So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit…” John 20:21, 22 NKJV. 
Jesus’ words help to set in context two different works of the person of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life. First we are made aware on Easter night, the disciples do, in fact, “receive the Holy Spirit” as “the Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2). Jesus’ word is direct and unequivocal: “Receive”; and in doing so, the disciples are “born again” (John 3:3) by the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work in them (Rom. 8:11-17).
This passage parallels the breath of the Father on Adam in the first creation, as Jesus breathes on them and the “new creation” is begun (2 Cor. 5:17). Second , however, on Pentecost the work of God’s Spirit as the Spirit of power (Isa. 11:2, “might”) is to enable Jesus’ disciples for ministry—witness and service —to fulfill their mission to the world.
In verse 22 “Breathed”: Makes a clear allusion to Genesis 2:7. Now Jesus breathed life into His own. Many interpret the statement “Receive the Holy Spirit” as symbolic and as anticipating Pentecost. Others interpret the Greek to mean immediacy in the sense of “receive right now,” and view the day of the Lord’s Resurrection as marking the transition from the terms of the Old Covenant to those of the New Covenant.
The old creation began with the breath of God; now the new creation began with the breath of God the Son.
Filed under: Christianity, Comment, Commentary, Deliverance, Nuggets, Theology, Word Study, word study Greek
