What is the meaning of John 20:22? When He had said this • The moment follows Jesus’ resurrection appearance to the frightened disciples, where He has just declared, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). • His words of peace and mission echo earlier promises: John 14:27 (“Peace I leave with you”) and John 17:18 (“As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them”). • The sequence is important: Peace, commission, then empowerment—mirroring Matthew 28:18-20 and Luke 24:47-49, where assurance, purpose, and power flow in that order. He breathed on them • A deliberate, physical action—Jesus actually exhales toward His followers. • Calls back Genesis 2:7, where “the LORD God formed man… and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,” underscoring new-creation life now beginning in them (2 Corinthians 5:17). • Echoes Ezekiel 37:9-10, where breath enters dry bones and they stand as a living army; the disciples are being enlivened for service. • The act underscores intimacy: the same One who once calmed storms with His breath (Mark 4:39) now imparts life-giving breath to His people. and said • The spoken word carries divine authority; what He commands becomes reality (cf. Mark 4:39; John 11:43-44). • Jesus’ voice consistently pairs revelation with empowerment—John 15:3 (“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you”) and John 17:17 (“Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth”). • By joining breath and speech, He links physical sign and spiritual reality. "Receive the Holy Spirit." • A real impartation takes place—an initial, personal reception of the Spirit fulfilling John 14:16-17 (“He lives with you and will be in you”). • Distinct from—but preparatory to—the public, empowering outpouring at Pentecost (Acts 1:4-8; Acts 2:1-4). Private indwelling precedes public power. • The Spirit’s arrival certifies the new covenant reality foretold in Jeremiah 31:33 and realized in Romans 8:9 (“Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him”). • This gift secures: – Regeneration (Titus 3:5) – Assurance of sonship (Romans 8:15-16) – Beginning of their witness (John 20:23), later expanded through Spirit-empowered proclamation (Acts 4:31). • The command “Receive” underscores responsibility: while the gift is divine, the disciples must welcome and rely on Him (Galatians 5:25). summary Jesus, risen and authoritative, first brings peace, then breathes His own life into His disciples, verbally conferring the Holy Spirit. The scene is a literal new-creation moment, fulfilling promises of intimate indwelling and preparing them for the coming global mission. Peace, commission, and Spirit empowerment converge, demonstrating that life, authority, and ministry all flow from the risen Lord’s breath and word. |
    |