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As we come to look in the word together, I remind my heart and I remind you that there is a principle of Bible study that is absolutely indispensable, and that is total reliance on God’s Holy Spirit; only God can reveal God and He delight to reveal Himself. Psalm 97:11&12, “Life is sown like seed for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart; be glad in the Lord, you righteous one and give thanks to His holy name.” In the center of that verse it says, “Be glad in the Lord.” Sometimes we can feel like, “I don’t have light and I’m in confusion and I don’t understand or I don’t have guidance or I think I should have more joy.” Light and gladness is sown like seed for the righteous. You keep your eyes of Christ and the seed is sown, and that means you don’t have it yet but it’s going to come up. He sows light like seed. You say, “Well, I don’t have light this moment.” Keep rejoicing in Jesus and He’ll give you the light, and you’ll have a harvest of light in this time. With that in mind, let’s commit our time to the Lord.
Our Father, we thank You for the Lord Jesus and the privilege we have to gather in His name and to look in this precious word, and we thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit, whose please and honor it is always to turn our eyes to the Lord Jesus. Once again, we ask that You would guide these meditations. Protect your people from anything that is flesh and blood and is not from You. We thank You in advance that You are going to uproot everything You have not planted, and then You are going to water that which is from You. So, we give You this session in the matchless name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We are only on lesson #76, so let’s give a thorough review (only kidding). We’re getting closer and closer to the end of our study of John. We’ve been in it for a couple of years. Next week, Lord willing, we’ll look at the clinch chapter, and that will be our last study in the gospel of John. We’re going to continue what we have started from the beginning. We don’t study John to know John. We study the gospel of John to know Jesus. We don’t study any book in the Bible to know the book or the contents of that book. I hope you know a lot more about the gospel of John and the contents than when we began, but the goal is what he said in John 20:31, “These things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing, you might have life in His name.” He gives three reasons for writing the book—that you might believe Him, that you might trust Him and that you might enjoy Him. All through the book we’ve been looking how God reveals Christ, so that we can believe, we can depend and we can enjoy the life of the Lord.
When we left off last time, we were looking at John 20, and we already looked at Mary Magdalene, and we already saw Thomas when he was present and the risen Lord appeared to him, but there were a couple of other things that I said that we needed to look at. One was the grave clothes of the Lord Jesus, and we meditated on that in our last session. Then, His appearing again on the day He rose from the dead, that evening, and this time Thomas was absent and was not present, and I didn’t want to leave that out. So, we began to introduce John 20:19-25, the appearance of the risen Savior to the group, and not just the disciples; there were more than that present, and Thomas was not there. John 20:24, “Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.”
What took place that resurrection evening? I gave a list in our last session. There are so many different topics that took place in the meeting of that Upper Room—the risen Savior appeared in a room that was closed and locked, and they were there for fear of the Jews. He gave a wonderful greeting and we looked at that. He gave a commission. “As the Father sent Me I’m sending you.” He breathed on them. He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He spoke about authority of retaining and forgiving sin. There’s much to discuss. I told you last week that I wanted to address at least in a sentence or two each of those things that took place that day. I hope to finish the look at the visitation in the Upper Room this morning.
I began this last week by commenting on the first word that He gave in the Upper Room, and now He’s speaking from beyond the grave. John 20:19, “It was evening on that day, the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Pease be with you.” As I pointed out last week, even though that was a common greeting if you met someone on the street, you would say, “Greetings, shalom,” and it was like a “hello”, but not here, I don’t think. It might have been both, but it wasn’t just that. One reason I think I’m right is in verse 21, “So, Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father sent Me, I also send you.’” If you came in the room and I said, “Hello,” and then five minutes later I looked at you and said, “Hello,” that doesn’t make sense, that you are going to greet them again, the same people in the same way. He said, “Peace,” because He was proclaiming the finished work. Now there’s peace, and He addressed these trembling disciples. He never condemned them and He never rebuked them for denying Him or forsaking Him or scattering when things got really tough, or even for being in a locked room with the doors shut for fear. He just said, “Peace.” Romans 5:1, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God.” That’s what He was saying, “It’s over and the cross is done and I’ve paid the price and I’ve reconciled you to a holy God, and now, “Peace.” That was the first word from beyond the grave. He’s just saying that there’s not condemnation, no guilt, no shame, and you’re forgiven.
