Before I deal with the day of Pentecost, I must make a statement concerning an important thing that Jesus did when he was with them on one of His appearances; not many preachers mention it, at least I have not heard it, but yet it is written. Following the verses from John’s gospel quoted above it is written: ‘Again, Jesus said: Peace be with you! As the father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ (John 20: 21-22) The only time God did a similar thing was in Genesis where it is written: ‘The Lord God formed the man (Adam) from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul!’ (Genesis 2: 9) It led me to wonder about what Jesus really did, for no empty word ever came out from his lips, I find that statement very important and when I read it, I stop and think why Jesus did then, and not before, while He was still in His mortal body?

There must be a fundamental reason, I cannot treat this subject in detail, but I would urge you to meditate on it! I personally believe, that at that very moment a new created spirit was breathed into them for it is written: ‘That He breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.’ (John 20: 22) Going back to when Adam sinned, we know that it is when he actually ate of the forbidden fruit, that he died! It is written, (I mentioned this before!): ‘The lord God commanded man (Adam): You may eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die!’ (Genesis 2: 16-17) But he did not die physically, his soul lived on, but the soul at death leaves the body, that is what death is! But that is not what happened to Adam, yet he died? But after the whole drama of the fall, Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years! With Eve they had sons and daughters, the whole of humanity today are descendants of those two human beings!

So, what died was his spirit and that death created an absolute crisis! The glory they were covered with disappeared and suddenly they were found naked, so, they run into the bushes and in fear they tried to hide from God! to escape from Him, but could not. Ever since mankind bears the same fear and hides from God, but no-one can. This death of the spirit has been handed down on the whole humanity as it is written: ‘Therefore just as sin entered the world (of men) through one man (Adam) and death through sin, and in this way, death came upon all men, because of sin! (Romans 5: 12) So really speaking man is only two thirds of what he ought to be, imperfect, incomplete, the best part of him is missing, for as he is he cannot communicate with God! That is as much as am going to say about it for the time being; for I have mentioned things already!

It is obvious that the disciples, all the time they walked with Jesus, were unable to grasp and understand everything that Jesus said? It is obvious that the spirit that Jesus breathed Jesus breathed was Holy, but this new spirit is not only holy it is also eternal, Jesus clearly said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’, that is all it takes to create, a word from God is enough! So, a Christian is a complete man, body, soul and spirit new creation, complete again, and as such He is a son of God. The apostle Paul writes: ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!’ (2 Corinthians 5: 17) and: ‘Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, what counts is a new creation!’ (Galatians 6: 15) It is an important subject but I must leave it there!  They did not just receive a spirit but a holy spirit! But at that point they were not yet baptised in the Holy Spirit, they were baptised with the Holy Spirit, ten days after the Lord’s ascension, on the day of Pentecost, which was on the sixth day of the third month ‘Sivan’ (May -June), the feast of the ingathering of the harvest.

Therefore, there were things that could not have happened in them until Jesus died and rose again! Whatever Jesus did at that point, as He breathed on them, is important, because if they were not created anew, they could not have been baptised with the Holy Spirit, because Paul says it clearly that: ‘You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus … and: ‘because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father”. So, you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has also made you an heir.’ (Galatians 4: 6-7) It is obvious that although they had spent three years with Jesus and heard Him say many things and do mighty miracles, but as I said previously, they could not fully understand all that He said, it is a sign to me that they did need this new birth, it happened when Jesus ‘breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.’ (John 20: 22) A Christian is therefore a complete man again, body, soul and spirit, a spirit that cannot die as did that of Adam, for a Christian, as I have mentioned, has God’s life, he is born of God and as such he will live forever!