One of the more interesting and even confusing New Testament scriptures is John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be to you: as my Father has sent me, even so send I you: 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, Receive you the Holy Ghost:
The most obvious question is why? Pentecost was only a few days away. Why would Jesus feel the need to personally baptize these close friends with the Holy Ghost at that particular time and in that setting? I am going to list below a few reasons that come to mind.
1. Jesus was fulfilling a prophecy of John the Baptist (John 1:33). Even though the Holy Spirit would make a spectacular entrance at the appointed time, Jesus wanted to deliver the Spirit personally to these his inner circle who would carry the burden to deliver the Spirit to believers all over the world.
2. It might be that some of these disciples would not be at the particular Pentecost Celebration where The Spirit would come and would miss the show. There was a lot going on. I wonder if perhaps John himself was not there. After all Jesus had instructed him to take care of Mary, Jesus’ mother, and John may have been with her. If this were the case, it would certainly make it even more important for John to tell this story in his Gospel.
3. It was really not an issue. The Spirit had always been available to these people as The Spirit was available to the “heroes of Old Testament” and would certainly soon become a permanent part of their life. They would soon be “born of the spirit” in any case. As John points out in Chapter One, Verses 12 & 13 of His Gospel, “they would be born not of the will of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,” and I might add, in God’s own time and place, as it did in fact happen.
The important thing is that The Spirit of God, the promise of the Book of Hebrews (11:39) and the promise of Jeremiah (31:33) became a part of the their very existence and that that same Spirit will become a part of the lives of believers today if and when God so chooses.
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My Brother Earl,
It has never ceased to amaze me how non-charismatic Christians strain at all the gnats they could strain to find ways to explain away what is so apparent in scripture. It was God's plan, Jesus told us so, to have his Holy Spirit poured out on all men in fullness with the full giftings of Charisma's like miracles, words of supernatural knowledge, words of supernatural wisdom, prophecy, and all the other of the nine INCLUDING speaking in tongues. I Corinthians 12. There is no pick and choose. They come with the package and the Spirit applies them, as they are needed by the body of Christ. The evidence is and was always been speaking in an unknown tongue. Unknown means unknown. Not necessarily a language as is spoken on earth. See 1 Corinthians 13.
Now to the passage in John you thought I had a question on. I had no question. I was using the Socratic method to ask what does it mean to allow you to come to your own conclusion. Hoping it would be accurate. It wasn't.
Jesus breathed the Holy Ghost on them to allow them to come to the upper room with the same equipping that we as believers come into Pentecost with. A measure of the Holy Spirit but not the fullness. We have the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit doesn't have us. Like a water bottle you buy at the 7-11. Full but not the fullness. You, my Brother, are filled with the Holy Spirit but not the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Here’s the difference.
Take the cap off, and throw it in the ocean and it floats away in the tides. It's filled and baptized.
The Disciples received from Jesus a filling but not the fullness. As a demonstration and a reality of the difference for all of us to follow, including you.
Then at Pentecost, they were all there. If Jesus told the disciples and his mother and the other women to go and wait, they did. 10 days. Mary the Mother of Jesus needed the baptism in the Holy Spirit as much as anyone else.
Before the outpouring at Pentecost it's not true that the Holy Spirit was available to all, particularly in the Old Testament. God poured it out on specific people for specific purposes at specific times. He also withdrew it like he did from Sampson. You couldn't access it at will. Without the Baptism in the Holy Ghost you still can’t. You and all others who haven’t yet entered the fullness of Pentecost are living like they did in the Old Testament.
But in Pentecost with speaking in tongues as the gateway we access all the gifts of the Spirit.
Be YE Filled with the Spirit is still a command of God. John the Baptist prophesied it, Jesus commanded it, but much of the Body of Christ resists it.
I don't know what that means for eternity. It's not about heaven and hell. It is a concern I would have about the Bema seat judgment. If Jesus said to a person who was a good denominational (nominal) Christian and had been stirred with the truth of God and didn't respond will Jesus hold them accountable?
It seems like a risky business to me.
What about you?
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