24 May 2026 – Pentecost
Acts 2:1–11; 1 Cor 12:3–13; John 20:19–23
H O M I L Y
Fear is a recurring theme in the Gospel of Saint John. And the phrase ‘out of fear of the Jews’ comes up time and again. This phrase refers to a faith that is not yet pure, a trust that is not complete. Thus, Nicodemus, at the beginning of the Gospel, comes to Jesus to question him, but he does so at night ‘for fear of the Jews’. Similarly, the parents of the man born blind whom Jesus had healed refuse to tell the Pharisees what they know, ‘for fear of the Jews’. After Jesus’ death, Joseph of Arimathea comes to ask Pilate to hand over His body, but he does so at night, ‘for fear of the Jews’. In the Gospel we have just read, John tells us that, on the evening of the first day of the week—that is, on Easter evening—the disciples had gathered in one place, ‘for fear of the Jews’. It is worth noting, in passing, that in the original Greek text, unlike most modern translations (including the one we have read), it does not say that the door was locked, but simply that it was ‘closed’; and the phrase ‘for fear of the Jews’ refers to the fact that the disciples were gathered in the same place and has nothing to do with the fact that the door was shut.
Pious commentaries explain that John tells us of the closed, and even locked, door to emphasize that Jesus' body was a spiritual body capable of passing through walls, as is easily depicted in films today. In reality, all the accounts of appearances following Jesus’ Resurrection are marked by great simplicity, and never emphasize the miraculous nature of the appearance. On the contrary, these appearances are described quite simply as if they were something entirely normal.
We are no doubt justified in thinking that John, when writing this text, had in mind Jesus’s recommendation: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret”. John was no doubt also recalling Jesus’s other words: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them”. Indeed, our text states that Jesus came and that He was there in their midst. The disciples, in that moment of crisis, had entered the upper room, closed the door and were praying. So Jesus was there in their midst – even though they had gathered out of fear of the Jews.
In the accounts of appearances after the resurrection, either Jesus or His messengers constantly urge people not to be afraid. And those who are not afraid are precisely those who are granted a special revelation. When Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on Easter morning, finds it empty, and sees an angel, the other women accompanying her are seized with fear and flee. Mary Magdalene is the only one who is not afraid. She stays there. And when the Lord appears to her, she says to Him, “Rabbouni”. Similarly, when the disciples are all gathered together in the same place out of fear of the Jews, Thomas is the only one who is not afraid and who goes out – no doubt to go shopping. He is the one who, when Jesus shows him the wounds in his hands and his side, is inspired to say, “My Saviour and my God”. He is, moreover, the first in the New Testament to give Jesus his messianic title of Kurios, Lord.
But to everyone, including those who are afraid, Jesus reveals himself and brings peace, that peace which engenders joy in everyone. And everyone is sent on a mission.
Everyone has the mission to manifest the Spirit. In the passage from his Letter to the Corinthians, which we read earlier, Paul was not simply saying that, in the Church, the gifts of grace are varied and that these gifts are complementary; rather, he was saying that everyone – that is, each one of us – and not just a privileged few, receives the gift of manifesting the Spirit for the good of all.
We are all gathered in this church in the name of Christ. He is therefore here, in our midst. We have all come with a fair share of fears – those of which we are aware and those more insidious ones of which we are unaware. To all of us, Jesus repeats, “do not be afraid”. To all of us he also says: “Peace be with you”. And when this peace penetrates us sufficiently, we are able to see his hands and his side; to see his wounds in our own wounds and in those of our brothers and sisters. We are able to see Him in everyone, and to profess our faith in the incarnate God. Then Jesus’ promise is gradually fulfilled: “My Father will love you; we will come to you and make our home within you”. He and his Father will breathe upon us their Spirit of love, which will give us the power to free one another from all the bonds of sin—that is, from everything that keeps us apart from Him and from one another. This is what community is. This is what the Church is.
Armand VEILLEUX