22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
22 And when He had said this,
After Jesus commissioned His disciples, He then gave them the power to execute their ministry. They would now have the source to fulfill their commission.
He breathed on them,
Jesus’ breathing on the apostles was a symbol of His formal assigning of the Holy Spirit to them. It was a climactic moment in their lives and for the gospel.
and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Having been commissioned by the Lord, the apostles would need divine power to execute their ministries. They would possess singular powers to preach and execute miracles (Mt 28:16-20; Lu 24:47-49). This was a special endowment of power for the apostles in the interlude between Jesus’ presence on earth and the launching of the church, when the Holy Spirit would permanently indwell believers (Ac 2:1-3).
Reception of the Holy Spirit here was an endowment for ministry for the apostles. They needed special enablement in the period between the Passion and Pentecost to execute their commission. This was a temporary privilege for the next 50 days before Pentecost. The permanent receiving and indwelling of the Holy Spirit would occur on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus said that the permanent arrival of the Holy Spirit would not occur until He returned to the Father (Jn 16:7).
PRINCIPLE:
Ministry requires supernatural power.
APPLICATION:
As the apostles needed special power from the Holy Spirit to carry on their work, so do all Jesus’ followers. The ministry of the Spirit to the apostles was different than to believers in general, as indicated on the Day of Pentecost. Upon becoming a believer, the Christian receives the Spirit and His indwelling. We are baptized into the body of Christ, the church (1 Co 12:13).
Hi Dr Grant!
Been subscribed to your commentaries for a while now and just want to say how blessed I am by them!
Also, there is a typo in the above text:
” source to full their commission.” I’m thinking it is fulfill
Thanks again for sharing your insight about God’s amazing Word!
Glenn, thank you for alerting me to the error. The typo is now corrected.
Kenneth E. Hagin’s book The Holy Spirit and His gifts, page 29 says the verse in John 20:22, when our Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said “…Receive yet the Holy Spirit,” “He was referring referring to receiving the Holy Spirit in the new-birth experience. That was when the disciples were born again.” Is this true?
In you commentary you said it was “an endowment for ministry for the apostles.” So clearly that is a different interpretation. Many commentators agree with but I had thought that the baptism with the Holy Spirit was for ministry in that we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Hagin’s point here confirms my assertion.
But he goes further to say that when the indwelling Holy Spirit brings new birth, it brings with it the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Is that true?
Joseph, this specific passage pertains a commission to the apostles, not people in general. However, the reception of the Spirit generally refers to those who receive Christ as their Savior.