“He breathed on them” (John 20:22,23)

John 20:19-23

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Pastor Tom Johnson, June 4, 2017

In the beginning, the ruach, the breath, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. God created the heavens and the earth through the Word and breath of his power. And he saw what he had made and it was good. God said, “Let us make humankind in our image.” And so, out of the dust of the earth God formed Adam. He lay lifeless on the ground. Then God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living being. The word breath in creation and all the Hebrew Scriptures is the same word spirit and wind. And so the New Testament word pneuma is also the same for spirit and breath. God is re-creating and making all things new by the same spirit and breath on this day of Pentecost

I think about the day my firstborn came into the world. She looked lifeless, discolored, and still. The skilled doctor cleared out her mouth, throat, and lungs. She took her first breath. And then she startled me with her loud cry. “Is she OK,” I asked. The doctor said, “That is a great sound. That is what we want to hear.” And so it is with the birth of Christ's Church. It was a great sound. The breath of God filled the lungs of his people. They immediately begin to share the mighty acts of God in different languages.

Our gospel reading includes a kind of a mini-Pentecost and a pre-Pentecost. Here Jesus breathes on his disciples and tells them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is also their commissioning to be messengers to the world. God creates, re-creates, and gives life to humanity. God also equips his church for mission by that same breath and spirit of power. Notice the disciples were gathered together in the upper room for this foretaste of Pentecost. The disciples are gathered together in the temple for the day of Pentecost. That is what the word for church ecclesia means, gathering or assembly. If they had not gathered and expectation they would have missed this filling of the Spirit and breath of God. At the end of acts chapter 2, the disciples gather together daily to break bread and to devote themselves to the apostolic teaching. Daily, they are breathing in the breath of God’s Spirit and then going out to tell the good news. The Lord adds to their number daily those who are being saved.

I bet you know where I'm going with this! When we neglect the gathering together to receive God’s gifts, we are not breathing in the Spirit that we need to live the life that he has called us to. “Remember the Sabbath day, by keeping it holy,” one of the Ten Commandments tells us. Scripture also warns us in Hebrews chapter 10 (v. 25), “Do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

We breathe in when we began in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We breathe out when we confess our sins in thought, word, and deed. We breathe in when we hear the Word of God read to us. We breathe out when we sing our hymns, psalms, and alleluias. We breathe in when we hear the Word of God preached rightly and faithfully. We breathe out when we confess our faith in the Creed. We breathe in when we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus at the Lord’s Table. We breathe out when we receive his gifts with thanksgiving, prayer, and praise. We breathe in when we receive the blessing in the Name of the Triune God. We breathe out as we are sent forth into the world to proclaim the good news. We all know what happens to the human body when we do not breathe in the oxygen we need and breathe out the toxins will quickly poison our lives.

So it is with the body of Christ. We need to breathe out the toxins of sin death and evil. We need to breathe in the life and Spirit of God. Our worship and fellowship together are the lungs of the Church for our survival and life in the Spirit. The day Jesus breathed on his disciples to receive the Holy Spirit and commissioning to be sent into the world was a kind of pre-Pentecost. Today is a kind of post-Pentecost. He still breathes on us and fills us with the Spirit. He still sends us out into the world to be his messengers.

“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” “What does this mean?” The catechism asks.

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true. 

And so the wind fills our sails for our journey ahead. We breathe in the Spirit of God deep into our lungs. We are carried out by the Spirit’s current into the world. We breathe out the good news.