You Were There (04/21/13)
These men had been through a lot in the last several days; not as much as Jesus, to be sure, but more strain and shock than most of us will experience. Even with the events surrounding the Boston bombing this week, the majority of us have not come close. They have had their hopes lifted to great heights as they saw Jesus greeted so marvelously when He rode into Jerusalem. They have seen their hopes crushed and all but destroyed as He hung dead on the cross. Now, having spent the Sabbath in depths of sorrow and disillusionment, there has been this cascade of unbelievable reports.
You start very early in the morning with Mary’s distraught cries about His body being moved. What? Hadn’t they insulted Him enough by killing Him in such a fashion? Peter and John had confirmed that the grave was empty, but other than noting the odd way in which His wrappings remained, they hadn’t added much to understanding. Then, the other ladies had returned with their visions of angels, and claims that He was alive according to those angels. Right. Happens all the time. Well, they had actually seen it happen at least twice, now, but still. And Mary comes back claiming to have actually seen Him and talked to Him! Surely, though, if He were back He would have grabbed at least Peter, James and John to let them know, right?
Well, Peter at least, had apparently seen Him by the time the other two got back from Emmaus. It still seems so unbelievable, though. I mean, we’d like to. Who wouldn’t prefer that He were still alive? But, seriously, how were we supposed to buy these stories?
Then, of course, we come to this moment. We had our fears, our concerns about further retribution from the temple leaders. How far were they going to go in their efforts to crush this sect? For all that, was there even a sect anymore worth crushing? But, for now, an abundance of caution seemed prudent. So, we were at table. The doors were closed, locked, barred. And as we sat there, lo! There He is! “Peace be with you”, He says. Peace? How were we to be at peace when this dead man stood within our secured room?
Is it any wonder we thought Him a ghost? How else to explain His presence? The door hadn’t opened, and there weren’t windows for Him to have climbed through. The roof was still intact, so He hadn’t been lowered in like that guy back in Galilee. Yes. A ghost. It must be. He’s dead and yet He’s here. Can’t think of anybody else amongst my acquaintances whose seen such a thing, but one hears the tales. When He offered His hands and His side for us to probe, even Peter was unwilling to take Him up on the offer. Who among us wanted to be touching this incorporeal being? Not I! It wasn’t until He had taken food that it began to register that He really was here and He really was real. This was no vision, no spirit-being from beyond the grave. This was Jesus! The same Jesus we had walked and worked with for the last three years! And, if this was Jesus, then this was marvelous indeed.
“Peace be with you.” It still seemed improbable, but now it was not fear that made it so. It was joy. He lives! Peter was right! Mary was right! Those others: They weren’t seeing things! And then came that commission. He’d spoken of the Holy Spirit before, the Paraklete. And, it wasn’t a wholly foreign concept to us. I mean, the Holy Spirit’s been active amongst God’s people since Moses first took on the task of getting the tabernacle made. But, He made it seem like something more. This business of breathing on us – symbolic, surely, but who among us understood the point? And then, there was that rather astounding thing He said as to our future task: If you forgive, they’re forgiven. If you don’t, they’re not. You know, it was going to take some time for that to sink in, how much He trusted us, how much He had invested in us. In that first moment, though, I’ll admit it was more just excitement at having been handed such power.
New Thoughts (04/22/13-04/24/13)
One very quick comment to start out: When I come to the Douay-Rheims translation of Luke 24:43, I read, “And when he had eaten before them, taking the remains, he gave to them.” Now, most usually when there is some variation in the manuscripts, one picks up hints of that variation in various ways. The NET is particularly good about providing footnotes indicating the evidence and the reasoning for their choice as to which variation to follow. Several others, if they choose to include a suspect verse, will set it apart by brackets or italics or some such, and those who exclude a questionable passage may provide a footnote to indicate what was cut out. But, nowhere else do I find even a hint of this business of Jesus giving the leftovers to them. Honestly, why would He? It was their meal to begin with.