Following the declaration of peace, there was this commission in verse 21, “As the Father sent Me, I also send you.” We’re going to see how that fits it when we discuss the symbolic of breathing and praying that the Holy Spirit would come to them. So, I’m going to set that aside just for a few moments. Let me address the fact that they were shut in. They had the door closed, and I’m guessing it was locked. John 20:19, “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” Let me just set it up with the larger context. Luke 24:29, this is the two people on the Emmaus Road, “They urged Him saying, ‘Stay with us, for it’s getting toward evening; the day is now nearly over.’” So, it’s at night; it’s toward evening. John said that it was evening and the first day of the week. There were more than the disciples in that room because at least Emmaus disciples were there, and I think there were others gathered there, as well. Luke 24:33, here’s how it happened, “They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found gathered together with the eleven and those that were with Him.” So, they returned to Jerusalem, these Emmaus disciples, and Judas wasn’t there and Thomas wasn’t there, and He revealed Himself, Luke 24;36, “While they were telling these things…” The two disciples on the Emmaus Road finally got in the Upper Room, they knew where to go in Jerusalem, and while they were telling their story, He Himself stood in their midst, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’” They were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing a spirit. You would be startled if you are in a room and the doors are closed and all of a sudden while you’re sharing, He appears in the room.
These days, I don’t know why, it might be age, I am easily startled, anybody comes near me. Poor Lillian, she comes in and I’m jumping a mile every time she appears. She keeps saying the same thing, “I live here.” She always reminds me that she lives here. Maybe it’s old age. Some say Ecclesiastes 12 is a description of old age. I would suggest if you want, to identify and also put a smile on your face, read Ecclesiastes 12 in the Living Bible. It’s quite interesting.
John 20:19, “The doors were shut.” May I suggest in terms of ministry that this passage is a wonderful passage to use for shut-ins, to have Christ speak peace to them while they are shut in. There are different ways a person can be shut in. We’re all familiar with the basic way; those who can’t get around because of their health. They’re sick or they’re infirm in one way or another. Or sometimes the elderly don’t get out, and they’re just shut in. A shut-in is somebody who is confined for one or another reason, and they can’t get out. You may have had some experience for a season, maybe an injury or sickness or circumstance and you weren’t able to get out. It’s wonderful to be able to minister to them and assure them that Christ is in the room, and when He reveals Himself, He will bring peace to their hearts. That’s a wonderful passage for shut-ins.
In this case, in the Bible case, it wasn’t old age, and it wasn’t a weakened condition, and they weren’t in for some legal confinement. They were shut in for fear of the Jews. That’s what the Bible says. They locked themselves in because they were afraid. I don’t think as some suggest that they were giving up. They wouldn’t be in the Upper Room if they were throwing in the towel. They weren’t giving up, but they were afraid and anxious, “Maybe we’re going to get arrested,” or something like that. I think they were just being careful. It’s a picture of a Christian who is shut for you name, any reason. It could be fear, it could be afraid of circumstances, afraid of what is going to come tomorrow, afraid about the future, afraid of man whose breath is in his nostrils. There are many reasons to be afraid.
Even though Jesus was risen from the dead, the reality of that resurrection had not yet dawned on these dear disciples and followers of the Lord Jesus. So, they were afraid. They didn’t know what to expect. They had already heard several reports that He was alive, but they were still in darkness. The question have been raised that if the doors were shut and maybe locked, how did Jesus get in the room. It’s sort of a silly question. It doesn’t matter, but I’ve heard a natural explanation, and I almost swallowed my tobacco when I heard this. They try to give a natural explanation, and they say, for example, “Everything is made up of atoms. This table is made up of atoms, and then they describe protons, neutrons and electrons flying all around. They say scientifically there’s more space in this than solid, and in the glorified body, there’s a shifting of the atomic structure. So, what is space is now solid and He can pass through the door, all that kind of thing. Don’t look for a natural explanation for what God does.
When I was in junior college, there was a Lutheran school, I had to take a course, and the name of the course was, “That Natural Explanation of the Miracles”. Can you imagine taking a course like that? They went through the miracles and tried to explain it all away. At that time, I was a new Christian, and I was so confused, because I thought He really walked on water, and I thought He really did these other miracles. I didn’t know that everybody came to the feeding of the five thousand with their lunch under their undershirts and were so selfish and when a little boy shared his lunch, then they were able to share there’s. What’s a greater miracle, multiplying loaves or teaching selfish people to share? That kind of thing. Don’t look for a natural explanation for spiritual things.
