John 20:19-23
John's description of Jesus is meeting with the disciples for the first time after the resurrection is a summary. If every reaction to His appearance and a detailed description of the conversations were recorded the Gospel of John might be 10 times longer than its current length. So what John did record must have really stood out to him. Much of what is recorded seems strange to us. We can mature in our faith simply by wrestling with what is said and learning from it. In verses 21 and 22 we have a John's version of the Great Commission. John does not record the Great Commission at Jesus's Ascension but in an earlier conversation.
John records that, “Jesus breathed on them and said to them, ‘receive the Holy Spirit’”. While there a vast number of questions have risen by this passage let's look at two key points. First is proximity, in breathing on them Jesus gets right up to them. The phrase “close enough to smell their breath” comes to mind. The Great Commission will never be fulfilled at a distance. There is value in distance learning, podcasts, in books, and recordings of sermons. But these can never replace the up-close-and-personal contact of being close enough to smell someone's breath.
Second, the passing on of life is what the Spirit is about. We do not have time now to trace the “breath of God” from the creation of Adam to the Great Commission but without the breath of God there is no life. We get lost in the weeds with obsessive discussions about the gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues, healing, words of knowledge, etc. that we missed the main point. We receive life's breath from the Holy Spirit so that we can pass it on by sharing the gospel message. We are made alive so that we can share life.
“Lord, may Your life pass into me and from me to the world around me. AMEN”
No comments:
Post a Comment