certainly not failed, and the apostle Paul has explained how in Christ, each and every Adamic man shall be made alive.

In Ecclesiastes chapter 1 Solomon described the vanity of man as "this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man [or Adam] to be exercised therewith." Likewise Paul of Tarsus, who had Solomon for his inspiration, writing in Romans chapter 8 in reference to the Adamic creation, said: “18 Therefore I consider that the happenstances of the present time are not of value, looking to the future honor to be revealed to us. 19 Indeed in earnest anticipation the creation awaits the revelation of the sons of Yahweh. 20 To transientness the creation was subjected not willingly, but on account of He who subjected it in expectation 21 that also the creation itself shall be liberated from the bondage of decay into the freedom of the honor of the children of Yahweh.” Of course, the non-Adamic races are not sheep, and all goats have their fate in the same Lake of Fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

The Sumerians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans all believed that the souls of the dead occupied Hades, or the Netherworld. But there was little hope in what they believed since in their myths, redemption from the dead was very rare and reserved only for those who were the most favored by the gods for one reason or another. Sometimes they were favored for some nefarious reason. For example, the Trojan youth Ganymede was esteemed to be especially handsome, and in works of literature as early as the Iliad of Homer, Zeus, the supreme god of the Greeks, was portrayed as a sodomite and a pedophile who abducted the boy and kept him for his own sexual pleasure. On the other hand, Plato had accused the Cretans of devising that myth in order to justify their own perversions, so even the ancient Greeks were divided on points of morality. The myth was also extant among ancient Romans, whose name for Ganymede was Catamitus, from which we get the word catamite, which describes a young boy corrupted in sodomy by an adult pedophile.

In the Sumerian legend of Tammuz, the consort of Ishtar who is mentioned in Ezekiel chapter 8 where the women of Judah are said to have wept for him even in the temple of Yahweh, it was believed that one may travel back and forth, alternating between life on earth and death in the netherworld. Fragments of this myth have been discovered by archaeologists which are esteemed to be as early as 2600 BC, 600 years before the time of Abraham. This is certainly one significant early embellishment on the original beliefs in an afterlife and evident promises of resurrection which were once shared by the wider Adamic race. Resurrection from among the dead was also found in the ancient Greek poets, such as Euripedes’ Alcestis, where the woman was said to have given her life on behalf of her husband, and was later rewarded when Heracles brought her back from Hades and restored her to her husband. Where in Acts chapter 17 certain Athenians had scoffed at Paul for preaching the resurrection of the dead, they had by that time turned their backs on their own ancient myths and legends, which many of the epic and classical poets seem only to have parodied. In recent times, the enemies of Christ have done that same thing with our Christian faith through their control of the entertainment media.

So while we must reject these ancient variations and corruptions of the truths which are represented in our Scriptures, they nevertheless represent a common truth once held by our entire race, as the account in Genesis chapter 3 and other early accounts in Genesis certainly also suggest. For this reason, the reconciliation of God and man which is in Christ was also described in various places by the apostles in terms which the wider ancient pagan world could understand. So we read in 1 Peter chapter 3, “18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” Then in chapter 4 of the same epistle, Peter clarified his meaning where he wrote, in reference to what he had said in chapter 3: “6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” So Peter explained that even those who sinned leading up to the flood of Noah, the most notorious of sinners, have life in Christ. Therefore the reconciliation which is in Christ is not only a reconciliation of the children of Israel, but it is also the fulfillment of that promise in Genesis chapter 3 which was made to the entire race of Adam, that grasping the Tree of Life the entire race would be restored to the immortality which it was created to enjoy.

At the same time, however, Abraham was promised that his seed, or offspring, would inherit the nations, and that promise was fulfilled by the time of Christ. While there were still other Genesis 10 nations, or at least remnants of those nations, in Europe, Mesopotamia and elsewhere, the world came to be dominated by tribes which descended in whole or part from the children of Israel, which includes the Romans, the Macedonian and Dorian Greeks, the Phoenicians of the west, the Parthians of the east and the Scythians, Galatae and Kimmerians of the North. So in the Christian era these are the subjects of the Scriptures, the so-called Gentiles for whom the gospel was intended, the nations which came of the children of Israel.

