The Day of
Pentecost
John
20:19-23
Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen
The Day of Pentecost A: Exegetical Notes on John 20:19-23
(John 7:37-39 is an optional Gospel reading.)
These verses are part of the reading for 2 Easter every year
(20:19-31). At that time, the emphasis may have been on Jesus'
resurrection and/or Thomas' need for proof. If these verses are used
for Pentecost, the emphasis could be on the giving of the
Spirit/Breath.
THE SPIRIT, BEING SENT, AND FORGIVENESS
In John, the Spirit is not given until Jesus is glorified (7:39). The
Spirit's job is to point to Jesus (14:26; 15:26), not to itself.
To symbolize the giving of the Holy Spirit/Breath, Jesus "breathes on"
(_emphusao_ -- only occurrence in NT) the disciples (without Thomas!).
The same word is used in Gn 2:7 (LXX) where God breathes the breath of
life into the nostrils of the man and he becomes a living being. It is
used in Ez 37:9 where the breath breathes on the slain [the dry
bones], so that they may live. It is also used in Wisdom 15:11c where
God "breathed a living spirit into them."
How would Thomas receive the Holy Spirit? How do we receive it? One
answer comes from the other gospel assigned for this day: It means
coming to Jesus, drinking the living waters that Jesus gives. There is
also the connection between water and Spirit in Jesus' conversation
with Nicodemus, which I take to refer to baptism. Birth from above and
immersion in the Holy Spirit happens at water baptism. In addition, we
could also say that for all disciples it is a matter of believing
Jesus' words: "Receive the Holy Spirit."
The question has been asked, "What changed the disciples from fearful
(hiding behind locked doors) to fearless witnesses in the world?" One
answer is that they had seen the resurrected Jesus -- but only a few
had this life-changing experience. Another answer is that they had all
been filled with the Holy Spirit.
The giving of the Spirit comes after the disciples (and I take these
disciples to represent all disciples -- not just a select few) have
been commissioned to continue the work that Jesus has done (v. 21).
Although two different words for "send" are used -- _apostello_ and
_pempo_ -- they are used interchangeably in John. The purpose of this
resurrection appearance is not so much to prove the resurrection, as
it is to send the disciples as Jesus had been sent. Easter is not just
coming to a wonderful, inspiring worship service, it is being sent
back into the (hostile) world, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to bear
witness to the identity of God as revealed in Jesus.
I found O'Day's (_John_, NIB) reflections on vv. 21-23 intriguing:
> Perhaps the most difficult part of this Easter/Pentecost story
> concerns precisely what Jesus commissions the faith community to
do.
> Just as Jesus was sent by the Father, so also he sends the
community
> (v. 21), but the content of the church's work is only alluded to.
> The combination of vv. 22-23 suggests that the faith community is
to
> be a people shaped by Jesus' gift of the Spirit and that the mark
of
> that gift will be the power to forgive or retain sins. As the
> Commentary discussed, however, forgiving sins does not involve
> forgiving moral transgressions (nor does retaining sins involve
> retaining moral transgressions), but it involves bearing witness to
> the identity of God as revealed in Jesus. If the interpreter
> combines vv. 22-23 with Jesus' commandment to love one another in
> 13:34-35, a possible picture of the church's mission emerges. By
> loving one another as Jesus loves, the faith community reveals God
> to the world; by revealing God to the world, the church makes it
> possible for the world to choose to enter into relationship with
> this God of limitless love. It is in choosing or rejecting this
> relationship with God that sins are forgiven or retained. The faith
> community's mission, therefore, is not to be the arbiter of right
or
> wrong, but to bear unceasing witness to the love of God in Jesus.
> [page 848]
One answer is given by Malina and Rohrbaugh's (_Social-Science
Commentary on the Gospel of John_). These quotes were shared last
week, but since they quote this section of John, they are also
appropriate here. They present the "patronage" system that was part of
the Mediterranean world, and a key to understanding John. There are
three characters in this system:
> *Patrons* are powerful individuals who control resources and are
> expected to use their positions to hand out favors to inferiors
> based on "friendship," personal knowledge and favoritism.
> Benefactor-patrons were expected to generously support city,
> village, or client. ... Throughout the New Testament, God is seen
as
> the ultimate patron.
> *Brokers* mediate between patrons above and clients below.
> First-order resources -- land, jobs, goods, funds, power -- are all
> controlled by patrons. Second-order resources -- strategic contact
> with or access to patrons -- are controlled by brokers who mediate
> the goods and services a patron has to offer. ... This is clearly a
> role in which John casts Jesus. Jesus says, "You are from below, I
> am from above" (8:23). He also makes clear that the Patron (God,
> Father) has given his resources to the Son to distribute as he
will:
> "The Father loves the son and has placed all things in his hands"
> (3:35).
