John 20:22 Commentary and Bible Study

These are tremendous words. Why did Christ (literally in the Greek) blow? There is no ‘on them’ in the Greek; that is the helpfulness of our translators. It is obvious and it is necessary, so it is supplied, but ‘he blew’, ‘he breathed on’ them in this sense. Now the disciples were very well instructed in the Old Testament and many of the old writers think their minds would have gone to this point as they reflected – ‘And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life’ – and they would have been right if they thought of that: this significant breathing in of the Holy Spirit. Just as at creation life was breathed into man – physical life – so in Christ there is a new creation and we may have breathed into us the Spirit of the living God. It is the same as that valley of dry bones reported to Ezekiel in vision. ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you.’ So it is that Christ breathes into them the Holy Spirit, and now their understanding is going to be complete; everything that was promised in John 14 and John 16 will come to pass.Now there is a little debate. What does this mean? Did not the Holy Spirit come down on the Day of Pentecost? Wasn’t that the giving of the Holy Spirit? Perhaps this is just a token of the giving of the Spirit. No, it is the beginning of the blessing of the Spirit. They need the Holy Spirit and he is breathed into them. Soon they will begin to receive the inspired word. At once they will receive light and understanding and assurance. But, yes certainly, the power did not at that time come for the witnessing church to preach the gospel to all flesh, to Gentiles also. That came down on the Day of Pentecost. Nevertheless, we don’t look at this as just a token. It is a real breathing of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples: ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost.’