JOHN 20:19-23 GO AND BECOME
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus speaks peace, appears bodily, breathes the Spirit and articulates a mission for God’s people. Although the events of Pentecost (Acts 2) resulted in individual and corporate empowerment for kingdom ministry, this episode in the disciples’ “hiding place” seems to be more of a general unleashing of God’s new order into this world. He also indentified this Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God, since it is through the Spirit that they will be able to forgive sins; a role that belongs to God alone (Mark 2:7).
For most of us the revelation comes before the transformation. Through the Bible, the Church and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we learn the truth about God. In our baptism the Holy Spirit is “breathed” upon us. Through the Spirit we are convicted of our sin and made aware of our need for repentance and the realignment of our life with God’s will. We come to know the truth and increasingly trust God, but on the practical level we still live in doubt and fear.
Jesus has provided us with the peace that will calm our fears and given us a mission. Through his peace we are encouraged to embark on the mission, and through the experience of the mission we grow in the knowledge of his peace. As we obey God’s will, we give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit and become transformed into the people we are meant to be. As the Body of Christ, a community infused with the Holy Spirit, manifesting the peace that passes understanding, and pointing sinners toward forgiveness, our charge is to be nothing less than the presence of Jesus Christ in the world.
Jesus, as you have provided for the forgiveness of sin and unleashed a new order through your resurrection, develop in me the faith to step out in accord with your call to announce and demonstrate your presence in the world. As the ultimate sin is rejecting you, may I become an agent of the Holy Spirit’s challenge to the people around me so they might come to know you and be forgiven. Amen.