Easter morning is a synonym for drama. There was the witness and wonder of the empty tomb. There was the reality of a stone rolled away. There was the breathless report back by Mary Magdalene “I have seen the Lord” (20:13). Yet . . . Easter Eve still found Jesus’ disciples bewildered and disbelieving. The eye-witnesses of Peter and the “beloved disciple” John and the ear-witness of Mary’s astonishing announcement had not been enough to move the disciples from fear to faith.

It is, then, “for fear of the Jews,” that the disciples are once again gathered together in the Upper Room, huddling behind locked doors. This locked room detail not only demonstrates the fearful mindset of the disciples. It also enables John to let his readers know that Jesus’ sudden miraculous appearance within that…