Sone suggest what startled them was the door suddenly swung open, like the gates in Acts 12, when they spun open. I’m not saying He didn’t pass through a solid door. He passed through the garments; He could have easily passed through the solid door. I’m not saying that the door didn’t swing open, because it might have, and startled them. I don’t know. But I think He appeared in the room because He was already in the room. That’s why He appeared; he is omnipresent. He was there before they got there, and He was in this room before you came in this room, but in a special way when you came in the room, Christ came in the room, because Christ lives in you. So, it’s just a wonderful, wonderful thing. He was already in the room, and you can assure those that are shut-in that He’s already here, and He’s already in the room with you, and all you are going through and all that is going through your minds, the Lord is here.
Remember when Thomas made that comment, “I’m not going to believe unless I put my fingers into His nail wounds and my hand in His side,” and then when He appeared in the room with Thomas there, He told Thomas, “Reach forth your fingers.” How did He know that? Did Peter tell Him? Did James or Andrew tell Him? No, He was there when Thomas said it, but He was invisible present. So, He’s omnipresent. I have no problem with that.
Now, I’m going to make a statement; don’t ask me to prove it; I can’t prove it. I can’t understand it but I have to believe it. Revelation 1:7 says He’s coming in a cloud, and every eye will see Him. On a round earth how is that going to happen? Every eye will see Him. I’m suggesting He will make His omnipresence visible. He appeared eleven times after the resurrection, and the Christians struggle to put them in order. The reason there’s such a struggle is because it looks like He appeared simultaneously in more than one place at the same time. So, which is first, second and third? He is omnipresent. So, when I’m afraid of anything and shut myself into my little room and I won’t go out and I’m afraid to see people, and all of that, the Lord has a ministry for shut-ins, and He loves to speak peace and reveal Himself to shut-ins.
Alright, let’s move on. We looked at the greeting of peace, and we looked at the shut-ins. I’d like to jump to the end and say a word about remitting and retaining sin. John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” This is often misunderstood and is often misapplied. So, I don’t want to just pass by it without making a comment or two. Usually, it’s because of a misunderstanding in our English translation, and not getting to the original. I’ll admit that from the English on the surface it appears that it’s a thorny passage. It’s been interpreted in so many ways.
Before we look closer, let me ask this question; how many verses are necessary to establish a true doctrine, ten verses, six verses, and least two? How many verses? The answer is one, if it’s clear. If God says it and it’s clear, that establishes it. If a passage is not clear, the honest students of the Bible look at that passage in terms of the larger context, the balance of scripture. That becomes very important in this particular verse. I have no right to limit any verse in the Bible, unless God limits it some place else in the Bible. If He limits it, then I can embrace that. I’ll give you an example. Romans 5:18, “So the, through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men. Even so, through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. By Adam, all are lost; by Christ all are saved.” By itself, that verse teaches universal salvation. If that was the only verse you had, it would teach universal salvation. So, we ask the question, has God limited that verse in any other place. The answer is yes, He has, and in many place. For example, Mark 16:16, “He who disbelieves shall be condemned.” It’s limited by faith. Revelation 20:15, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he’s thrown into the lake of fire.” I say all this because John 20:23 by itself looks like it gives authority from the risen Christ for man to forgive somebody’s sins or to retain somebody’s sins, taken by itself. For example, I’ve heard people say, “All babies are saved.” You can’t say that because that leads to universal salvation. You’ve all been a baby; I’ve been a baby. If every baby were saved, then nobody would be lost because of the wonderful truth that He keeps those He saves. Babies are safe. If they die, they’re saved, but their safe until they meet the condition.
So, has God put limits on this statement, “If you forgive sins of any, their sins have been forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they’ve been retained?” As it’s translated in our English, it appears to teach that God has given authority to His church, those represented in that room. He didn’t just speak to one person; He spoke to all that were in the room. It looks like He gave authority to the church to forgive sins. Those who claim there’s a chain of designated authority, that it goes through Peter and the apostles and the disciples, they have a problem because He’s not speaking just to one or two; He’s speaking to everybody. If Jesus designated authority to one person or a group of people to forgive sin or retain sin, that authority would have to be in connection with a tremendous gift of spiritual discernment. Because the Greek in the original language is in the perfect tense, you don’t see that in the English. In the perfect tense, it’s done and finished. In other words, He’s not saying, “You have the authority to say, ‘I forgive you,’ and next week the guy comes back and just says, ‘I forgive you again,’ and then next month he comes again and say, ‘Okay, I forgive you again.’” That’s not what is being taught here. The Greek word is in the perfect tense, and it means, “I forgive you forever; I retain this forever.” They are forgiven forever. The same is true in the second part. If you retain the sin of any, you’ll change your mind later. It’s forever. So, what does it mean?