I don’t know what to say to this. I understand that the Douay-Rheims is more likely to diverge from the others than most. There are those places where the verse numbering is different, and so on. But, I would not suppose them to have been manufacturing verses out of whole cloth. Where, then, does this passage have its source, and why is there not even the least hint of it in any other? Even turning to the inter-linear, and shifting between Textus Receptus and Nestles, I can’t find a trace. I’m not going to find an answer here, but felt it worth noting the question.
Then, I shall turn to a different question. Jesus, when He sees the impact His appearance is having on the disciples, offers Himself to their touch. “Touch Me and see!” And, His reason for doing so is stated plainly. Ghosts don’t have flesh and bone. Ergo, to be confronted with what is undeniably flesh and bone is to be confronted with something which is no mere ghost any more than He is merely human.
Let me just interject here, while the thought is before me, that it’s possible Luke is conflating the appearance to ten apostles, and the later appearance when Thomas was present. Introducing the section, as he transitions from covering the two who went to Emmaus, he says that they found the eleven together, along with others with them (Lk 24:33). John, on the other hand, says Thomas wasn’t there at this point (Jn 20:24). Luke also indicates that what he is covering here transpired while those two returned from Emmaus were still telling their story (v36). Were it not for that, I would suppose that Luke might have been skipping over that first encounter to cover the second. This is hardly a critical point, and there is no particular reason to suppose he is not describing the same encounter John describes. That he speaks of the eleven being together, rather than noting Thomas’ absence need signify nothing more than that Thomas’ absence had no bearing on the narrative he was setting forth. Given that he did not intend to cover that incident, there’s no particular cause for providing the setup. The fact is that Thomas did also see the risen Lord, albeit a week later (Jn 20:26). That particular detail does not invalidate the testimony Luke provides.
So, Luke tells us that on this occasion Jesus presented Himself in a fashion that caused those present to suppose Him a ghost. He’s already set us up for this in describing how Jesus just disappeared from sight when those two up in Emmaus finally recognized Who He Is (Lk 24:31). And now, just as suddenly, He is present in the midst of a house sealed against intrusion. Their experience, even after having witnessed Him walking across the Sea of Galilee by night, has not prepared them for such an eventuality. Even with Peter and those other two having seen Him, there is nothing to prepare them for this. The two on the road, apart from that disappearance at the end, had encountered what was, by all appearances, a normal human being. He talked, He ate, He likely smelled a bit after the exertion of their journey. He was clearly a physical being with physical reality. Peter, though we know nothing about the details, no doubt encountered an equally solid Jesus, as had Mary and the other women who clung to His feet. Surely, if His feet had had no substance, they would have noticed!
Yet, here He is now, in a room He could not have entered with so solid a body. It’s one thing to be able to manipulate the surface tension out on the lake. One could almost arrive at an explanation for that, and besides, Peter had managed the same for a few seconds there. But, to pass through a solid? To blink in and out? This is beyond our ken. It must be a ghost. It’s the logical conclusion, just as it was out there in the boat until the evidence proved otherwise.
Now, let’s take that thought to the next step. An apparition is before you, albeit an apparition with the visage of a dear friend. This apparition speaks! He offers the opportunity to touch Him. But, what if there’s nothing there to touch after all? What if it really is a ghost come to taunt us? What if it’s the ghost of our beloved Teacher, and He is angry with us for having done nothing to save Him? Isn’t that why ghosts hang around, after all, because they feel a lack of closure or something? So, He offers them the chance to prove His physical reality, but who’s going to take Him up on that? They’re too freaked out at the moment, one suspects. Even where there’s belief, there’s still that sense of unbelief.
This, by the by, should be taken into account with Luke’s words in verse 41. “They still could not believe it for joy.” I don’t think that is intended to suggest that in spite of everything they were refusing to believe. It’s more the emotional response of one greeted by surprisingly good news. We’ve certainly seen that particular emotional display often enough. They come with the check from Publisher’s Clearinghouse, and the look on the winner’s face! Oh! I can’t believe I won! Well, yes, you can. The check’s in your hand. But, the reality of it all hasn’t sunk in just yet. There’s just the excitement, the surprise, the overwhelming wave of pleasure.
