Dear Explorer,
Read John 20:21-23
As far as I can tell, this teaching happened that Easter night in the upper room with the disciples gathered around Jesus. In John 20:21, we see Jesus telling these followers that He was sending them out to impact their world. In John 20:22, we see Jesus giving them the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
I have always been taught that the disciples did not receive the Holy Spirit until later, on the day of Pentecost, so I was surprised to find this statement here.
As you grow and study God's Word, you will continually find new teachings and ways to grow your understanding. Because God's Word is living and active – you will be tutored in the areas that you need right now. Later, you will be tutored in different areas. I've told you that your development as a follower of Jesus is led by a personal tutor (the Holy Spirit) with a personalized plan just for you.
So, I've researched this statement and will share with you what I've learned.
Let's back up. Did the Holy Spirit ever dwell in people of the Old Testament?
Yes and no. The Holy Spirit would come upon or over them, but He didn't stay there for long. Some examples of this would be Joshua (Numbers 27:18), Othniel (Judges 3:10), Gideon (Judges 6:34), Samson (Judges 13:25, Judges 14:6), and Saul (1 Samuel 10:9-10).
In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come temporarily to strengthen a leader for a particular task. But He did not stay for long – just long enough to complete the specific task.
Once Jesus died and paid for our sins, God sent the Holy Spirit to all followers and He lives on the inside of them and directs their lives. But that hasn't happened yet for these followers. It will happen 50 days after Jesus' resurrection, but that's getting ahead of our story.
So, I agree with most scholars that this giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples was like the Old Testament way of temporarily strengthening the disciples to help them through a specific time of uncertainty and grief.
And that brings us to John 20:23. Only God can forgive sins! Remember, we talked about this on Day 59. That was one of the complaints that the Pharisees had about Jesus. They were upset because Jesus was forgiving sins (claiming to be God!) So, I don't think this is saying that the disciples could forgive sins. We can forgive sins that are committed against us – but we can't forgive sins that are committed against God. Only God can do that.
I believe that Jesus is reminding these followers that they need to forgive others so that they could be forgiven (Day 83).
That's my belief. They had just seen horrible, beastly brutality. Could they forgive the ones who had crucified their Lord and Savior? I feel that they had to forgive those who had crucified Jesus before they could move forward in love and ministry and be forgiven for their sins.
Just a note for your information. Other early church literature indicates that many, many of the Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin became part of the early church. Also, many Roman soldiers became part of that group of followers. That would not have been possible if Jesus' disciples had not forgiven and received these men in love.
Other scholars believe that Jesus is reminding the disciples of the urgency and terrible responsibility of spreading the Good News to all the world. That's possible, too.
And others believe that this conferred to Christian clergy the ability to forgive sin on behalf of God. Therefore, they teach that you must go to a priest to confess your sins. Yet, in other places in the Bible (Hebrews 4:14-16) we are taught that Jesus became our high priest so that we do not need an intermediary (go between) to reach God. And that negates the belief that the curtain being torn by God provided access to all.
If Jesus just told us to follow Him and obey His commandments without giving us the power and direction to know how to do so - we would be trapped in a religion that simply made us feel inadequate, inferior and unable to measure up to His commands.
Instead, Jesus asks us to follow Him, gave us His example, died to pay for our sins, and then gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us and makes us able to accomplish the task. This is another reason I protest so loudly when someone says, "Jesus was just a great teacher." What Jesus taught is totally impossible in human strength and possibilities!
Only through His Spirit are we assured success. I love Philippians 4:13 NASB, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Of course, the "Him" is referring to Jesus through His Holy Spirit.
In His service, dale
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