Title: Receive the Holy Spirit!
Receive the Holy Spirit!
John 20:19-23, Pentecost Sunday, June 12, 2011
Today's third reading, John 20:19-23, belongs to the resurrection tradition. It is one of several resurrection traditions in the Gospels. Its contents are as follows: It is late Friday afternoon on the day Jesus was crucified and buried in the tomb. From Friday evening to the following Saturday evening, the Jewish Sabbath is a holy day. Today's text begins by saying that the disciples were gathered in one place on 'the evening of the first day after the Sabbath'. It is a Sunday evening now. Early that morning, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and met the risen Jesus. Mary told the disciples about it, but they did not understand them properly. There is no choice but to do so. Because it's something they've never experienced before, and it's something they didn't expect.
Now, the disciples are in a quagmire. Their teacher, Jesus, was crucified for blasphemy and social disturbance. Crucifixion was the most cursed method of death at the time. People at that time did not respect the dead, nor did they feel pity for them. It was kind of a witch hunt. The disciples could not even imagine that Jesus would be crucified. Also, it is clear what kind of hardships the followers of the crucified will face in the future. In fact, the early Christians faced much oppression from the world around them. He even suffered martyrdom. The disciples were at a loss as to what to do in the future and how to overcome this obstacle. The writer of the Gospel of John accurately described these feelings of these people. The disciples said they closed the door because they were afraid of the Jews.
At that moment, Jesus appeared before them. And he said to his disciples, “Peace be with you.” and said. The greeting for peace is ‘Shalom’, the usual greeting of the Jews at the time. To understand the spiritual meaning of this greeting, we need to think of two things. One thing is that the disciples are now in great fear. In the midst of this, peace is salvation and light. Another thing is that the person who gives this blessing of shalom is Jesus who was hung on the cross. Jesus, who was crucified and buried in a tomb, is now speaking before his death. This fact was the only reason the disciples could escape from great shock and fear. It is because we experienced Jesus before death as the reality after death.
It is said that the risen Lord appeared before the disciples and then showed his hands and side. The hands and sides are the areas with scars from the crucifixion. He has nail marks on his hands and spear marks on his side. It points to the fact that the person who appeared before them was Jesus, who lived with them for three years and proclaimed the kingdom of God. The disciples say they rejoiced when they saw the wounded Jesus. The disciples' fear was now turned into joy. This is not the old Jesus. He has nail marks on his hands and spear marks on his side. It is proof that he is dead. They had no choice but to rejoice because they met the dead Jesus in real life. That is the resurrection experience.
After praying again for peace to his disciples, Jesus makes amazing words. “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you” (verse 21). Fear-based escapism was their existence, and even that of the early Christians. They are now ready to go out into the world. It's not forced. It is impossible as long as you are trapped in fear. The disciples knew what peace was and what joy was through the risen Lord. Their lives have been transformed into a whole new spiritual existence. I am no longer afraid of the world.
So, does that mean that those who experience the resurrection of Jesus are actually surrounded by peace and joy? Does that mean that fear can actually be completely overcome? In principle, yes, but in practice it is not. Even the early Christians were enthusiastically able to overcome all their fears in the early days of their resurrection experience, but over time they encountered practical difficulties. So are we now. The peace and joy of first believing in Jesus are not always maintained. Resurrection experiences didn't always come to life because they couldn't be photographed. The disciples' fear is not completely overcome in an instant. I fall into fear again.
Spirit of Life, Holy Spirit
Today's text is the word with that background. Jesus breathed out to his disciples and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (verse 22). These words do not seem to fit with the resurrection tradition. Nowhere in the story of the Resurrection does it mention receiving the Holy Spirit. In general, the resurrection lore is mainly about the resurrection phenomenon itself. These are the words of angels saying that the tomb was empty when I went to the tomb at dawn, or that the resurrected Lord will go to Galilee. Only the Gospel of John tells the Lord to receive the Holy Spirit. This means that the writer of the Gospel of John did not simply describe the resurrection event as in the Synoptic Gospels, but interpreted it from a unique theological point of view. As mentioned just above, the early Christians could not get through their difficult situation with the resurrection experience alone. Resurrection leads to ascension. The risen Lord can no longer be with the disciples. Now the risen Lord can be with his disciples through the Holy Spirit. So, the writer of the Gospel of John says that the risen Lord breathed out to his disciples.
