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Breathe

John 20:21 “Then said Jesus to them again, ePeace be unto you: has imy Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, khe breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:” [1]

I.   Invitation

     A.  Peace

     B.  Promise

II. Inhalation

     A.  Pulmonary

     B.   Pronouncement

III.     Inspiration

      A.  Provision

      B.   Purpose


 

Introduction:   Today let us consider what the disciples were going through during the forty days between Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension.  The gospel accounts have many events when Jesus showed Himself to some here and others there.  They were unique and personal.

We know from John’s account that Mary Magdalene first supposed Jesus to be a gardener.  Don’t know which of Jackie’s relatives Mary mistook Jesus for.  He told Mary explicitly not to touch Him.  John 20:17 “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet tascended to my Father: but go to umy brethren, and say unto them, I ascend xunto my Father, and your Father; and to ymy God, and your God. 18 zMary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.” [2]  Next week we will delve into the account of Thomas that seems to contradict this experience that Mary Magdalene had.  We will learn next week that perhaps we shouldn’t be too quick to judge old Thomas either.  But that is for another time. 

For the most part, people have to touch something before they believe it.  We can feel the ground beneath our feet so we know and believe that it is holding us up.  There are some people who don’t have that same feeling of trust about being on the water.  You throw a rock on the ground and it stays there.  Throw the same rock in the water and it sinks.  I know of some people who refuse to ride on a boat because they don’t trust that it will keep them from drowning.  Once they ride on a ferry boat with their vehicle on board then they can trust it.

Can you hold dirt in your hand?  Of course you can.  Can you cup your hand and hold water?  Yes and sometimes that is all you have when you need a drink.  Can you hold air in your hand?  Actually no!  Air is around your hand and you know it is there because you breathe it in or you die.  But to think that air can hold you up like the ground or even water; that takes some people too far.  Fall off of a ladder or out of a tree and it’s not the air that hurts on the way down but the sudden stop is pretty harsh.  Some people have no plan for getting in an airplane and yet some people absolutely trust flight even though they are fearful of heights.  Air!

Our message today is entitled “Breathe.”

Scripture:  The scripture is John 20:21-22.  When you have found it please rise for the reading of God’s word.

Prayer: Please be seated

Message:  John 20:19 “aThen the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, bwhen the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled cfor fear of the Jews, came Jesus and dstood in the midst, and saith unto them, ePeace be unto you.” [3]

The doors were shut.  They had seen people from their own race and faith responsible for crucifying Jesus.  They were behind locked doors because they were afraid of what might happen to them.  Then came Jesus into the midst of them.  Can you imagine?  Jesus absolutely understood.  “Peace be unto you!”  Jesus knew that they were already afraid and He knew that they needed a peace that only His presence could bring.

Notice what happened next; 20 “And when he had so said, fhe shewed unto them his hands and his side. gThen were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” [4]  They knew because they had seen.  Still nobody had touched Jesus but they didn’t need to.  They believed what they saw.  And now we are to our focus of attention today.

Jesus repeated the invitation to find peace to those who would accept it.  This time the invitation came with a promise.  As My Father sent me to you, I also send you.  The promise was not to come to fruition just yet.  They had to wait as we discussed last week yet they had the unbreakable promise and they understood that it was Jesus.  After Jesus gave them their purpose with His promise He gave them life giving breath.  The scripture said Jesus breathed on them.

The way paramedics and other first responders resuscitate a person in cardio-pulmonary arrest has changed through the years.  We were trained to give chest compressions along with rescue breathing.  It was called cardio for heart or blood flow and pulmonary for lung action and breathing.  Today they have changed the procedure to only chest compressions with no pulmonary though it is still referred to as CPR or cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

Jesus breathed on them!  They inhaled what Jesus exhaled.  Today I suppose they would have been in trouble for not wearing masks.  He didn’t just breathe on them; He pronounced a great thing that the world had not known.  There were some who had the life source from heaven but now those who believed and followed Jesus would receive the Holy Spirit.

Inspiration and spirit come from ancient words that deal with that which we breathe.  Spirit and air are synonymous terms in the ancient Hebrew.  Jesus breathed on them and then He explained that there would be a later time when that which gave them life would be from a Holy source.  He is the Holy Spirit.

God gives us air to breathe and along with that comes life.  We cannot live without air even though we can’t see it or hold it in our hands.  And it must keep moving to do us any good.  If you don’t believe that, see how long you can hold it in your lungs without exhaling.  Air has to be constantly moving to give life.  Take it from me; it has to be constantly moving to hold up a plane too.  Russell can stop his boat in the water and it won’t sink.  If I decide to take a break so that the wings are not moving the air, the airplane and everything in it will sink.

Inspiration!  Air has to move to have purpose.  Our faith has to move for us to have purpose or we will sink.  As the Israelites learned in the wilderness with manna, you can’t take what God gives and simply hold onto it or it will rot.  You have got to do something with it.

The Holy Spirit is not given to us so that we can simply find peace but if we have Him and let Him use us we will have that peace that passes all understanding.  Philippians 4: 7  “And pthe peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and qminds pthrough Christ Jesus.” [5]

Prayer:  Let us pray

Invitation:  Verse twenty-three is a sermon within itself.  John 20:23 “lWhose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” [6]

Why did Jesus make the pronouncement of the Holy Spirit and then give the purpose that He gave to us?  Just as Jesus came for the remission and forgiveness of sin, we are here now for that purpose.  If we cannot forgive others though we choose to forgive them, how can we expect to be forgiven?

Without the Holy Spirit indwelling us we cannot truly forgive others.  We might say that we forgive but let the thing happen again and watch out.  The pain and the anger come back again.  To forget a thing doesn’t take much effort.  It only takes a leaky memory.  God is omniscient!  He does not forget.  To truly forgive without forgetting takes The Holy Spirit’s power.

Can we truly do that which Jesus commanded?  Can we let the sins of others go or are we going to retain them even into eternity.  Jesus warned us that unless we truly trust The Holy Spirit we will retain the harmfulness that sin caused.  And it is us who are harmed by our lack of forgiveness.  The unforgiven one goes on not knowing that you are upset and often they really don’t care.  You are the one who is harmed by your unforgiveness.

This invitation today is that we do that thing which I cannot do.  Let us pray that The Holy Spirit intervenes in us that we will find the mercy and grace within us to forgive.  Only then will we be able to keep the Spirit moving so that we don’t sink.  Let us pray as we sing…

e See ch. 14:27.
h ch. 17:18. Comp. Matt. 28:18–20. 2 Tim. 2:2. Heb. 3:1.
i See ch. 17:3.
k See Gen. 2:7 (Heb. & Gk.).
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 20:21–22). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
t Luke 24:51.
u See Matt. 28:10.
x See ch. 14:12.
y Eph. 1:17. So 1 Cor. 3:23.
z Mark 16:10. Comp. Matt. 28:10. Luke 24:10, 22, 23.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 20:17–18). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
a Mark 16:14? Luke 24:36. 1 Cor. 15:5?
b ver. 26.
c See ch. 7:13.
d Luke 24:36. So Luke 24:15. ch. 21:4.
e See ch. 14:27.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 20:19). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
f ver. 25. Luke 24:40.
g See ch. 16:22.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 20:20). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
p Rom. 5:1. Col. 3:15. See John 14:27. So Rom. 1:7. & 14:17. Gal. 5:22.
q See 2 Cor. 2:11.
p Rom. 5:1. Col. 3:15. See John 14:27. So Rom. 1:7. & 14:17. Gal. 5:22.
[5] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Php 4:7). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
l See Matt. 16:19.
[6] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 20:23). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.