This is where the disciples are at the moment. It’s not unbelief so much as an inability to absorb so much goodness. We find a similar reaction when Jacob learns that Joseph is alive after all. Told by his boys that not only is Joseph alive and well, he’s actually ‘ruling over all Egypt’, Jacob is stunned. He did not believe them (Ge 45:26). The news was too good, too impossibly good. He had spent too long adjusting himself to the loss of his son, and now they tell him there was not only no loss, but incredible gain. Same reaction. As the Message provides the sense, “It seemed too good to be true.” And, we all know from training and from experience that if a thing seems too good to be true, it probably is. But, not this time!
Back to the question: did they take Him up on the offer? I tend to think not, and I will base that opinion on the way Jesus follows up on this. Seeing them still too struck by the marvel of it all to even really respond, He asks another question. “Do you have anything to eat?” How utterly mundane! And, I think that was partly the point. It’s kind of like that slap in the face to pull somebody out of their hysterics. Here is something utterly ordinary, and something that triggers an innate response. In a society where graciousness towards a guest was so important and so ingrained, this would trigger a response even in the midst of being overawed. So, they give Him some fish, which He proceeds to eat in their sight.
This is really the primary point of His request. Just as ghosts have no flesh and bone, they also – rather necessarily – have no digestive system and no appetite. If the disciples will not avail themselves of the proof their fingers might provide them, He will give them proof that their eyes cannot reject. By doing this, He ensures that they come to recognize His physical reality, that He is truly alive, truly in His body, even if that body is now something more than what it was. He has assured that they can come down out of their emotional excess sufficiently to acknowledge the undeniable reality of what they are experiencing and Who is before them. In the end, it becomes a moot point whether they touched Him, because He has just given them an equally sufficient proof of His existence.
It should not surprise us, I think, that we find Luke lingering over the physical proof. Luke is a physician. He understands, at least to the degree that any at that time could understand, the nature of the human body. He knows disease and he knows healing. He knows death, certainly, and he knows that death is not a reversible condition in the normal course of events. If ever there was somebody who needed solid proof of a solid resurrection, he was that man. That he neglects the spiritual implications that John dwells on also need not surprise us. Neither ought it be taken as indicating that he was less interested in that aspect of the faith. Certainly, the early chapters of Acts ought to dispel any such thought. And, besides, he was with Paul during some events that were very clearly being directed by the Holy Spirit. He is no stranger to the Holy Spirit, no. But, that aspect of the record does not serve the narrative yet. That is for the second volume. First, there is need to establish the fundamentals. First, there is the need to validate and verify the Son. Then, he can move on to the Holy Spirit.
John operates under no such restriction. The Christ and the reality of the Resurrection have long since been established. Oh! They are critical matters, central to the faith. And, he has certainly spent a goodly portion of his own account dwelling on that most crucial of historical moments. But, John is also keenly interested in establishing the place of the Holy Spirit in all of this. That is one of the things that is troubling for the church at the time of his writing. There are so many frauds afoot, so many false messages being propagated, and he must needs establish the Truth before there are none left of the Witnesses. That being the case, the Holy Spirit becomes a major focus. I note also that one could construe verse 21 in his account as an attempt to establish the apostolic authority. But, I’ll get to that later. I would first like to consider the matter of the Holy Spirit a bit more.
For those of us whose formative Christian years were spent in Pentecostal or Charismatic churches, John’s mention of the Holy Spirit being given here, on the day of Resurrection causes a bit of confusion. Was not the Holy Spirit imparted later, on Pentecost, when those tongues of fire lit upon each head? If so, then what’s happening on this occasion? If they already had the Spirit indwelling, then what was the need for this other event? If they didn’t, then what is Jesus doing on this occasion?
