A HITCHCOCK SUSPENSE, TENSION AND FEAR.

Alfred Hitchcock is the Director. Lighting is kept to a minimum, complete silence reigns all over the place, not even a whisper, except for the heavy breathing, but much tension and fear. The doors are heavily and securely barred; a self-imposed, house imprisonment. Every now and then one of the men in the room puts his ear close to the door to catch the sound of someone going up the steps. You can easily know what that man is listening to, from the increase of his heavy breathing and from drops of sweat coming down his face.
In a split second, the eleven men, in that room counted themselves twelve. As a matter of fact they did not have the time to realise that they had a new-comer. They felt and saw a new person in their midst.

 He greeted them with a smile, as He was his custom, and gave them the normal, everyday eastern greeting:
“SHALOM”. ‘The calm after the storm’ is not sufficient enough to explain the change that came over them.
It was like waiting to be called for the execution of the death sentence, but then, something so sudden happened, and you are granted a pardon … and liberty. That is how the terrified apostles felt, locked up in the Caenaculum, the Upper Room when their Master, the Risen Christ appeared in their midst. And that is the change we feel when we experience Jesus.

“SHALOM” was the greeting word, but unfortunately the English translation of “PEACE” does not justify the true meaning. It is more like saying: “May God grant you every good thing.” The Apostles knew the real, the authentic meaning of the greeting and that is what changed their mood. Besides, such a greeting was coming from the lips of the once dead and crucified Master. It made all the difference.
Jesus showed them His pierced hands and side, to give full proof of who He was, and they rejoiced.

Curiously enough, according to John’s version of the Gospel, the Apostles’ mood; tension, fear and apprehension seemed to have changed and vanished completely, in a split second. There was no interim period for calming down for arguing or recollecting, because the Gospel tells us that the Risen Christ gave them their ‘commission’ right away. But the Gospel did record that Christ ‘breathed on them’. That is why the change was so instantaneous, so sudden. That is how the Holy Spirit works in us all. You will agree to this fact, only after experiencing the effect of the Holy Spirit in you.

This commission means that Jesus needs the ‘Church’, which St.Paul calls ‘the Body of Christ’. The work, the mission launched by Christ Himself needs the Church; us, to be His mouth, His legs, His hands, to teach, speak and work. But the Church needs Jesus, she needs the power and the authority which come only from, and through Him. The Church depends on Jesus for enlightenment.

Two last important requirements about the Church are ‘obedience and love’. As Jesus had perfect obedience and perfect love towards His Father to be the faithful messenger of God. So it is with the Church. It has to be perfectly obedient and have perfect love towards Jesus as His messenger. The Church can never follow man-made policies, plans or programmes. The Church can not, and not, may not, solve problems depending only on her wisdom and knowledge without referring to the help and solution of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus ‘breathed’ upon His Apostles.

This ‘breathing’ is a flashback to the creation of man, when God, after forming man from the dust of the earth, “He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and became a living being”. (Gen. 2:7). THAT breath is still in you, in me in all of us living, and one day it has to return to its original donor. Are we conscious of this gift? Are we doing our utmost that it will go back to its Donor, and we shall be rewarded for appreciating God’s gift.