The Breath

John 20:19-23

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

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In His farewell words on Thursday evening, Jesus had told them that He would see them again:

16 A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” [John 16:16].

And

22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you [John 16:22].

Now, the resurrected Jesus, who, as it were, lives now according to heavenly rules, and so can come and go as He pleases, appears to them to commission them.

21b “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” [John 20:21b].

As he told Pontius Pilate, Jesus was sent from the Father to bear witness to the truth:

37b For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth [John 18:37b].

Now, the disciples are sent with the same mission—to testify to the truth of the love of God and to the life for all who believe in Jesus. What is astounding is that He is sending as His witnesses the very men who abandoned Him!

He then breathes on the disciples. In Greek (and in Hebrew) the same word means breath and wind and spirit. When Jesus breathes on them here, He proves that He is alive and breathing, but He also empowers them with the Holy Spirit.

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” [John 20:22].

The last time God has breathed in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 2 and the creation of Adam. Now, for the second time God is said to breathe. The Spirit, the Advocate, the Helper, will enable the disciples to carry on the ministry of Jesus.

23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” [John 20:23].

In other words, they are to represent Jesus and preach that forgiveness is available for all who repent, turn from their sin, and believe in Jesus.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
What a heavy responsibility Jesus gives to His church—to represent Him to the world.

The Holy Spirit Helps Us See The Truth

John 16:4b-15

4b “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

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Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus ascended to be with the Father. This ascension is recounted in the Apostles’ Creed. (I’ve bolded the relevant portion, below.)

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
he descended to the dead.
The third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father
Almighty;
from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

*universal, of or belonging to the whole

The ascension is a good thing, because before He ascended, Jesus could be bodily present only in one place at one time, but the Spirit whom He has sent can be with all the church at all times.

One of the things the Spirit now does is show the sinfulness of the world.

8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged [John 16:8–11].

This is one of the ways that the Spirit helps God’s people walk in truth, by showing them the errors of the world.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Where do you need the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth (v.13) today?

P.S. The Gospel of John is filled with deep trinitarian language. For example: the Spirit glorifies the Son (16:14), who glorifies the Father (17:4), who glorifies the Son (8:54).

Rock Strike

John 7:37-39

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

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In Exodus 17, the Israelites are in the wilderness; they are thirsty and begin to complain and grumble. But the Lord is merciful toward them and provides water:

6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel [Exodus 17:6].

When Jesus is crucified, a Roman soldier pierces His side with a spear:

34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water [John 19:34].

The life that Jesus offers is life in the Spirit, and those who believe in Him receive the life of God. But before that life is available, Jesus will have to be “struck,” like the rock in the wilderness.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Why is the Spirit so often compared to water?

Insight Into The Trinity

John 5:19-29

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

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Here, Jesus is explaining the life and love the Son shares with the Father, through the Spirit.

• The result of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is that those who are in Jesus—i.e., those who trust and believe in Him—also share in His Sonship;

• Jesus is the Son, who, through His loving obedience to the Father, carries out the Father’s will;

• Through His death and resurrection, all who trust Him have been adopted into the family of God;

• The love the Father has for the Son is now poured out on us through the Holy Spirit.

This is another way of thinking about salvation, with trinitarian language—the Son came to bring us back into the love of the Father, and the Father’s desire is to share the love He has for the Son, and the Spirit is the love They share.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
How is our understanding of God changed by understanding that God is trinity?