> *Clients* are those dependent on the largesse of patrons or brokers
> to survive well in their society. They owe loyalty and public
> acknowledgement of honor in return. Patronage was voluntary but
> ideally lifelong. Having only one patron to whom one owed total
> loyalty had been the pattern in Rome from the earliest times. But
in
> the more chaotic competition for clients/patrons in the outlying
> provinces, playing patrons off against one another became
> commonplace. Note that, according to Luke, one cannot be client of
> both God and the wealth/greed system (Luke 16:13). ...
> In the New Testament the language of "grace" is the language of
> patronage. God is seen as the ultimate patron whose resources are
> graciously given and often mediated through Jesus as broker (note
> John's comment that Jesus or acted with the authority of his
patron;
> 5:27; 17:2). [pp. 118-119]
Besides the image of God (the patron) giving to Jesus (the broker) who
gives to disciples (clients); throughout John, Jesus is the "sent"
one. Malina and Rohrbaugh point out: "Forty-three times in John we are
told that Jesus was 'sent' by God, language that appears only twice in
Matthew (10:40; 15:24), once in Mark (9:37), four times in Luke (4:18,
43; 9:48; 10:16), and once in Paul (Rom 8:3). ... 'send' belongs to
the vocabulary of patronage" [p. 118].
> The "sent" messenger is one beholden to a patron. He acts as an
> intermediary between the patron and those for whom the message is
> intended -- that is, he acts as a broker. This is a role Jesus
plays
> throughout John's Gospel. Note also that eight times we are
reminded
> that Jesus will return to his patron (7:33; 13:1; 14:12, 28; 16:5,
> 10, 17, 28), suggesting that the broker has ready access to and
from
> the patron who sent him. Eventually, Jesus will turn over the
broker
> role to his own favored clients (disciples), who will take up the
> role on behalf of Jesus: "As you have sent me into the world, so I
> have sent them into the world" (17:18). [p. 118]
So, to answer O'Day's question about what the community is to do, we
are to do what Jesus did. We are to broker God's grace to the world.
Specifically, from these verses, that grace is defined by forgiveness.
A sermon title and illustration I have used with this text is "Powered
Balloons" or "Blown Up by God."
A "dead balloon" -- has no life. It continues to lie wherever you put
it. It doesn't move. It has no power.
Take a "dead balloon" and do what Jesus did -- blow on/in it. What
happens? It's full of air; but it is still dead, going nowhere until
that power is released. [As an illustration, the "powered balloon" can
be released.]
Under the "spirit's/breath's/wind's" power, the balloon can move. It
goes out. However, when the wind power within the balloon is released,
you don't know where the balloon is going to go; but you know it's
going somewhere. (We don't know where the wind comes from or is
going.)
Jesus did not give the disciples the Spirit's power so that they could
stay behind locked doors in fear. It is given as a power to move
people out into the world -- even if we don't always know exactly
where we will end up.
What happens to the balloon after it has "spent" its power? It seems
dead again. All out of power. It's flat. There's no more
"spirit/breath" within it. On one hand we are not like that balloon.
Jesus promises that the Spirit will be with us forever. We will never
run out of the Spirit's power. The Spirit given to you in baptism
remains forever. On the other hand, over and over again in Acts, we
read that certain disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. Their
filling didn't just happen once, but over and over again. So we also
need to be refilled. Weekly we return to church as a refilling
station. To receive Jesus again in the hearing of the word and in the
sharing of sacrament and through the fellowship of the saints.
What happens to a filled balloon that doesn't use the power within?
Over time, the power leaves. The balloon, without doing anything, will
go flat. The same is true with muscles. Muscles that aren't used,
become useless through atrophy. Can the same happen with faith -- or
the gift of the Spirit?
I found a quote related to this topic in a surprising place: "User
Friendly Evaluation," by C. Jeff Woods. He has a chapter called
"Evaluation and Church Renewal." He defines church renewal as:
> Church renewal occurs when a distinct group of people expect the
> Spirit of God to challenge, direct, and empower them to reach their
> potential of being the church in today's world.
One of his four assumptions about church renewal is:
> the church does not renew itself. The Holy Spirit challenges,
> directs, and empowers the work of renewal. . . . The Spirit renews
> the church. Many church renewal resources coerce the pastoral
> leadership into feeling responsible for the church's state of
> renewal. That's simply not biblical. Pastoral leadership has a
great
> deal to do with the activities in the congregation, but renewal
> results are the sole property of God's handiwork. Even Paul, who
> liked to tell churches that he had more to boast about than anyone
> else if he chose to do so, reminded the church, 'I planted, Apollos
> watered, but God gave the growth' (1 Cor. 3:6). God is the one who
> provides growth and renewal for churches. Numerical growth.
> Common-bond growth. Growth in maturity. All kinds of growth. God is
> the source." [p. 49]
As I noted in the notes on the other text: Living water nor wind are
not stale (or boring?) nor are balloons flying uncontrolled through
the air under windy power. Shouldn't the same be true of Spirit-filled
believers and congregations?
Brian Stoffregen
Faith Lutheran Church, 2215 S 8th Ave., Yuma, AZ 85364
e-mail: brian.stoffregen@gmail.com