The perfect tense insists that it’s once done forever finished. Taken by itself that would contradict other scriptures. Jesus already paid for all sins. We know that, and yet in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, forgive us our trespasses.” In fact, John himself in his first epistle says that we’ve to confess our sins if we sin, and if we say we don’t have sin, we’re liars. Everybody has sinned. So, who has insight to look at somebody and say, “I forgive you and it’s over and you’re going to heaven when you die,” or, “I retain your sins, and no matter what happens, the rest of your life you’ll never get saved.” Who has authority like that? He didn’t give that kind of authority. The question is, if it doesn’t mean that, then what does it mean?
We can assume sometimes looking at people because a tree is known by its fruits, we can assume their confession is true; they look like Christians, they’re acting like Christians, but not infallibly and we don’t know and can’t judge. Let me give an example before I give an explanation. The Pharisees themselves made this profession, part two, six and seven, “Some of the scribes were sitting there reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak that way? He’s blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone.’” The context, the occasion for that was that paralytic that was let down through the roof at the feet of Jesus. Mark 2:5 says, “Seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” That’s why they accused Jesus of blasphemy, “How can You forgive him? You are not God.” That’s what they believed. So, only God can forgive sin. Let’s say that Mike sinned against Rommel. He comes to this study and I say to Mike, “I forgive you.” Rommel says, “What? You have no right to forgive him. He didn’t sin against you; he sinned against me.” Rommel is the one who is going to have to forgive. The creditor is the only one that can discharge the debt. When David sinned that terrible sin, murder and immorality and so on, listen to his prayer, Psalm 51:2, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. I know my transgression; my sin is ever before me.” And then he said, “Against You and You only have I sinned and done what’s evil in Your sight.” Jesus could say to that paralytic, “I forgive you,” because He’s God. All sin is against God, and only God… He doesn’t give us authority to forgive sin. Only God can forgive sin. David said, “Against You and You only.” Well, I think he sinned against Uriah. I think he sinned against Bethsheba. I think He was king and I think he sinned against the nation. He sinned against a lot of people, but “Against Thee and Thee only have I sinned.”
John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” It’s got to mean something, so let me suggest what it means. Let me give a couple of Bible illustrations. One happened right after this, and it sort of sets up what it really means. Acts 2 is Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. Now, Peter was in the Upper Room. This is the evening of the resurrection, so he’s going to appear on and off for forty days, and there is ten more days. So, fifty days later Peter is going to be preaching at Pentecost, and as he preached, the Lord really worked, and the crowd went under conviction of sin; they really were convicted. Acts 2:37, “And when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do? We’re sinners. What shall we do?’” Listen carefully to Peter’s answer. Why didn’t he just say, “I forgive you. I have the authority that was just given to me fifty days ago, and you guys need forgiveness, so I forgive you.”? He didn’t claim that authority. Here is what he said, Acts 2:38, “Peter said, ‘Repent. Each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you’ll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” “You’ve got conditions to meet, if you’re going to get saved. Repent! Be baptized and identify with Christ.”
The second illustration is very similar and it’s Peter again, Simon meets Simon; Simon Peter meets Simon in Acts 8. There was a man named Simon who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great, and they all from the smallest to the greatest were given attention to him saying, ‘This man is what is called the great power of God.’” They were giving him attention because for a long time he astonished them with magic acts. But when Simon Peter saw that the Holy Spirit was falling on the people when Christians even preached and laid hands on them, listen to Acts 8:18, “When Simon saw that the spirit was bestowed through the laying of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this authority, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’” Once again, Peter is in a position. He could say, “I have authority to forgive you for that terrible sin,” but what did he say. Acts 8:20, “Peter said, ‘May your silver perish with you. You thought you could obtain the gift of God with money? You have no part or portion in this matter. Your heart is not right before God. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours. Pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. I see you are full of bitterness in the bondage of iniquity.” He didn’t say, “I’ve been given authority to forgive you.” He said, “You better repent; you are in the bitterness and bondage of iniquity.” Acts 8:22, “Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours. Pray the Lord, if possible, that the intention of your heart may be forgiven.”