Besides the writings of Homer, there were many accounts depicting the captivity of the souls of the dead in Hades, resurrection or the possibility of resurrection, which are throughout early Greek literature. The Greek word Hades was originally the name of the idol, the god which they imagined to have ruled over the Netherworld, which was called Tartarus. In 2 Peter chapter 2, where the apostle said that God had cast the angels that sinned into hell, the Greek word translated as “cast into hell” is ταρταρόω, which literally means to cast into Tartarus. Eventually, in Greek writing, the name Tartarus was displaced by Hades, where the name of the idol became the name of the place. Even the English word hell comes from the name of the Old Germanic pagan goddess Hela, a giantess who they saw as ruling the Netherworld, which for that reason was called Hel. In the earliest extant Germanic myths it was called Niflhel, which was a world of cold and darkness. While the ancient Hebrews used the term Sheol rather than Hades, speaking Greek Yahshua Christ Himself had used the word Hades, ᾅδης, in His gospel and in the Revelation, where He promised that ultimately both Death and Hell would be cast into the Lake of Fire. Likewise, announcing the victory of Christ over death, Paul of Tarsus wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 “55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave [ᾅδης], where is thy victory?”

That word grave is also the Greek word ᾅδης. It may be said that grave is a fair representation of the word in the physical, worldly sense. But the Adamic spirit lives on, and Hades, the Netherworld, the Hebrew Sheol, represented the imagery by which the ancients had depicted the alienation of the spirits of Adamic men from God, where in Christ the entire race now has reconciliation with God. But Paul was citing Hosea chapter 13, where Yahweh said of the children of Israel “14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” In other words, Yahweh will not repent of His promise to destroy the grave, which represents the death of His people.

If we believe that there is a God of Creation, something which all intelligent men should believe, then we must also perceive that it is no great thing for God to overcome death for Himself, since He is eternal, and since He is the Author of life and therefore also the master of life, existing even outside of life and Creation itself. So Christ had said, as it is recorded in John chapter 10, “15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

With all of the confidence of one who had absolute knowledge, Yahshua Christ expected to overcome death. So it is no great thing for God to overcome death for Himself. But it is a great and wonderful thing for Christ to demonstrate to man that His having overcome death represents the fact that the entire race of Adam is destined to overcome death, and in His resurrection He is a sign of that immortality for which man was created in the first place. With his own immortality assured in Christ, man should therefore understand the importance of obedience to God and choose to keep His commandments.

The realization that the Light had come into the world to fulfill that promise of eternal life which was made to the Adamic man surely can be decsribed as an Adamic dawn. The coming of that dawn was prophesied in Malachi chapter 4: “1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” The Son of Righteousness has arisen, although the wordplay is only evident in English, and for that reason the cherubs and the flaming sword which preserved the path to the Tree of Life were placed on the east end of the garden, which is symbolic of where the sun rises. Therefore, as soon as our race accepts the true implications of those things which are spelled out in His gospel, as we read in the very next verse of Malachi, “ 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.” Likewise, and for this same reason, Paul of Tarsus had written in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 that Christians should be “6… in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”

So far in this chapter, without once again filling in all of the details from the other gospels, John had described where Mary Magdalene discovered the open and empty tomb, how she had run into the city to alert the disciples of Christ, and how Peter and John came to observe what she had seen. Then, after they returned, she remained and encountered the angels, or messengers, in the tomb. Then upon her speaking to them she turned to see Christ Himself outside of the tomb, although at first she thought that He may only have been a gardener, not recognizing Him until He had spoken to her. He told her to go and announce what she saw “to My brethren”, and John reported that she had done as He commanded.

Now, resuming with John chapter 20 where we had left off, it is evident that at least several of the apostles had been staying at a house in Jerusalem. But first, in regard to that, we will have a digression:

While this is conjecture, this may be the home of John Mark, the Mark of the gospel of that name, who was not an original apostle but who was indeed an early disciple. In Acts chapter 12, after Peter was miraculously released from prison, he went directly to a house owned by Mary, another Maria or Mariam, who was the mother of “John, whose surname was Mark”. The same Mark later accompanied Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15), Paul later asked Timothy to bring him to Rome with him when he was under arrest in Rome and had sent for Timothy (2 Timothy 4), he then arrived in Rome with Timothy (Colossians 4, Philemon 24), and after that he was present with Peter in Babylon, from where Peter wrote his surviving first epistle (1 Peter 5). Even later, apparently after the death of Peter, Mark wrote his gospel from accounts which Peter had passed on to him, and evidently he wrote it in Rome, which some of the terms he used helps to elucidate, and to which several of the early so-called Church Fathers also attest.

