by Timothy W. Burnett
Sometime later, "He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Ghost'" (John 20:22).
This verse appears to say that Jesus blew out air and caused them to receive the Holy Ghost. There seems to be a serious contradiction between the above verse and Acts 1:5, 8 and 2:4.
According to Acts 1:4-5 Jesus told his disciples to not leave Jerusalem and to wait for the promise, "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost soon." Later in verse eight, part of his response to his disciples' question was, "but you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you."
If Jesus caused his disciples to receive the Holy Ghost earlier, then why did he afterward tell them to wait for the promise? This is a discrepancy that deserves our undivided attention.
Return to John 20:22. A look at the translations reveals a different picture. The word "on" is translated from the earlier known Greek word "en" which meant the same thing as our English word "in."
A scriptural word study of "receive" in the context of "the Holy Ghost" reveals something amazing. It was translated from the earlier Greek word "lambano" which meant to lay hold of or seize unto something. The same word is also used in Acts 1:8, "...you shall receive power..."
The disciples fulfilled his words on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:4, "And they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave the utterance." We can safely conclude that this was the first record of people receiving the Holy Ghost. In the record of John 20:22 our Lord Jesus was teaching his disciples what to do in the future, as well as giving the meaning. He would have also taught them about being filled with holy spirit and speaking in tongues. He no doubt taught them that after holy spirit would be poured out, they would immediately be filled with holy spirit upon their next intake of air. Hence we see his demonstration of breathing in.
We understand from Romans 10:9-10 that to be filled with holy spirit is directly to believing with the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. It is the same thing as being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. It is also referred to as cleansed or washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. See also 1John 1:7 & 9 and Revelation 1:5.
A further study of the Greek word "lambano" will show that to "receive the Holy Ghost is directly related to speaking in tongues. This topic will be covered in greater detail following our series on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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