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Day 343

John 20:19-31 "ANOTHER IMPORTANT LESSON TO BE LEARNED"

Day 343 – John 20

ANOTHER IMPORTANT LESSON TO BE LEARNED

Faith was vital to life and ministry! The Disciples had realized this by now, and they had learned it the hard way. Surely, the recent bitter pill they had to swallow, of abandoning their beloved Teacher must have caused them to determine with all their heart that they would devote time to cultivate their faith more consciously.

Knowledge of the Father was of critical importance too. However, knowledge without practice would serve nobody any good. This was another lesson that was painfully learned.

Jesus was not through yet! He had already taught His Disciples that they would be given a special Gift. That Gift was to be in the Person of the Holy Spirit! How well would the Disciples have understood this lesson if it is only comprehended in the mind? The Disciples would now be given a special experience of what it means to have the Spirit of God indwelling them as Jesus had taught (John 14-16).

Let us take time to ponder this rather profound text.

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them,
and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'”
John 20:22

A QUICK REVIEW OF WHAT JESUS TAUGHT CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT

Let us do a quick review of what Jesus taught the Disciples concerning the Person and ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John.

1. The Spirit of God in the work of regeneration

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
John 3:5-6

2. The Spirit of God and Jesus

“For He whom God has sent speaks the words of
God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.”
John 3:34

3. The Promise of the Holy Spirit

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom
those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy
Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet
glorified.”
John 7:38-39

4. The Spirit as Helper

“And I will pray the Father and He will give you
another Helper, that He may abide with you forever –
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you
know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
John 14:16-17

5. The Spirit as Teacher

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in My name, He will teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance all things that I said
to you.”
John 14:26 (John 15:7-15)

6. The Spirit as Witness

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to
you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
John 15:26

The above does not exhaust all that Jesus said about the Spirit of God! The doctrine of the Spirit of God cannot be fully comprehended till one has experienced His powerful touch!

TOUCHED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD

What Jesus did may be understood in the light of an Old Testament text. In the Book of Numbers, we read about how Moses complained of the workload being too heavy for him to bear (Numbers 11:1-14). God responded by telling Moses to gather 70 elders to assist him in his work. He promised that they would be specially blessed with the Spirit of God so that they can serve effectively.

“Then I will come down and talk with you there.
I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will
put the same upon them; and they shall bear the
burden of the people with you, that you may not
bear it yourself alone.

Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke
to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him,
and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and
it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them,
that they prophesied, although they never did so
again.”
Numbers 11:17, 25

Jesus breathed upon the Disciples the Spirit of God in a dramatic and symbolic manner. This would not detract from the glorious advent of the Spirit of God recorded faithfully in Acts 2.

The significance of this act was so that the Disciples might be able to experience what it means to be touched by the Spirit of God. There will come other occasions when the Spirit of God would fill them, but at least for the moment, the doctrine of the Spirit became real and practical, where once it was only theoretical! The Spirit from that moment would guide them in their understanding of what Jesus would be teaching them over the next forty days. The Disciples must learn how to respond to the Spirit of God.