Returning to John chapter 20, from where we had left off in our last presentation:

19 Then it being late on that day, the first of the week [א and W have “late on that first day of the week”; the text follows A, B, D, 078 and the MT], and the doors being barred where the students were [the MT has “were gathered”; the text follows א, A, B, D, W and 078] on account of fear of the Judaeans, Yahshua came and stood in the middle and says to them: “Peace to you.”

While I sought to be as literal as possible in my translation, the phrase “stood in the middle” may have been rendered colloquially, “stood in their midst”.

John does not inform us as to which apostles were present here, but apparently they were not all present. A few verses later he does explain that Thomas was not there at this time. Here John is writing from his own personal perspective, and other things surely did happen on this day which John did not record. This is evident in Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians. But Paul of Tarsus wrote his epistles to the Corinthians at a much later time than when these events had occurred, and Paul had many opportunities to learn about them in detail from various apostles, as it is evident from Acts chapters 9 through 15 and in his epistle to the Galatians. So while John is evidently giving a summary of things which occurred from his own perspective, Paul’s account seems to provide a more complete description in some respects which was most likely compiled from several different sources where he wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15: “3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.”

Where Paul said that Christ was first seen by Peter, that may indeed represent something which happened at some earlier point this day which John described, but which John did not record. Then Paul mentioned “the twelve”, but by that general statement he may or may not have meant to include James, and of course he was not including Judas Iscariot, whereby the twelve were actually only the eleven. Where Paul then mentioned James specifically, he certainly meant the elder James, the half-brother of Christ and author of the epistle by that name, who had apparently remained at Jerusalem for at least most of the remainder of his life until he was stoned by the Sadducees in 62 AD. James was indeed accounted among the original twelve apostles, along with Judas, or Jude, another half-brother of Christ, as they are listed in Luke chapter 6.

Christ Himself had prophesied what would happen to His disciples after He was arrested, where He was referring to Zechariah chapter 13 and said, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 26, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.” Perhaps where the apostles are now gathered together only a few days later, they are still not completely gathered. So while Paul said here that after seeing Peter, Christ was seen “then of the twelve” he may have simply been summarizing the several appearances which Christ had made to the apostles first in Jerusalem and later in Galilee. John never mentions them all, but as he describes an appearance to the apostles of Christ in Galilee in chapter 21 of his gospel, he mentions that seven of them were present, although doing that he names only five of the seven. Furthermore, it is possible that Paul believed that James was among the twelve, or properly, eleven, but mentions him again separately because Christ may have made some later appearance to James by himself. In that same manner Paul mentioned Peter separately and must have also counted him among the twelve he mentioned thereafter.

Luke only names one of the two disciples who encountered Christ on the road to Emmaous, but from his account in chapter 24 of his gospel it is clear that they were not of the twelve original apostles as he says that after their experience “they returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven gathered together and those with them, 34 saying that ‘The Prince really has arisen, and appeared to Simon!’” So where Paul said that Yahshua appeared first to Simon, Luke seems to corroborate that from the words of the men on the road to Emmaous, although John does not mention it here.

As a digression, if today there was a robbery or a shooting, and the culprit escaped in an automobile, one witness may notice it was blue and had four doors, another may say it was grayish in color and had missing hubcaps, and a third may say it was blue or gray and had a dented fender. A wise detective is not going to assume that all three witnesses are liars. Rather, he would put the pieces together and look for a faded blue or blue-gray car with four doors, missing hubcaps, and a dented fender. This is only common sense, but rather than doing this where the gospel accounts are concerned, many of the enemies of Christ would rather scoff and consider the apostles to be liars, something which certainly is not true.

So here Christ had appeared to at least several of His apostles who were gathered in a house in Jerusalem, and He apparently entered the room where they were staying in a way that they could not fathom, since the doors had been barred for fear of the Jews, so the apostles also feared that after they had killed Christ, the Jews would next come for them. After Christ greeted them, John continues:

20 And saying this He showed [A and B have “also showed”, the MT “showed them”; the text follows א, D, W and 078] the hands and the ribs [literally “side”, πλευρά is singular here] to them [P66 and the MT have “He showed His hands and ribs”, wanting “to them”; the text follows א, A, B, D, W and 078]. Therefore the students rejoiced seeing the Prince.

