We are coming to the end of Easter week. After a season that included Lent, Holy Week, and Easter weekend, you might be saying, “Now what?”
It seems to me that Jesus’ disciples might have felt that same way after all that they witnessed over the previous days and week. It was Easter evening. The disciples were gathered together behind locked doors out of fear of the Jews.
Jesus, the Risen Messiah, appeared in their midst and spoke peace over their uncertainty and confusion. He also answered the “Now what” question. The gospel of John describes the moment:
“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 when a “noise like a rushing wind filled the house” where the disciples were, “tongues of fire appeared,” and the disciples “began to speak with other tongues” (Acts 2: 1-4). Theologians have wrestled with these seemingly disparate accounts of the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit. Here I want to focus on what Jesus said after “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus’ declaration of peace came with a commission that I believe is often overlooked and is worth noting.
John’s account tells us that as Jesus breathed on the disciples, He also commissioned them for a ministry of forgiveness. This was no simple commission.
You may recall, Jesus was called a blasphemer for forgiving sins.
“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?’” Luke 5:21
The scribes and the Pharisees questioned Jesus’ authority to forgive sins. 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.
With this commission, Jesus signified that they were now set apart for a ministry the world might not understand. As Christ Followers we are set apart for lives that the world might not understand. Loving the unloveable, forgiving what the world may see as unforgivable, helping those who can’t help themselves, might contradict the world’s understanding of how to live.
It is through the power and commission of the Risen Christ that we are able to live in such a way that contradicts the way 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 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!”