The NET has a fairly extensive footnote exploring this question, although focusing primarily on the significance of this present passage. They note connections to the original creation of man, back in Genesis 2:7, which connection lies in the breathing in of life. They add to this the prophetic vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. Of most immediate significance might be, “I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life” (Eze 37:5), and “You will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. And I will put My Spirit within you, and you will come to life” (Eze 37:13-14a). This passage, it is noted, speaks of the time ‘immediately prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom.’ Finally, we might note the discussion from earlier in John’s gospel. “‘Scripture says that rivers of living water will flow from the inmost being of the one who believes in Me.’ Jesus said this regarding the Spirit that believers in Him were to receive. But the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified” (Jn 7:38-39).
Well, then, here we have the Spirit given. As concerns Jesus, the implication is that He is now glorified. As concerns the disciples, the signification would seem to be that eternal life – real life – has now been imparted. Later, in Acts 1:8, Jesus speaks of them receiving power ‘when the Holy Spirit has come upon you’. And this is the point, I think, that causes us some consternation. If they had already received the Spirit, how, then, was He not yet upon them? The NET footnote distinguishes between the two as an impartation of life and an imparting of power. That does, certainly, seem to be the focus Jesus sets upon the two events. Yet, it still troubles the thoughts.
In this regard, I think it may be helpful to recall that while the Holy Spirit may not have made His abode in man prior to this point, there are plentiful examples of Him indwelling men for the duration of particular assignments. The first such indwelling, if memory serves, would be that of Bezalel, who was given wisdom, knowledge and craftsmanship so as to deal with the fabrication of the tabernacle (Ex 35:31).
Touching back on some previous time spent on the matter of the gift of prophecy, this actually offers a possible basis for understanding those gifts as temporary. The gift Bezalel received was not a function of life, but of power. And, that gift was given not for all eternity, but for the duration of establishing the tabernacle. If, then, we perceive the establishment of the Church by the Apostles as satisfying the type of Bezalel establishing the tabernacle in the desert, then perhaps we find cause to see the gifts as having ceased. I must say, that still feels a very tenuous thread upon which to make so strong an assertion.
But, let us suppose this dividing of the two events correct. There is the imparting of the Spirit unto life, and a separate ‘coming upon’ the disciples. And, it must be noted that Jesus does speak of this as a baptism. Therein lies yet another headache for theology. What might be more telling, actually, is the question the apostles had for Jesus when He spoke to them of this baptism. It’s actually an interesting bit of commentary to consider in more detail.
Instructing them to wait for that which God had promised, which He had spoken of, He says, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence.” And this leads them to wonder, “Is that when You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Ac 1:5-6). Oh dear! They’re still on that tack. They still have those misconceptions about the whole point of everything. So, whatever it is that was imparted when Jesus breathed the Spirit into them, it apparently did not entail a suddenly clearer perception of the Truth.
Now, here’s the thing that is striking to me. If the NET is right in seeing Ezekiel 37 echoed in the actions of John 20:22, then here is what may be the most critical implication: The messianic kingdom is come! Throughout His ministry, Jesus has spoken of this kingdom, and either warned or encouraged the people, as befit the occasion, that this kingdom was nigh. This has been the whole theme of His message from the outset. It was there, as well, in John’s preaching. “I come to prepare the way. The King approaches and you’re not ready.” Now, with the act of breathing life into the dead bones of the apostles, the stage has been set for the kingdom. In reality, there was no cause for them to ask Jesus if He was finally ready to establish the kingdom of Israel. First, it was not the kingdom of Israel that was involved, but the kingdom of God. Second, that kingdom was now duly established and His reign confirmed for all eternity. “It is finished” meant just that, amongst many other things.
Think, too, of the point Matthew made about saints risen from the grave (Mt 27:52-53). While he does not directly connect this back to the words of Ezekiel, the significance of that connection is worth noting. One suspects his readers were well able to establish that connection for themselves by this stage. Matters pertaining to the messianic kingdom were, for the pious Jew of that day, matters to be explored, dwelt upon, anticipated. Hearing of bodies restored from the grave must certainly bring the dry bones to mind. What was lacking was, first the recognition of what the kingdom really is and second, the fact that they, too, for all that they ate and walked, were just as dead as those who had been in the grave.
