From The Jewish Annotated New Testament, 2nd Edition, edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, Oxford University Press, c.2017: According to Dr. Adele Reinhartz, "John's harsh statements about 'the Jews' should be understood as part of the author's process of self-definition, which required the drawing of a boundary between the followers of Jesus and Jews and Judaism. This distancing may have been particularly important if the ethnic composition of the Johannine community included Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles, as suggested above. This explanation does not excuse the Gospel's hostile rhetoric, but it may make it possible for readers to understand the narrative's place in the process by which Christianity became a separate religion, to appreciate the beauty of its language, and to recognize the spiritual power that it continues to have in the lives of many of its Christian readers" (page 173). Adele Reinhartz is Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa, in Canada.
Jesus Is Here
According to John 20:19-31, in the dark of night after the first Easter morning, disciples of Jesus were gathered at the house where they used to meet. They locked the doors. They were afraid. No doubt they were afraid of the people who had tortured and murdered Jesus.
And then, Jesus suddenly stands in their midst. Shockingly, Jesus is there, and he brings a transforming gift. "Peace be with you," Jesus says. Drawing on the resonances of the New Testament Greek word for peace (eirene), this greeting would mean, "May you be blessed with shalom (well-being), wholeness, and the fullness of God's love."
Whatever tribulations may beset us, Jesus is here. Jesus is alive. Jesus is with us, and he brings a new calling, a new direction, a new vocation. "As our Creator has sent me, even so, I send you." Whatever fears we are facing right now, Jesus breathes on us and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
Jesus is here to bestow on us the very Breath of God, the breath that God breathed into the dust of the earth to bring us human beings to life in the beginning. A blessing that so deeply heals and strengthens us now that we can go forth again into the world and share God's love anew. The One who was killed has become the Risen One. The One whose wounds are still visible is here to bring new life to us and to all creation.