At Pentecost, Peter didn’t use that authority. When he talked to Simon he didn’t use that authority, if he had it. One other illustration. This is Old Testament, but it leads right to the point, I think. Jesus, when He healed the lepers, “Go show yourselves to the priests,” this is in Leviticus, but remember that the leper is a picture of the sinner. That’s why the lepers were not healed; they were cleansed because it’s a picture of the sinner being cleansed. Did the Old Testament priests, when a leper came to the priest, did they have authority to cleanse the leper. The answer is absolutely not; they were not given authority to cleanse. According to Leviticus 13:38-46 they had to examine the leper, look for signs, look for evidence, and if they saw a bright, white spot or if they saw a reddish white infection on the forehead or something like that, they would examine that person from head to toe, and when it was all over, they were given the authority to pronounce, “He’s clean,” or, “He’s unclean.” He couldn’t clean them. He couldn’t say, “I cleanse you.” He could only say, “You are cleansed,” or, “You aren’t cleansed, you are unclean.” That was the limit of his authority, to pronounce, to proclaim, to declare. I think that’s what the risen Savior on this appearance gave to the church; He gave them the privilege to proclaim, if the conditions were met, to proclaim.
If someone comes to you and said, “I’ve read the Bible and I’ve heard preaching and I repented of my sin. I know I deserve hell. I see that Jesus alone and no other man, and only Christ can forgive me of my sins, and I’ve asked Him into my life. I want His blood to forgive me. I want to go to heaven, and I want my name in the Book of Life, and I want to accept Christ, and I have done it; I’ve prayed, and I have no assurance. I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t mean it. Maybe I wasn’t sincere.” Do I have the right to say, “If you are telling the truth, and you’ve met those conditions, I’ll tell you right now that you are forgiven. I can proclaim it; I can say, “You are going to heaven.” I can assure them from John 5:13, “These things I’ve written to you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” It’s not to think or guess or hope or wish; “That you may know.”
My wife struggled so much. Every time an invitation was given, she wanted to get saved again, and again and again. Even after we were married for a whole year, it went on and on. It was finally settled one evening when we were kneeling at the side of the bed, and I was just asking the Lord, “Give her assurance.” She just went through all of it every time. She responded at a Billy Graham Crusade every time she heard the message, and every time I preached, she would come. She’d be crying in the kitchen, “I don’t know if I’m saved; I don’t know if I’m saved.” So, on our knees, do you know that little chorus, “Thank You, Lord for saving my soul.”? I began to sing it, and Lillian did not sing it. She was just deaf. And I sang it a second time, “Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank You, Lord, for making me whole.” The third time she sang with me, and has not had a doubt since, because she stopped saying, “Please,” and she started to say, “Thank You.” It’s done, and she thanked the Lord, and I had the privilege to have that authority to say, based on your confession, it’s done forever; you are going to heaven. It’s not every month and it’s not every week; you are going to heaven forever.
In the same way, if someone comes to you and says, “I don’t care what your Bible says, I reject that,” like my step grandmother said to me, “I owe God nothing, and I don’t want charity. And if I owe anything, I’ll pay a price on it,” and she walked away and became senile. Every time I’d come again, she’d say, “Remember that religious talk we had,” and then she’d see dogs coming up. Her heart was hardened, and she said no. If someone says, “I reject your Jesus; I reject the Bible, it’s like an animal, I’m going to die and it’s over and I’ll just be annihilated.” Do I have the authority to say, “Your sins are retained. If you aren’t going to receive the only way of salvation, you are lost.” That’s what happened in the Upper Room. Jesus gave His people the authority to proclaim, if the conditions are met, to proclaim and to give assurance, “You are forgiven, and yes, I can tell you that with authority.” And if you are lost, I can tell you that with authority. That’s what He gave them that day.
Let me go to this other thing, John 20:22, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” Before we look at the purpose of that symbolic event, let me remind again, I’ve already stated it, Pentecost was 50 days later than this, and 50 days before Pentecost, and in Luke 24:49, “I’m sending forth the promises of My Father upon you. You are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Pentecost had not taken place. Pentecost was when the Holy Spirit was sent down. So, what did Jesus mean in the Upper Room on the night of the resurrection when He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”? Did He send the Holy Spirit twice, once in that Upper Room, and then another time at Pentecost?
