John 20:19-end

At the end of St. John's Gospel (see earlier blog) there were three key messages that he wanted to get across - i). that the death and resurrection of Jesus are central to God's plan, ii). repentance and forgiveness is the response the disciples are to encourage and iii), that the believer would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower them in their work.
John has these same three emphases but expressed in a different way.
The first key message is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God - believing this leads to life. The death and resurrection, his miraculous signs point to this truth. Accepting and embracing Jesus as the Son of God - as the One who shows us God and leads us into Heaven is life-giving because it releases us from fear into love. Thomas, originally frightened and hiding behind locked doors, is released into faith and the blessings that come from having fear and doubt replaced with love and faith. This blessing is received through accepting and believing - and we don't need to meet Jesus face to face to receive it.
The second message - repentance and forgiveness in Luke - is here replaced with the imperative - forgive and sins will be forgiven, don't forgive and people will remain unforgiven. This is the motive behind the message. Without the revelation of Jesus, people will not know or believe that they can be forgiven. The way of the world, of human nature is not to forgive easily; more often they way is to engender guilt and to manipulate it. This is the worst characteristic of a worldly church. But those who know they are forgiven will want others to know that they can be too. In contrast, those living in fear and guilt will want them to remain with them!
The third message, the power from on High - the Holy Spirit. In the fearful and secret place that the disciples found themselves in after Jesus had die, the sign of what is to come is given. - Jesus "breathed on them" and said " Receive the Holy Spirit". The breath of God that gives life is given in this dark place to give them the strength to continue - the strength to believe and respond. That Jesus breathed is a sign of His resurrection life and that the resurrection power is gently given to the disciples gathered there.
So the same emphases, although expressed in different language, are shared between Luke and John as they round of their Gospel accounts. Jesus - His Person and His work is God's Way offered to us; our need to know that we are forgiven and release us into new life is the response to Jesus; and that we are given the gift of the Spirit to empower us to forgive and live - not just for ourselves but for everyone.