The writer of the Gospel of John has already explained this fact in detail earlier. John 16, one of the passages in the farewell speech, is an explanation of a similar situation pointed to in today's text. Jesus tells his disciples that they will suffer in the future. “People will not only drive you out of school, but the time is coming when everyone who kills you will think, ‘This is serving God.’” (16:2) In this situation, Jesus could not be with his disciples. Only after Jesus leaves will the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, come to them. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, speaks about sin, righteousness, and judgment. In today's text, the Resurrection Lord told his disciples, who were in fear, to receive the Holy Spirit just before he died. This is because the Holy Spirit protects the disciples who are living in the reality of suffering.
The reason for limiting the Holy Spirit to gifts and godliness is that the word receiving the Holy Spirit itself is vague. It means that the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit is not clear. You can't possess the Holy Spirit and you can't confirm it like you buy things with money. Who is the Holy Spirit-filled person? What does a church filled with the Holy Spirit look like? Can you put it clearly? Is it a church that says amen a lot during sermons? Is it a church that sings hymns passionately? Nor does the Bible explain in an empirical way what the Holy Spirit is. It means that you cannot experience the Holy Spirit that way. Even now, you may not even know whether or not you have received the Holy Spirit on your own. Of course, we can say that confessing Jesus as the Christ is the proof that we have received the Holy Spirit, but it is also clear that we cannot always live a life filled with the Holy Spirit. A third party cannot determine whether a person has received the Holy Spirit or not. In the end, the important thing here is to know the Bible's answer to the question of who the Holy Spirit is rather than whether or not you have received the Holy Spirit. Only by knowing that can you understand your condition.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is called 'ruah', and in the New Testament, it is called 'pneuma'. Ruahna pneuma has two meanings. One is the wind, the other is the spirit. In today's text, Jesus breathed on his disciples and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. The breath and the Holy Spirit mean the same thing. Breath, or wind, means spirit. When the warm wind blows, the plants come alive, and when the cold wind blows, they die. After the fetus comes out of the mother's womb, it has to breathe to survive. When a person dies, his breath stops. What do you mean? The ruah and pneuma referred to in the Bible are the 'spirit of life', that is, the spirit of life. To receive the Holy Spirit means to receive the Spirit of life. More precisely, it means to be captivated by the spirit of life. It is obedience to the power of life. In this respect, the question of what the Holy Spirit is is the same as the Spirit of life and the power of life.
As I said earlier, the word to receive the Holy Spirit is vague, so it is easy to misunderstand the word, so it is easy to misunderstand the spirit of life and the power of life. It's often out of reach. Look at the modern society centered on production and consumption. It is expected to save people and nature through it, but it often destroys it. The reason for making a road through mountains and fields is to secure convenient transportation rights. There will be many parts that are destroyed through such things. So is your child's education. Parents give and demand a lot because they love their children. Because they believe that it is the way to save their children. Rather, it often destroys children. This is especially serious in Korea. It's proof that you don't know what life is, but that you're still caught up in your own desires. Why?
The answer is sin. This is the reason why sin is mentioned in the last verse of today's text. He said that what the disciples who received the Holy Spirit should do is forgive the sins of the world. We also offer worship services for the forgiveness of sins. Worship is an act that represents not only us, but the world. This is the most important thing the church should do. This is not to say that you forgive blindly. To forgive, or to be forgiven, you must know what a sin is. The disciples' job is to make the world know what sin is. This refers to baptism.
Dear saints, the Lord of the Resurrection has told us to receive the Holy Spirit, the power of life. Resurrection is the original experience of the power of life. Through Jesus Christ we experienced it. Now we must go out into the world and do spiritual baptism. Fight false life. Don't be afraid to resist life-destroying forces. That is the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. Dear saints, live like those who have received the Holy Spirit, the spirit that saves us from the root.