1 John 3:16


"By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Friday 22 January 2010

John 20

The text in John 20 is as follows:

Then said Jesus to them again, Peace to you; As my Father has sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

Whosesoever sins you remit are remitted and whosesoever sins you retain are retained. (John 20:21-23).

Just as Nicodemus was not born again in John 3, neither the woman at the well in John 4, or any at the feast in John 7, so also the disciples were not born again in John 20. This encounter was preparatory. It was prophetic of the Day of Pentecost, as were all the earlier chapters. John carries the same theme throughout his whole Gospel concerning Christ the baptizer in the Holy Spirit.

Some have said that this act of Jesus in John 20 highlights the divinity of Jesus Christ. He breathed into Adam at creation and would breathe His Spirit into man once again for a new creation. Certainly this is true, as Christ is identifying Himself as the giver of the Father’s promise. This was not when the disciples received the Spirit, but a teaching for them on the resurrection power they were soon to enter.
The real essence of the text is that it is a Great Commission passage. At the end of each Gospel there is a Great Commission passage that highlights two aspects:

1. The reception of the Holy Spirit, power or authority. This power is Christ residing in us through new birth. Matthew, “All authority is given to Me…”; Mark, “These signs shall follow…”; Luke, “Tarry in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father…”. All of these speak of the power in which the Great Commission is to be carried out.

The message of Jesus in John 20 is the same. “Receive the Holy Spirit” for the Great Commission! We know that they did not receive the Spirit then, for why then would Jesus have said in Luke at His ascension, “Tarry for the promise after I have gone” (Luke 24:49) and in Acts 1:4, “wait for the promise of the Father”?

So John’s record of Jesus’ “receive the Holy Spirit” was an instruction to tarry in Jerusalem. It is John’s record of the Great Commission, a synopsis with the other Gospels. This makes the most simple and straight forward sense of the passage. John just words the same instruction differently.

2. The remission of sin. The second aspect of the Great Commission was that after receiving this power they should preach the gospel to every person. Mark, “Preach this gospel to every creature, those who believe and are baptized shall be saved…”; Matthew, “baptizing them” for the forgiveness of sins…; Luke, “Preach repentance and remission of sins.”.

So John records the same aspect in the Great Commission, “Whosever sins you remit, they are remitted.”. This is not a personal authority given to the disciples, but as ambassadors of Christ they would declare remission of sins by the gospel to those who believe. This is what all the Gospel accounts say in relation to the Commission.
John adds, “Whosever sins you retain are retained.”. Again, this is not our personal authority, but a declaration to those who reject the gospel that their sins are retained. We are simply declaring by faith what we see the Father doing through the ministry of His word. We say it on earth, because it is already said in heaven. This does not give us power over any people.

Some pastors have used this verse to say that members must do what they say or they will not forgive their sins and so neither will God forgive them. Our sins are not in the hands of man. There is one mediator between man and God, the man Jesus Christ (1 Tim 2:5).

The promise of the Father in the Old Testament was Holy Spirit baptism. It is the whole point of the Gospel of John. This is the distinction of the New Covenant which the Father said was coming. This is why Jesus came.

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high. (Luke 24:49).

But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:39).

Therefore being at the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has sent forth this which you see and hear. (Acts 2:33).

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