I believe this has to be understood in terms of the verse that precedes it. John 20:21, “Jesus said to them, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’” That is a commission. “I’m going to send you to live as God intended man to live, as I lived on the earth.” Jesus lived the exchanged life; He did nothing on His own accord; He did not do a miracle, only the Father through Him. He did not say a word; only the Father through Him. He took no initiative; only the Father through him. He said, “The way I lived, I’m sending you out, and as I laid aside who I was by nature and determined never to grasp it again, but to depend entirely on the One who lives in Me, so you are to lay aside who you are by nature, and never grasp it again, and live entirely dependent on the One who indwells you. As the Father sent Me, I am sending you.” I believe this symbolic lesson was how, how in the world am I going to live the way He lived?
Let’s take each part of the symbolic act. The first part: He breathed on them. Only two times in the Bible it’s mentioned that God breathed on them. I think you are familiar with the first time. Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” When God created man in the first creation, before sin, when God created man, first He formed him out of clay. He was just a lump of clay, an amorphous blob; he was dead, and just a clay person, a statue of a man. He had a mind, but he couldn’t think. He had eyes, but he couldn’t see. He had ears, but he couldn’t hear. He had members, but he couldn’t move the members. He had a tongue, but he couldn’t speak. He’s just a clay statue on the ground. Then in a moment of time, God breathed into him and he became a living person in the image of Christ. God made him in the image of God. Everybody argues about what is the image of God. All you need is 2 Corinthians 4:4, “Christ, who is the image of God.” That’s the image of God, Christ. And God made man to put Christ on display, and He was not able to do it. You need to understand that this is before man sinned. So, what Jesus is saying, “I’m going to send you as the Father sent Me, but to do that we’ve got to start over. I’ve got to take you way back to when God breathed in man and before man sinned, so that you might live the life that God intended man to live. So, He breathed on them and brought them back, and now this is going to be a new creation. He’s going to start over, and they are going to be able to put Christ on display.
Those who were in the Upper Room had no ability to obey that command, in fact, any command of God. When Adam was formed in the clay, if God said to him before He breathed, “Sit up,” he wouldn’t sit up. If He said, “Move,” he wouldn’t move. “Open your eyes,” he wouldn’t open his eyes. He couldn’t. As a clay image, Adam was helpless to do anything. These people in the Upper Room are just as helpless as Adam was when he was a clay image. Jesus says, “I’m going to send you out like I went out. I lived the life you couldn’t live, and I want to live it again.” Here’s the second part, not only a new creation but He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. As the Father sent Me, so I send you.” How am I or how are you, how are we going to live as Christ lived, that exchanged life? The answer is that we’ve got to become new creatures, a new creation, and He’s got to breathe into us, and we need to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This is a precursor of Pentecost. He is just giving us a foretaste; He’s giving us the “how”. “I’m going to give you an impossible command, and then I’m going to show you how it’s possible; I’m going to breathe into you, and you’ll become a new creature in Christ, and I’m going to put My life, the Holy Spirit in you, and that is your enablement.”
The reason for this infusion of life was to show them that there is no other way to live the exchanged life. One Person, and one Person alone has ever lived the Christian life, and His name is Jesus. One Person, and one alone can live it again, and His name is Jesus. Now He wants to live it in His second body. He lived it in His incarnate body, and now He wants to live it in you and in me. He was just teaching them in that Upper Room that it takes God to live the exchanged life, and it takes God to be the Christian God created and intended you to be. It takes God to be the husband God has called you to be. It takes God to be the wife God called you to be. It takes God to be the brother God called you to be. It takes God to be the sister God called you to be. There is no witness whatsoever apart from the breath of God and the life of the Holy Spirit. That was what was being taught in this Upper Room
In one sentence, “As the Father sent Me, I send you,” that’s the Great Commission. The next chapter, which is the clincher, it’s not only the clincher to the gospel of John being the last chapter, but it’s the clincher of the gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John being the last chapter, and it’s all about missions, how He’s going to enlarge on this, “As the Father sent Me, so send I you.” So, pray for us. Lord willing, we’ll look at that next time.
Father, thank You so much for Your word, not what we think it might mean, this passage or that, but You’ve inspired it, and we pray that everything You’ve inspired it to mean, You would work that in our hearts and our lives. Thank You, Lord, for breathing into us Your breath of life. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us enabling us to live the life we could not live. Work this in us, we pray in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.