Peter

Actually the name Thomas Didymos — well, Thomas is Hebrew for twin. Didymos is Greek for twin…. The implication here is that he is Jesus’ twin. But this character, of course, also appears in the Gospel of John, he’s one of the disciples, the twin.

Gospel account The King James Version text (John 20:24–29) is: 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.

The apparently seamless transition from Jesus’s invitation to Thomas’s confession actually entails the most striking and productive textual lacuna within the Thomas episode: The Gospel-writer remains completely silent about whether or not Thomas actually touched Jesus’s wounds.

forty days

Four Days

Christians believe that after Jesus rose from the dead, he did not die a second time. Instead, 40 days after his resurrection , Jesus left the Earth by being taken up, body and soul, to Heaven to re-join God the Father. This event is called the ascension , and it was witnessed by Jesus’ eleven remaining apostles .

Spies were sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan (promised to the children of Israel) for “forty days” (Numbers 13:2, 25). The Hebrew people lived in the lands outside of the promised land for “forty years”. This period of years represents the time it takes for a new generation to arise (Numbers 32:13).

After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was tempted by the devil for 40 days and nights in the Judaean Desert. Jesus having refused each temptation, Satan then departed and Jesus returned to Galilee to begin his ministry. During this entire time of spiritual battle, Jesus was fasting.

Today, Lent is connected with the 40-day fast that Jesus undergoes (Mark 1:13; Matthew 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). Mark tells us that Jesus was tempted by Satan, but it is in Matthew and Luke that the details of the temptation are fleshed out. All three accounts say that Jesus went without food for the 40 days.

Jesus came to earth to preach the Good News – to give people an understanding of the Kingdom of God and the eternal hope that they had through Him.

The Damascus appearance is the last reported vision of Jesus in the Bible until the Book of Revelation was written. However, in the following centuries, many saints reported visions of both Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In response to Peter’s three affirmations of love for him, Jesus gives Peter three commands: “Feed my lambs” / “Take care of my sheep” / “Feed my sheep”. Jesus is re-commissioning Peter as an apostle and leader in the church. “Sheep” is a common metaphor in the New Testament to refer to the people of God.

All four Canonical Gospels state that during Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples, he predicted that Peter would deny knowledge of him, stating that Peter would disown him before the rooster crowed the next morning.

John the Apostle

The relief of St. Peter at the portal of St Peter’s church at Radovljica in Slovenia. The inscription, written in Slovene, reads: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven”.

According to Catholic teaching, Jesus promised the keys to heaven to Saint Peter, empowering him to take binding actions.

Saint Peter

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

In conclusion, when Jesus spoke to the disciples regarding binding and loosing, it was a commonly understood phrase by the Jews at that time. Binding was a declaration for anything unlawful not to be done, and loosing was a declaration for anything that may be lawfully done.

Interpreted in this context, the strong man represents Satan, and the attacker represents Jesus. Jesus thus says that he could not perform exorcisms (represented by stealing the strong man’s possessions) unless he was opposed to – and had defeated – Satan (represented by tying up the strong man).

In Christianity, deliverance ministry refers to groups that perform practices and rituals to cleanse people of demons and evil spirits. This is done in order to address problems manifesting in their life as a result of demonic presences, which have authority to oppress the person.