Breathe On Me

It was Easter evening. The disciples where gathered together behind locked doors out of fear of the Jews. Jesus, the Risen Messiah, appeared in their midst and spoke peace over them.

In fact He spoke peace over them twice. Once before He showed them His hands and feet, and once afterward. The story is in John 20:19–23. The second time His declaration of peace came with a commission that I think often gets overlooked in the Easter stories.

“Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’” John 20:21–23

Whoa! Receive the Holy Spirit? I thought that happened on Pentecost, some 49 days later! This is Jesus breathing the wind of the Holy Spirit on the disciples on Easter!

We in our twenty-first century understanding of Jesus may lose sight of how significant the commission to forgive sins was to this group of disciples. As you recall, Jesus was called a blasphemer for forgiving sins. The scribes and the Pharisees questioned Him in Luke 5:21 when it reads,

 “The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?'”

Jesus’ response was to prove He had the power to forgive sins by healing the paralytic. My point is that having God’s authority to forgive or retain sins came with controversy.

I would suggest that when the Risen Jesus gave the disciples the authority—in fact, the commission—to forgive or retain sins, He was throwing them into the midst of the controversy. He was signifying that they now were in the world but not of the world.

The Risen Christ stands ready to say to you and to me, “Peace be with You! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Are you prepared to be in the world but not of the world?

Are you ready to be in the midst of the controversy that the authority of Christ can bring?

Are you willing to represent your Messiah by forgiving the sins of others?

Are you open to receive the Holy Spirit like the disciples on Easter some two thousand years ago?

If so, may I suggest that you reply with the simple phrase, “Breathe on me!”