The Breath of God

It was an icy cold night that was extremely dark. There was no moon to be seen because of the cloud cover and I remember having an anxiety that made me physically shake all over. All I had as my companion was my SIG rifle, grenade launcher, hand grenades, and explosives. To be honest I am not sure why I was so afraid, if I was Rambo I would be able to take out a small army with my weapons!

I was involved in a special opps mission in some forest in Switzerland where 12 of us had to defend a specialized military outpost. That’s all we knew. What we were also told is that anything that moved or came close to this top-secret site had to be taken out. I had my face painted and crouched behind a tree as I waited and waited. The cold and the darkness began to penetrate into my emotional stability and as I peered through my night vision goggles I wondered what fate awaited us that night.

To be honest I was terrified, I was afraid of the unknown and I was afraid of whether I would be able to face what was to come. Did we have what it took to complete this mission? Would the enemy overpower us?

Now I know that many of you are thinking, “Switzerland is neutral and who would attack them?!” At the same time, this situation was very real to me. It was frightening to be locked and loaded and to not know what to expect. This was a time in my life where the anxiety and adrenalin overwhelmed me.

To be honest, this is exactly what the disciples experienced one night as well. Ten of them met up behind locked doors not knowing what their fate was or what they were to expect. They were terrified with the overarching reality of being persecuted and of possibly failing. Their leader Jesus had been martyred just nights before and they felt the turmoil and fear in their hearts as they waited on what was to happen.

Were they going to be martyred next?

Was there any hope for the followers of Jesus?

Lets take a look at this real situation for the disciples as it is recorded in John 20:19-23…

19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

I love reading stories and coming across the word “suddenly”. In this story they are anxious, worried and all of a sudden Jesus appears to them out of nothingness and is standing in their midst. It is unexpected and it probably frightens them. They must have been shocked and dismayed to see Christ in his resurrected glory. Reading this story I realized that what Jesus both did and said on this occasion had really important implications for the future of the disciples.

- He speaks words of peace to them

- He shows them his wounds

1.     The first thing Christ says is “Peace be with you!” The irony is that they had no peace in that moment!

The word peace in the ancient language had much deeper meaning than it does today. You and I, as we travel about, we see the peace symbol graffitied on walls, tattooed on arms, and posted on billboards. There was a time when in pastor Dave’s time, when it used to be a really hip to say to say to each other, ya know, "Peace, dude, peace!" I suppose overuse of the term has caused some of it’s meaning to be lost. I often hear students say “peace out.” But this has a totally different meaning than it would have had to the disciples.

In the day of Jesus, the word Peace had strong connotations; it was more than just a greeting. The word comes from the Hebrew and is pronounced "Shalom." Which means well being and wholeness. So when Jesus says to His frightened, dismayed disciples, "Peace be with you." He’s in affect saying to them, "it is well with you, or wholeness has come." The word Peace, in it’s original context, encompassed a person’s entire state of being; their physical health, emotional health, spiritual health. It means Nothing missing, Nothing broken, wellbeing, and complete.

The Shalom peace offered and bestowed upon the disciples had pretty radical implications and it still has some pretty radical implications. We should not be surprised that Jesus uses this word. He has every right to, because long before Christ was even born, He was prophesied to be, "the prince of peace." Is. 9:6 So the first words out of Jesus mouth when he appeared to the disciples are, "Peace be with you." In other words, "Wholeness has come." or "May it be well with you now." Is it possible that Jesus is actually fulfilling prophecy and being the prince of peace?

In my situation in the forest hugging my rifle and shivering from both the cold and fear, I was in need of Shalom; I was in need to God’s peace!

2.    Not only did Jesus say something very significant, He did something very revealing. After the words were spoken, He showed the disciples His hands; hands once pierced with nails. And then he showed them his pierced side.

Three days earlier, His body was bruised beyond recognition. But as He stood before the disciples, He gave them proof. The disciples were given tangible proof of God’s resurrection power. The broken body of our Lord was miraculously put back together again and made whole. Jesus demonstrated this to His disciples. He showed them the wholeness and put togetherness of His own body. He let them know in word and deed that God could do this - that we serve a God of resurrection, a life giving, flesh healing, spirit breathing God. Jesus not only talked about it, but He was living proof of it.

Immediately after showing them his nail pierced hands and his pierced side, he once again spoke out words of peace to the disciples. “Peace be with you.” Or in other words, I wish you completeness, wholeness, well being, nothing missing! I wish you peace in your hearts.

What happens after he wishes peace on the disciples and after he shows them totally humbles my heart. It has huge implications for us and for our lives. He says, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” He is commissioning the disciples and calling them once again to the ministry to serve him and to continue his work. At that moment he breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

There is life and power in the breath of God! People there is life and power in the breath of God! In Genesis in the creation story God breathed into man and gave him life. It’s the breath of God that made man different from all of creation! Why is this significant? Because the power of God has been breathed into each man to do his will on earth. In the same way Jesus breathed on them the power of the Holy Spirit, possibly as a foretaste of what was to come at Pentecost (Acts 2).

Why would Jesus do such a thing? Why would he breathe on them? BREATHE. What you need to realize is that Jesus first gives them his peace, then he gives them proof of his resurrection and power, then he sends them, and then he enables them through the Holy Spirit. He commissions them to get up and to fight on in the midst of their fear and anxiety. He challenges them to continue the struggle and work of God and to press onwards as Paul would say.

In my story I was telling you earlier, I was filled with fear and anxiety waiting the night through. I did not want to face what was to come. I would have rather been safe at home with nothing to do. I had weapons and was capable, but I didn’t want to do it. I was equipped with a rifle and grenades and a Rambo like bayonet but the disciples on the other hand had another kind of equipping. The power that they possessed through the Holy Spirit was way more authoritative and powerful and effective than what I carried with me.

This is where I need to be honest with you as a congregation. I struggle with doing things on my own. I like to be so able and independent that I want to do everything on my own. I have this habit of being self-reliant and self-dependant. As I have studied this passage I have realized that in doing God’s work we need to rely on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. If I were in the situation the disciples were in I would be figuring out what to do in that situation on my own. I would be asking, “what can I do to make it better?” But this is wrong; they we all need the help of God.

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What I want to tell you today is that when we do things on our own and without God’s help we often risk not participating in the peace of Christ, we also risk not participating in the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. Man and to be honest, it would be stupid to not allow God to breath on us so that we can receive the Nothing missing, Nothing broken, wellbeing, and completeness as well as the strength, power, and authority that comes from God.

In the last verse of this passage we read something that confused me when I read it and I had to read it several times in order to understand it. READ VERSE. What this means is that when he sends the disciples out he is telling them to preach the good news of forgiveness of sins. Their mission was one of hope – that people might receive the good news and have their sins forgiven by God.

You see, often the church fails to allow itself to be “breathed upon”. Where the church has gone wrong is that it has forgotten that it has been given the forgiveness of sins and the authority to be forgiven and to share that news with others. Perhaps after reading this passage one should say, “we are equipped, we have been commissioned, then lets reach out to the community, and lets reach out to friends, to family!”

What I want you to realize today is that as you sit there and as you leave today. Do not reject God’s peace on your life, do not ignore the breathing of God on you, don’t step out of the gift of the Holy Spirit, and participate in the forgiveness of sins. AMEN