“Receive the Holy Spirit.” Life! Life to the dead! But, so much more than that. We cannot divorce verse 22 from verse 23 or from verse 21. Life is breathed in, but why? I look back to verse 21. You are being sent by Me as I was sent by the Father. Linguistically, I must conclude that the sending is not truly identical. Jesus was sent, apostello, appointed and commissioned for a specific mission. The Apostles, while clearly sharing that apostello authorization, if delegated one step further, are not spoken of in that term here. They are sent, pempo, as on an errand.
There is another sense to that term pempo which is worth consideration here. It has the signification of being thrust in, as the angels are told to thrust their sickles in, in the Revelation (Rev 14:15, Rev 14:18), in order to reap. I think of that in conjunction with Jesus’ words to the disciples at an earlier time. “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Mt 10:16). The Apostles were indeed men thrust into the affairs of the world. The Church in larger scope is thrust into the world. It is a protrusion of the kingdom, or a frontier outpost if you prefer. And, we might note, it has the same purpose as the sickle thrust in by the angels: To reap, to cut out the elect from amongst the world and bring them into the storehouses of the very present, very real kingdom of God.
This is a thing we must surely hold very firmly. The kingdom of God is. It is not to come, although there is certainly a more complete arrival to which we look. It is here. It is now. That kingdom arrived with Jesus. It was established with His resurrection. As I said, the Church in this present day continues to stand as the beachhead, the outpost of God’s kingdom. We might well present ourselves as His embassy, which is a perfectly fitting model, for what is the Apostle if not an ambassador? And, not only the apostle, but all who count themselves (or whom He counts) as the disciples of Christ.
So, note the flow of that imparting of the Spirit once again. Christ informs them that they are being sent as He was sent. As He had a mission, so they are being assigned a part in that mission, but Christ remains in charge. In pursuit of that mission, they receive the Holy Spirit – Life! “I AM the Life”, Jesus said, the Way, the Truth, the Life! And this is now breathed into the Apostles. No, they are not themselves the Way, or the Truth, or the Life. But, they are delegated ambassadors of He Who Is. This is both an honor and a responsibility, a grave responsibility. They are not granted powers that they may henceforth use as they please. They are not granted those later gifts for entertainment value, nor even as marks of being genuine spokesmen for the Miracle Man. They are given those gifts for the pursuit of their assignment, for the building up of the saints. And thus are those gifts ever given.
But, note what follows in verse 23. If you forgive sins, those sins have been forgiven. If you do not, those sins have not been forgiven. If that doesn’t make you stop short! Lord, this is too much responsibility for me! Far be it from me to make such a call! Whom, then, would I ever fail to offer forgiveness? Well, to be honest, I’m sure we all have our lists.
But, this is key to understanding what’s happening both here, and later at Pentecost. We also have other teachings, particularly from John, as to why the Spirit was given. He leads us into all Truth. Why? Because we are forever prone to lying and dissembling. He reminds us of that which Christ taught. Notice He doesn’t make up new stuff. He’s not here to innovate. No! He’s here to remind, to bring to mind, to reinforce the lessons long since given. Isn’t that interesting? Jesus, when He came, taught and did only (and exactly) as He saw in the Father, as the Father commanded. The Spirit, now abiding, likewise teaches only what He hears from the Son, acts solely as Father and Son instruct. And yet, at one and the same time, these three are not to be distinguished has pulling rank upon one another, but rather they are One. They are One in purpose, One in plan, and One in execution. In that unity, there is no place for novelty. Novelty is a craving of the flesh, and we would do well to recognize that point.