This once again indicates that the apostles may not have immediately recognized Him, but were certainly assured that it was Him once they saw His wounds. There is much discussion and speculation in Christian circles as to the nature of the glorified, resurrected body, usually from idealized interpretations of the words of Paul of Tarsus, for example at the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. But the apostle John himself had written in chapter 3 of his first epistle, “2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Here we see that the resurrected body of Christ still bore the scars which had helped to cause His death. That does not necessarily mean that we will carry our own scars for eternity, but perhaps it is an indication that we should not really speculate on things which we cannot possibly yet know.

21 Then Yahshua said [א, D and W have “Therefore He said”; the text follows A, B, 078 and the MT] to them again: “Peace to you! Just as the Father has sent Me, I also send [א has ‘shall send’; D has ‘dispatch’, or ἀποστέλλω rather than πέμπω; the text follows A, B, W and the MT] you.”

Christ had already told His apostles that the gospel would go out into all the world, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 24 as they were still together and leaving the temple in the days before His arrest: “14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Then again a short time later, in Matthew 26, speaking of Mary the sister of Martha: “13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.” Then, the night before He was crucified he had said, as it is recorded in John chapter 17 where He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, “26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

This is also proof of the veractiy of Christ, as He said the gospel would go out throughout the world, and it did, and we have it here with us today. Yet none of us are familiar with any words of the ancient pagan gods, or the philosophies of the Greeks, for example Stoicism or Epicureanism.

So by this time the apostles must have surmised that they would fulfill the prophecy of the gospel of Christ which is found in Isaiah chapter 52: “7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Paul, in chapter 10 of his epistle to the Romans, cited that passage of Isaiah in that same regard, that it applied to the spread of the gospel of Christ.

22 And saying this He inhaled and says to them “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 The errors of any which you should forgive [B has ‘Should you forgive one’s errors], they are forgiven [א has ‘they are put aside for’; A and D ‘they have been forgiven’; the text follows B, W, 078 and the MT] them; of any [B has ‘one’] you should maintain, they are maintained.”

In the original text to the Christogenea New Testament, I have found an error here in verse 23, which was probably just a typing error. Where the first clause of verse 23 had read “The errors of any of you should forgive” it should have read “The errors of any you should forgive”. The mistake is not in my original hand-written translation, so it must have been a typing error.

The action of Christ here evokes the description of the creation of Adam as it is in Genesis chapter 2: “7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” But here Christ is not breathing into the nostrils of the disciples. Rather, this is only symbolic of the Holy Spirit which they would receive at the first Christian Pentecost, which happened nearly seven weeks later [Pentecost being the fiftieth day from Passover counting inclusively].

These words of Christ also serve to explain why forgiveness and repentance are equally important. In the parable of the wicked servant recorded in Matthew chapter 18, He illustrated that those who are unforgiving may not be forgiven of their own sins, as the wicked servant was forgiven a great debt but in turn he had neglected to forgive those who were indebted to him, beating them instead. But on the other hand Christ told Peter that a penitent [properly, one who has repented of some sin] must be forgiven as many as seventy times seven times so long as they profess repentance, as it is recorded in that same chapter. Evidently sins which have been forgiven by those whom we trespass against will not have to be accounted for by Christians at the judgment seat of Christ, as Paul had said in his first epistle to Timothy, in chapter 5, “24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” Of course, all of this applies only to Adamic men, to men of the White race which is descended from Noah and his sons.

