Wednesday, March 26, 2008
John 20:21-23 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
SIGNS OF THE RESURRECTION: THE HOLY SPIRIT
On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples that He was not going to be with them much longer. Jesus told them how He would be betrayed (John 14:21), and after His death the disciples would be filled with sorrow (John 16:20). But during those same hours before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus also comforted them. He told them that their sorrow would be turned to joy (John 16:20) and they would see Him again (John 16:22).
But Jesus also spoke to them about peace and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Concerning peace He said: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). And about the Holy Spirit Jesus said: "It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you" (John 16:7).
As Jesus appears to His disciples on Easter Sunday evening, He repeats those two topics which had been a dominant theme just three nights earlier -- peace and the Holy Spirit. Jesus assures them of His resurrection by proclaiming the peace He won for them on the cross, and by giving them the Holy Spirit He had promised them. The sign of the Holy Spirit was one more proof that Jesus was risen from the dead, bringing us joy from sadness!
