John 20:22

And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: AND WHEN HE HAD SAID THIS, HE BREATHED ON THEM - a symbolical and expressive conveyance to them of the Spirit, which in Scripture is so often compared to breath (see the note at ); AND SAITH UNTO THEM, RECEIVE YE THE HOLY SPIRIT - as an earnest and first-fruits of the more grand and copious Pentecostal effusion, without which it had been vain to send them at all....

22._He breathed on them. _Not one of the sons of men is qualified for discharging so difficult an office, and, therefore, Christ prepares the Apostles for it by the grace of his Spirit. And, indeed, to govern the Church of God, to carry the embassy of eternal salvation, to erect the kingdom of God on earth, and to raise men to heaven, is a task far beyond human capacity. We need not be astonished, therefore, that no man is found qualified unless he be inspired by the Holy Spirit; for no man can speak a word concerning Christ unless the Spirit guide his tongue, (1 Corinthians 12:3;) so far is it from being true that there is any man who is competent to discharge faithfully and honestly all the duties of so excellent an office. Again, it is the glory of Christ alone to form those whom he appoints to be teachers of his Church; for the reason why the fullness of the Spirit has been poure

19-25 This was the first day of the week, and this day is afterwards often mentioned by the sacred writers; for it was evidently set apart as the Christian sabbath, in remembrance of Christ's resurrection. The disciples had shut the doors for fear of the Jews; and when they had no such expectation, Jesus himself came and stood in the midst of them, having miraculously, though silently, opened the doors. It is a comfort to Christ's disciples, when their assemblies can only be held in private, that no doors can shut out Christ's presence. When He manifests his love to believers by the comforts of his Spirit, he assures them that because he lives, they shall live also. A sight of Christ will gladden the heart of a disciple at any time; and the more we see of Jesus, the more we shall rejoice. He said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, thus showing that their spiritual life, as well as all their ab...

Verse 22. _HE BREATHED ON_ THEM] Intimating, by this, that they were to be made _new_ men, in order to be properly qualified for the work to which he had called them; for in this breathing he evidently alluded to the first _creation of man_, when God breathed into him the breath of lives, and he became a living soul: the breath or Spirit of God (רוח אלהים _ruach Elohim_) being the grand principle and cause of his spiritual and Divine life. _RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST_] From this act of our Lord, the influences of the Holy Spirit on the souls of men have been termed his _inspiration_; from _in_, into, and _spiro_, I breathe. Every word of Christ which is received in the heart by faith comes accompanied by this Divine _breathing_; and, without this, there is neither _light_ nor _life_. Just as Adam was before God breathed the quickening spirit into him, so is every human soul till it rece...

HE BREATHED ON THEM - It was customary for the prophets to use some significant act to represent the nature of their message. See Jeremiah 13; Jeremiah 18, etc. In this case the act of breathing was used to represent the nature of the influence that would come upon them, and the source of that influence. When man was created, God breathed into him the breath of life, Genesis 2:7. The word rendered “spirit” in the Scriptures denotes wind, air, breath, as well as Spirit. Hence, the operations of the Holy Spirit are compared to the wind, John 3:8; Acts 2:2....

EXPOSITION JOHN 20:1 2. The complete glorification of Jesus in his resurrection. The record pauses for the awful day of that great sabbath, and resumes the marvelous recital when the greatest event in the history of the world is assumed and asserted to have taken place. Heathen and foes admit the fact of the death of Jesus; the evidence is overwhelming, multiform, sufficient to establish itself to the ordinary reason of mankind. It is a matter of indubitable history. The proof was given to all the world; but it is otherwise with the fact of the anastasis of Jesus. That stupendous event was revealed to the eye and mind of faith by a series of communications, which afford to different classes, groups, kinds, and states of mind specimens of the manner and quality of the resurrection-life. "Many infallible proofs" wrought (as St. Luke says,...

AND WHEN HE HAD SAID THIS,.... That is, declared he sent them forth in like manner as his Father sent him: HE BREATHED ON THEM; in allusion to God's breathing the breath of life into man, at his creation; or rather, to the Spirit himself, who is the breath of God, and proceeds from him, as from the Father; and who breathes both upon persons in regeneration, and in qualifying for ministerial service, at the instance and influence of Christ: and such an opinion the Jews have of the Spirit of the Messiah, who say p, that "the Spirit went from between the wings of the cherubim, ונשביה, "and breathed upon him" (Menasseh) by the decree, or order of the word of the Lord.'' AND SAITH UNTO THEM, RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST; meaning not the grace of the Holy Ghost in regeneration, which they had received already; but the gifts of the Spirit, to qualify them for the work he now sent them to do, a...

John 20:11. _But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain._ You see, dear friends, love is very patient and persevering. The other disciples had gone away home, but not so Mary, she stands outside the sepulcher, and still waits, for she cannot go till she has seen her Lord. Love, however, has many sorrows for, as Mary stood without the sepulcher, she was weeping. Oftentimes your love to Christ will make you sorrowful when you for a while lose his presence; it will be a great sorrow to you if your Lord should seem to have hidden himself from you. But see how quick-sighted love is; Mary saw the angels, whom the other disciples might have seen if they had not gone home. One of the beatitudes is, «B

CHAPTER 20 _ 1. The Empty Sepulchre. (John 20:1 .)_ 2. The Risen One and Mary of Magdala. (John 20:11 .) 3. The Gathered Company and He in the midst. (John 20:19 .) 4. The Second Time. (John 20:24 .) 5. The Purpose of John's Record. (John 20:30 .) “I lay down my life that I might take it up again.” The sufferings were accomplished. The Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep and now we learn how He arose from the dead. John 2:19 was fulf

THE COMING TO THE DISCIPLES. The first Christian Sunday is spent in Jerusalem, where the disciples are in hiding. The interpretation of Mark 14:50 as implying an immediate flight of the apostles to Galilee is purely conjectural. The account of the first appearance to the disciples is told so as to emphasize the fulfilment of the promises, and the teaching, of chs. 14- 17. Jesus comes (_cf. John 14:18_), He gives them His peace (John 14:27), they were glad (ὲ?χάρησαν) when they saw (John 16:22), He sends them, as He was sent (John 17:18), He gives them the Spirit, and p