Towards the end of chapter 24 of the Gospel of Luke, the two disciples, Cleopas and another who is not named, spoke with Christ on the Road to Emmaous. After He reveals Himself to them and makes them aware of the Scriptures concerning Him and His resurrection, we read: “33 And arising at that moment they returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven gathered together and those with them, 34 saying that ‘The Prince really has arisen, and appeared to Simon!’ 35 And they related the things on the road, and that He had become known to them as He broke the bread. 36 Then upon their speaking these things He stood in their midst and says to them ‘Peace to you.’ 37 But being troubled and becoming frightened they imagined to be seeing a spirit. 38 And He said to them: ‘Why are you troubled and for what reason do disputes arise in your hearts? 39 You see My hands and My feet, that I am He. You touch Me and see, that a spirit has not flesh and bones, just as you see Me having.’ 40 And saying this He showed them the hands and feet. 41 But upon their still being incredulous from joy and wondering, He said to them ‘Have you any food here?’ 42 And they gave to Him a piece of broiled fish. 43 And taking it He ate before them.” So whoever the two disciples were, since Cleopas is not mentioned elsewhere, they knew the apostles well enough to gain entrance to the house and the locked room where they were staying, and here we see that Luke recounted many details that John did not include. Now where John continues, he is describing a later event:

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called “Twin”, was not with them when Yahshua came.

The King James Version never translated the nickname given to Thomas, which was Δίδυμος. The adjective δίδυμος means double, two-fold or twain in Greek, and it is therefore Twin throughout our translation of John. In this form, according to Liddell & Scott, it was used to describe one of a pair of twins. Properly, a dual form of the word, διδυμάων, was a noun used to describe twins, but for that there was also a plural form of δίδυμος, which is δίδυμοι, where it was used as a Substantive. Neither of those forms appear in the New Testament. The difference seems to indicate that whoever was this Thomas’ twin brother, he was not one of the other apostles since they are never referred to together. This also may indicate that other pairs of brothers among the apostles, James and Jude, and the sons of Zebedee, the younger James and this apostle John, were probably not twins. The other gospels mention Thomas as one of the twelve, but only John tells us his nickname, where it appears three times in his gospel. We are not informed as to how Thomas had become an apostle.

25 Therefore the other students said to him: “We have seen the Prince!” But he said to them: “Unless I could see the imprint [P66 has ‘imprints’] of the nails in His hands and I put my finger in the imprint of the nails [א has ‘finger in His hand’; A and 078 ‘finger in the place of the nails’; the text follows B, D, W and the MT] and I put my hand [D has ‘hands’; the text follows א, A, B, W, 078 and the MT] in His side, I shall not believe!”

Of course, this is where we have the English phrase, “Doubting Thomas”, which has long ago come to be used of people who are skeptical of something which they have not seen for themselves.

26 And after eight days His students were inside again, and Thomas with them. The doors being barred, Yahshua comes and stood in the middle and said “Peace to you”.

As we learn in the writings of Luke, in Acts chapter 1, Christ had appeared at least several times to His apostles over a period of forty days, which also means that His ascension as it is described in that chapter took place only a few days, perhaps as little as three or four days, before the Pentecost events described in Acts chapter 2. Here it seems that being “inside again” and the doors once again being barred, that the disciples are in the same house in Jerusalem which they had been in on the day that the empty tomb was discovered, when Christ first appeared to them.

But none of the details of these events are described in the other gospels, nor are the events found in John chapter 21 mentioned in other gospel. Of course, the end of Mark’s original gospel is wanting, and there is nothing authentic after he records the discovery of the open tomb by Mary Magdalene. In Matthew, of the meeting with the apostles on the day following His resurrection as it is described in chapter 27 we read only: “9 And behold! Yahshua met with them saying ‘Greetings!’, and they having come forth grasped His feet and worshipped Him. 10 Then Yahshua says to them: ‘Do not fear, go report to My brethren that they should depart into Galilaia, and there they shall see Me.’” But the events which took place in the interim, such as this one eight days after the resurrection, are not recorded. Once they see Christ in Galilee, Matthew’s account of the events there are reduced to five short verses. But after Luke’s description of the first appearance of Christ to the apostles, the last ten verses of his gospel are very concise and seem to reflect things that actually may have happened at different times.

Now, so that Thomas no longer suffers from his incredulity:

27 Then He says to Thomas: “Bring your finger here and look at My hands and bring your hand and put it into My side, and you must not be faithless but faithful!” 28 Thomas replied [A the MT have “And Thomas replied”; the text follows א, B, C, D, and W] and said to Him: “My Prince and My God!”

Once Thomas realized that this truly was Yahshua Christ who had been resurrected from the dead, he announced that He is God. But since there is only one God, and since Thomas’ profession went unchallenged for blasphemy, then here Thomas’ realization of the consequences of the resurrection of Christ must be true, that Jesus Christ is indeed Yahweh God incarnate. While it was not revealed explicitly in the course of His ministry, it was asserted in many different ways, but here Thomas makes the statement explicitly, declaring that Christ is God.