What transpired later, in that moment when the Apostles were touched with the power of the Holy Spirit was not a thing done for novelty. Quite the opposite. It was done to fulfill prophecy, which point Peter makes as he preaches his first sermon to the crowds outside. This is not new! It is exactly what was spoken. God has not altered course or reinvented Himself, nor has He reinvented His religion. It is exactly what it always was. What is transpiring is that old types are being fulfilled. Reality has come where once we only had hopes and dreams.
While the presence of the Spirit and the potential in those gifts are tantalizing, and naturally tend to attract our attention, I dare say we ought not to become so intrigued with His presence unless we are prepared to become attentive to His purpose. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” I cannot say enough about this! It’s not the first time Jesus has brought this up. We read the same basic thing twice in Matthew’s account. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom. What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. What you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19). “It’s true! What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you loose shall be loosed” (Mt 18:18).
OK. Who doesn’t get goose-bumps at the thought of holding such power, such authority in hand. It’s right up there with the promise that whatever we pray for, it shall be granted. Sounds wonderful. But, we have a horrid tendency to view that like Aladdin’s lamp. Rub the lamp and make the genie grant your wish. Just be ever so careful how you word that wish, because he’s a capricious sort. And, you know? We see God the same way in our foolishness. We can ask Him for anything, but we must be terribly careful, for His answers don’t always follow our expectations. And somehow we fall into the lie of thinking that if we can just phrase our prayers right then He will answer as we please. We fall into thinking that somehow, if only we could get it right, we can actually command God. If ever there were a lie from the pit of hell, that has got to be it.
No! The power comes as subjected to the authority. Here, I might turn myself to Wuest’s rendition. “Even as the Father has sent me on a mission for which I still am responsible, I also am sending you.” I would expand that slightly, though. Jesus is not only still responsible, He is still in absolute control. The ambassador, as is often noted, loses all authority when he promises that for which his sending government has not authorized him to promise. His words become worthless. His power is as nothing. So it is with us. We are not so wonderful in our power that we could forgive one whom God had determined shall not be forgiven and thereby force a change in God’s plans. God is not a fool! He would in no wise put such power in the hands of man, even with the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We are too fallible, too fallen still, to be granted that. Even angels, we might well take note, have not that sort of power. For, they too have been known to fall.
God’s authority rests in Himself and it remains absolute. We cannot pray in such a fashion as to bind God to a path not of His own choosing. We cannot pronounce in His name and thereby require Him to honor our words. Rather, we are honored well beyond our worth to be given this assignment of speaking on His behalf, of saying what He wants said. How humbled ought we to be by this? It’s not that we have the power to decide whether one is forgiven or not. It’s that we, if we are prayerfully about the task God has given us, are privileged to inform that one of God’s determination.
It is not great power we are given, but rather great responsibility. That’s where the pop-culture goes off course. We all know it, probably from Spiderman. “With great power comes great responsibility.” But, that’s not quite the case. There is no great power. Power remains with God. There is only responsibility. The power we suppose we have, is, as Jesus reminded Pilate, only possible when given from above. And He who gives is certainly just as capable of taking away. He will not have His glory tarnished by our foolishness in His name. That may be hard to accept given much of what is purportedly done in His name these days, but He will see to His own reputation. These things will not stand. He will not be mocked.
We who suppose ourselves of the Truth do well to remember that very same thing. God will not be mocked. Not by pretenders to His authority, nor by those who truly are of His household. The call is to great seriousness in pursuit of our godly pursuits. If I teach, may I teach only the truth of God. If I counsel, may my counsel be the counsel of God. If I pray, may I truly seek to express the heart of God. If I serve, may it be in the capacity God assigns, and as He empowers and directs.
It is a serious business to be used of God, to be called by Him. It’s too easy to get caught up in the excitement of it, to get intrigued with the powers and abilities that we recognize as beyond our own. But, they are not the point, only the means. If, in any capacity of service, we have settled for moving along by our own power, according to our own lights, we are in great peril of soul. We are servants. We are sent, not as authorities unto ourselves, but as errand boys. Might we recall this and accept the honor with all due humility.
