- Aug 6, 2012
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John 20:22 as a proof text for conversion indwelling is hermeneutically weak:
Here is what the text clearly states...
1. Jesus breathed on His disciples.
2. Jesus told them to receive the Holy Spirit.
That is it!!
This passage does not specify the following:
1. Whether or not the disciples received the Holy Spirit at the time Jesus breathed on them.
2. Whether or not they spoke in tongues at that time, if they did receive the Holy Spirit.
So, we need to look at evidence outside of this text to determine what happened here.
Problems:
1. He immediately included the phrase, "as my Father hath sent me, so send I you," before he breathed on them. Why don't we see the disciples leaving to go and do the work? Luke, the parallel passage answers this question: He is breathing as a symbolic act of prophecy referring to the Day of Pentecost:
"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem. until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49)
Making John 20:22 contradict the parallel passage in Luke is hermeneutically unsound.
2. According to Vincent's Word Studies, the fact that there is a missing article in front of "Holy Spirit" in the Greek points to this "breathing time" to the Day of Pentecost:
"The article is wanting. the gift bestowed was not that of the personal Holy Spirit, but rather an earnest of that gift... (Vincent's Word Studies, John 20:22)."
3. If the disciples received the Spirit at this moment, then Thomas never received it. Thomas was not there:
"But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came (verse 24)."
4. The Holy Spirit is only to come one time, not two:
"When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me (John 15:26)."
5. The timing of the above promise that Jesus was to receive from the Father is clearly stated:
"Therefore, being by the right hand of god exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear (Acts 2:33)."
In other words, there was no "secret" coming of the Holy Spirit. There was only one coming, and it took place on the Day of Pentecost.
5. Jesus had to be glorified first, which includes full ascension:
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (But his spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given: BECAUSE that Jesus was not yet glorified)(John 7:37-39)."
When does this take place? When one enters into glory (Luke 24:26), one is glorified (1 Timothy 3:16). Peter further clarifies the timing of the glorification in Acts 3:13, which is post ascension.
The consistent interpretation of John 20:22 is that Jesus' words and actions did not impart the Holy Spirit but were prophetic and symbolic actions in anticipation of the Day of Pentecost (which Jesus and the Gospel writers consistently taught throughout ALL the Gospels). Nowhere does Jesus nor the Gospel writers teach TWO comings of the Holy Spirit. The Gift of the Holy Spirit is THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT HIMSELF, which is the INDWELLING.
When does this take place in clear Scripture? This gives us the timing.
"So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed." (John 17:1–6)
On the road to Emmaus, the Lord said, "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26). Thus, after Jesus is raised from the dead, he has not yet entered into his glory in his post-resurrection body.
If it is argued that this, his body is glorious because it has been raised from the dead. We are reminded of John 1:14, of which the apostles testify, "we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
This text speaks of his earthly ministry. However, it is doubtful that it has any reference to his physical outward appearance. His political and social rank was inglorious, despised, and the cause of rejection.
Here is what the text clearly states...
1. Jesus breathed on His disciples.
2. Jesus told them to receive the Holy Spirit.
That is it!!
This passage does not specify the following:
1. Whether or not the disciples received the Holy Spirit at the time Jesus breathed on them.
2. Whether or not they spoke in tongues at that time, if they did receive the Holy Spirit.
So, we need to look at evidence outside of this text to determine what happened here.
Problems:
1. He immediately included the phrase, "as my Father hath sent me, so send I you," before he breathed on them. Why don't we see the disciples leaving to go and do the work? Luke, the parallel passage answers this question: He is breathing as a symbolic act of prophecy referring to the Day of Pentecost:
"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem. until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49)
Making John 20:22 contradict the parallel passage in Luke is hermeneutically unsound.
2. According to Vincent's Word Studies, the fact that there is a missing article in front of "Holy Spirit" in the Greek points to this "breathing time" to the Day of Pentecost:
"The article is wanting. the gift bestowed was not that of the personal Holy Spirit, but rather an earnest of that gift... (Vincent's Word Studies, John 20:22)."
3. If the disciples received the Spirit at this moment, then Thomas never received it. Thomas was not there:
"But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came (verse 24)."
4. The Holy Spirit is only to come one time, not two:
"When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me (John 15:26)."
5. The timing of the above promise that Jesus was to receive from the Father is clearly stated:
"Therefore, being by the right hand of god exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear (Acts 2:33)."
In other words, there was no "secret" coming of the Holy Spirit. There was only one coming, and it took place on the Day of Pentecost.
5. Jesus had to be glorified first, which includes full ascension:
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (But his spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given: BECAUSE that Jesus was not yet glorified)(John 7:37-39)."
When does this take place? When one enters into glory (Luke 24:26), one is glorified (1 Timothy 3:16). Peter further clarifies the timing of the glorification in Acts 3:13, which is post ascension.
The consistent interpretation of John 20:22 is that Jesus' words and actions did not impart the Holy Spirit but were prophetic and symbolic actions in anticipation of the Day of Pentecost (which Jesus and the Gospel writers consistently taught throughout ALL the Gospels). Nowhere does Jesus nor the Gospel writers teach TWO comings of the Holy Spirit. The Gift of the Holy Spirit is THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT HIMSELF, which is the INDWELLING.
When does this take place in clear Scripture? This gives us the timing.
"So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed." (John 17:1–6)
On the road to Emmaus, the Lord said, "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26). Thus, after Jesus is raised from the dead, he has not yet entered into his glory in his post-resurrection body.
If it is argued that this, his body is glorious because it has been raised from the dead. We are reminded of John 1:14, of which the apostles testify, "we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
This text speaks of his earthly ministry. However, it is doubtful that it has any reference to his physical outward appearance. His political and social rank was inglorious, despised, and the cause of rejection.