So here, upon His resurrection, it is revealed that Yahshua Christ is indeed Yahweh God incarnate, the physical manifestation of God within His Own Creation, which He planned as an inevitable development right from the beginning of Creation, since Yahshua is also the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world”.

Thomas could only have made this explanation because he understood the consequences of Christ’s resurrection, as Yahweh said in Isaiah chapter 44 “6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” If Yahshua fulfilled the things which were prophesied of Yahweh in His relationship with Israel, then Yahshua must be Yahweh Incarnate. In many other places throughout the last 25 chapters in Isaiah the same assertions are made in different contexts, always speaking of forgiveness, redemption, salvation and reconciliation for the scattered lost sheep of the tribes of the children of Israel.

29 Yahshua says [א and W have “Then Yahshua said”] to him: “Because you have seen Me you believe! Blessed are those not seeing [א inserts “Me”] and believing!”

This seems to be an allusion to Isaiah 64:4 and a prophecy of the very purpose of the gospel of Christ. Reading from the end of Isaiah chapter 63, there is a dialogue in which the prophet attributes these words, among others, to the scattered children of Israel, and it says in part: “16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. 17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. 18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. 19 We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name. 64:1 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, 2 As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! 3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. 4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” The implication is that eye had not yet seen, nor had an ear yet heard how it was that Yahweh would redeem Israel, as scattered Israel was made to admit that they are unknown by their own fathers and for their sins they required such a salvation. Paul of Tarsus cited this same passage in chapter 2 of his first epistle to the Corinthians.

However there is another passage, in Isaiah chapter 52, which is even more relevant to what Christ told Thomas here, as the two prophecies seem to go hand-in-hand. Once again, we will cite the prophecy of the spread of the gospel in verse 7, but this time include the rest of the passage: “7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” Now of course, the Jerusalem that is redeemed does not include the Edomite Jews who are destined to be destroyed. So as the prophet continues, the true children of Israel are now commanded to separate themselves from the wicked: “11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD [those who have the spirit of God]. 12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. 13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard [from God Himself] shall they consider.”

That passage is indeed a Messianic prophecy, and the final verses describe Christ and presage His words to Thomas here. The kings and nations which came from Abraham were sprinkled with the mercy of Christ, received the gospel, and through hearing the gospel they saw and heard things which they had not seen nor heard in the past, as it is explained in Isaiah chapter 64, which we also just cited. For that, they would be blessed, because they accepted the gospel.

Now John states something which he will elaborate upon in the final chapter of his gospel account:

30 Now indeed also many other signs Yahshua did before His [A and B have “the”; the text follows P66, א, C, D, W and the MT] students, things which are not written in this book. 31 But these things are written in order that you may believe that Yahshua is the Anointed Son of Yahweh, and that believing you would have life [א, C and D have “eternal life”] in His Name.

Here in verse 31 the 5th century Codex Bezae (D) has “Yahshua Christ is the Son of God”, but with no definite articles. The 5th century Codex Washingtonensis (W) reads the same, but with definite articles accompanying the words for both Christ and Son. The text also has both definite articles and therefore the phrase may have been rendered “Yahshua is the Christ, the Son of God”.

So here John admits that he has not given a full account of the deeds of Christ. While the other gospels described some of the other things which Christ had done, none of them include nearly as much as John has in this chapter, and in the final chapter of his gospel which follows. But as John seems to have expressed here, he only intended to relate enough of the events surrounding the ministry, death and resurrection of Christ so that “the children of God scattered abroad” may know that their Redeemer had come, that their promised redemption was accomplished, and that they have reconciliation to their God.

The grasping of the Tree of Life by the Adamic man in Genesis is the life which they may have in His Name, or in some manuscripts, the “eternal life in His Name” which is mentioned by John here. Once again this also demonstrates that Yahshua Christ Himself is the Tree of Life from the beginning, and He came to give that life to the branches, the various nations and people descended from Adam. So while David had written the 16th Psalm, he was also prophesying something that was ultimately assured in Christ, where he said “9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

This concludes our commentary on John chapter 20.