Bob Prichard

Topic(s): Holy Spirit, Jesus, Miracles

Fearing persecution, the disciples (without Thomas) gathered behind locked doors after the crucifixion of Christ. Christ appeared in their midst, and after reassuring them, said, “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20:21-23). Before the cross He had prayed to His Heavenly Father, “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:18). As the resurrected Christ, He again commissioned His apostles to preach the gospel. “Apostle” literally means “one sent with a commission,” and this is the same Greek word Jesus used when He said, “even so send I you” (John 20:21).

Jesus “breathed on them,” told them to receive the Holy Ghost, and indicated that they would preach the conditions of pardon in His kingdom: “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” This parallels Matthew 16:18-19, where Jesus spoke of the rock of Peter’s confession, saying, “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Thus we see that the disciples as a whole would “bind” and “loose,” not just Peter. Only God forgives sins, but men proclaim God’s conditions for forgiveness.

When Jesus “breathed on them,” it is unclear whether He gave them some limited measure of the Holy Ghost, or if this was just to prepare them for the full baptism of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. There was no manifestation of the Spirit’s power then as there was on Pentecost. In immediate preparation for Pentecost, Jesus told the apostles “that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1:4-5). He further said to them, “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Acts 2 records the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (2:4). Peter, “standing up with the eleven” (2:14), said that the events of the day were fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy of the day of salvation (2:14-21). They proclaimed terms for the forgiveness of sins: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (2:38), and they baptized three thousand who “gladly received” the word (2:41).