Why Foreign Missions? 18b. John 20.20-23 and Mission of the Disciples in
John’s Gospel
In the following short study,[1] I will suggest a possible
explanation for what unites the three verses of John 20.21-23 with their three
foci of mission, receiving the Holy Spirit, and the forgiveness of sins. The
passage reads as follows in the New
Revised Standard Version:
John 20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his
side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus
said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I
send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them[2] and
said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the
sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained" (NRSV).
My suggestion is that these verses are both
theologically related and appear to be based on an Old Testament passage, Ezekiel
36-37. This Old Testament background
brings out the theological point, the narrative theme of the restoration of
Israel from captivity. This theme is
actually a major theme in John’s presentation of Jesus’ ministry—as it is, no
doubt, also a theme of Jesus’ own intentions and ministry itself. Just as the first Passover signalled the departure of Israel from Egypt, so Jesus' death on the cross as the Lamb of God and his resurrection from the dead signalled the second Exodus spoken of by prophets like Ezekiel. The return from exile due to sin meant the inauguration of mission ('so send I you'), receiving the Holy Spirit, and forgiveness of sins.
Initial
Comments on the Passage
Ben Witherington sees the creation narrative,
where the Spirit hovers over the chaos in creation, and certain Wisdom passages
(Wisd. 15.11; 9.17-18; 7.22ff; 9.1-4) behind Jn. 20.21.[3] Wisdom passages speak of Wisdom as active in
creation (Prov. 8.30) and equate the sending of the Spirit with the sending of
Wisdom (9.17-18). God breathed a living spirit into human beings (Wisd.
9.17-18). Wisdom is said to be ‘the
fashioner of all things,’ a ‘breath of the power of God,’ and the one who
renews all things (Wisd. 7.22ff). Again,
in Wisd. 9.1-4, Wisdom is said to form all living things, including humans, and
is equated with God’s word, and Wisdom is said to sit by God’s throne. Similarly, in 1 Enoch 42, Wisdom creates humans by a breathe, dwells at the right
of God’s throne, comes to earth and returns to dwell at the right of God’s
throne, and ‘can come again to the faithful in the form of the Holy Spirit.’[4] The parallels with Wisdom are, indeed,
noteworthy, but seem to be of little help in interpreting the passage.
Don Carson argues that the giving of the Spirit to
the disciples in v. 22 has to do with sanctification: ‘they have been
sanctified by Christ and will be sanctified by God’s word’ (Jn. 17:17).[5] He further notes the possibility that Jesus’
breathing on the disciples is related to Gen. 2.7 and Ez. 37.9, but he otherwise
does not engage the texts further.[6] He primarily focuses his comments on how this
passage is related to the giving of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts
2.
Gerry Wheaton has argued that John 5-10 presents
Jesus as the climax or realization of the Jerusalem festivals associated with
national restoration.[7] The feasts of Passover, Tabernacles, and
Dedication ‘lead the reader toward the conclusion that the restoration of the
nation, which the prophets foretold and for which pilgrims at the feasts hoped,
has as its highest goal the worship of Jesus as the God of Israel.’[8] With Andreas Köstenberger, whose focus was on
Jn. 4 and 9, Wheaton demonstrates that Jesus is also seen with respect to the
Jewish festivals in Jn. 5-10 as the ‘new locus of worship in the absence of the
Jerusalem Temple.’[9]
Ezekiel
36-37 and John 20.20-23
If the theme of the restoration of Israel from
exile is a key to interpreting John in general, as Wheaton argues, then the
case for seeing Ezekiel 36-37 as the background for Jn. 20.20-23 may have
further merit than whatever we might say about the Johannine passage per se.
The identification of the theme of creation in Jn. 20 occurs through the Ezekiel passage. In Ezekiel, the Holy Spirit that departs from
the Temple (ch. 10) returns into the dry bones of the exiles, symbolizing the
restoration from captivity as a re-creation episode. The Spirit accomplishes several things: He
gives new life, unifies divided Israel (37.15-20, 22), restores her from exile
(37.14, 21), and cleanses the Israelites from their sins (37.23) such that they
can now follow God’s laws (37.24). Also,
David will rule over them forever (37.24-25), God will make a covenant of peace
with them, establish them and increase their numbers, and will dwell among
them, locating his sanctuary among them forever (37.26-28).
In Ez. 37.9, Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy to
the ‘breath’ or ‘wind’—the same word as ‘Spirit’ (pneuma). He is to say, ‘Come
from the four winds and breathe on these dead and they will live.’ This verse reflects Gen. 2.7, where God breathes
into man’s nostrils and the man becomes a living being. The same verb, ‘emphysaō, for ‘breathe’ can
be found in Gen. 2.7; Ez. 37.9; and Jn. 2.22:
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 the man became a living being (italics mine).
Ezekiel 37:9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath,
prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the
four winds, O breath, and breathe
upon these slain, that they may live" (italics mine).
John 20:22 When he had said this, he breathed
on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit (italics mine).
The divine breath, then, gives life. For John, when Jesus is glorified he will
give the Spirit to believers (Jn. 7.39). With Genesis and Ezekiel in view, the
giving of the Spirit is a giving of life.
Ezekiel 36-37, though, yields more.
The giving of life is attached to the return from exile and unification
of God’s people—the mission of the breath to restore Israel from exile (Ez.
37.9). The return from exile entails a
giving of the Spirit that cleanses people from sin and enables obedience to
God’s Law. This explains what Jesus is
doing:
1.
