John 20:19-31 is the original ending to the fourth Gospel. Hence its meaning and message has a particularly weighty heft. The unspeakable horror of the crucifixion is still burned into the skin of the cowering disciples. The rumor of resurrection is yet only a whispered possibility from one frail woman. As evening falls on that "first day of the week," the disciples cautiously regroup behind locked doors.

Into the midst of this pathetic huddled remnant, Jesus himself suddenly appears. His first word to the disciples - "Peace" - is reassuringly familiar and comforting.

Evidently Jesus appears before the disciples in an easily recognizable form. His identity is not veiled as it had been to Mary Magdalene. In John's Gospel, Jesus uses his first post-resurrection appearance to all his disciple…