Jesus greets his disciples twice (Jn. 20.19, 21) with a typical Jewish greeting,
‘Peace to you,’ which has the (typical of John) deeper meaning of establishing
a covenant of peace (Ez. 37.26-28).
2.
Jesus commissions the disciples (Jn. 20.21) on their world-wide (cf. the four
winds, Ez. 37.9) mission of restoration (Ez. 37.14-22).
3. The
disciples’ reception of the life-giving Spirit (Jn. 20.22) involves a
fulfillment of what has been promised earlier in the Gospel: being born of the
Spirit (and water) (Jn. 3.5-8); receiving the Spirit without measure (Jn.
3.34); receiving life (Jn. 6.63; 7.39); worshiping in Spirit and truth (Jn.
4.23-24; cf. 14.17); teaching the disciples and reminding them of, and bearing
witness to, Jesus (Jn. 14.26; 15.26); and revealing things to come (Jn. 16.13).
4. The
reception of the Spirit and the commission make it possible for the disciples
to offer life to others through the forgiveness of sins (Jn. 20.23), making
obedience to God’s decrees possible (Ez. 37.23-24).
This is what Jesus means by saying, ‘As the Father
sent me, so I am sending you’ (Jn. 20.21).
Jesus was sent to give life as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins
of the world (Jn. 1.29). John extends
the notion of a restoration of Israel from exile to a restoration of all people
from their sins. The worldwide mission
of the disciples is not only for Jews but also for Gentiles, and it is a
mission of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the
cross and of extending the Spirit-life that the glorified Jesus offers through
his missionary disciples to the world.
In further support of this interpretation, one
might also note that Jn. 2.13ff has Jesus identify himself with the
Temple. He will stand in place of the
Temple (possibly already destroyed (AD 70) when this Gospel is written), with
its sacrificial offerings for sin and its place of God’s Spirit. Similarly, Jesus replaces the worship on Mt.
Gerizim and Mt. Zion with worship in ‘Spirit and in truth’ (Jn. 4.23-24). The Spirit associated with the Temple is now
separated from the Temple and is given to believers. The giving of the Spirit to believers is
through the glorified Jesus, the new Temple, who offers forgiveness of sins,
obedience through the Spirit, and new life—themes found in Ez. 36.22ff.
Conclusion
I have suggested that the risen Lord’s offer of
peace (Jn. 20.19, 21), commission of disciples (Jn. 20.21), giving of the Holy
Spirit (Jn. 20.22), and statement that the disciples will forgive sins (Jn.
20.23) are related ideas, and have Ezekiel 26.22-37.28 as background. Jesus is the climax of Israel’s hopes for
restoration, fulfilling the restoration of his people. The giving of the Spirit to God’s restored people
in Ez. 36-37 involves a number of themes, including a mission of the ‘breath’
to restore God’s people from the four corners of the earth, the multi-faceted
work of the Spirit, and the forgiveness of sins and restoration of God’s people
to obedience to God.
John’s vision of mission in this passage builds on
Jesus being the Temple where sacrifice for sin takes place and where God’s
presence may be found. Mission, like
Israel’s pilgrim festivals, involves restoring God’s people to a worship that
is now focussed on Jesus, the resurrected Temple of God, reception of the
Spirit, and receiving forgiveness of sins.
This forgiveness of sins involves the new empowering by the Spirit to
live holy and blamelessly before God.
Understood through these texts, mission is (1) a sending
of disciples even as the Father sent Jesus to restore ‘exiled,’ disobedient Jews--and
now also Gentiles--in captivity due to their sins to life lived with God, for
we are his dwelling place. (2) It is a
work of the Spirit that involves transformation from being ‘dry bones’ to being
Spirit-resurrected people who obey God.[10] (3) It involves offering the world forgiveness
of sins through the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, if people will
but believe in him (e.g., Jn. 3.16).[11]
[1]
I wish to thank Hennie Swart, dean of Stellenbosch Theological Institute and member of the Timothy Fellowship of East Mountain (Stellenbosch, South Africa), for
the rich dialogue that generated this reflection on Jn. 20.21-23 and its
relation with Ez. 36-37.
[2] The words ‘on them’ do not appear in the Greek and
have been italicized, above.
[3] Ben Witherington (John’s
Wisdom: A Commentary on the Fourth Gospel, (Louisville, KY: Westminster
John Knox, 1995), p. 343).
[4] Ibid., p. 343.
[5]
The Gospel According to John (Downers
Grove, IL: Apollos Press, 1991), p. 659.
[6]
Ibid., p. 651.
[7]
Gerry Wheaton, ‘The Role of the Jewish Feasts in John’s Gospel’ (PhD
Dissertation, St. Andrews University, ?).
[8]
Ibid., p. 175.
[9] Ibid., p. 175. See Andreas
J. Köstenberger, “Destruction of the Second Temple and the Composition of the
Fourth Gospel.” Trinity Journal 26
(2005): 205-42.
[10]
John allows no easy separation of a law court (juridical) ‘justification’ and a
moral ‘sanctification.’ This narrative
background in Ez. 36-37 in Jn. 20.21-23 entails both in the restoration of
Israel from exile. They are both
forgiven and given the Spirit to live transformed lives.
[11]
Jn. 20.23 is not, of course, giving priests the power to forgive sins. The passage is related to this ministry of
what Jesus has accomplished, and, as the Gospel repeatedly emphasises, it is
for all but contingent on whether people receive Jesus by believing in him.
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