Reflective Bible Study

In today’s journal entry, we will be looking at one of the last passages in the gospels, and uncovering an idea that I have not heard discussed before. In this passage, we read the following words, “Then he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (verse 22).

Jesus “breathed on them”. This is one idea that we don’t find included in too many sermons. We like to focus on Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17), and we like to focus on the Holy Spirit coming to the disciples (Acts 2:1-13), but we often gloss over or ignore this key idea between the promise and the fulfillment of the promise.

In Jesus’ breath, I believe He is singling out the disciples for receiving the Holy Spirit. We may think of this as God placing His mark on each of them, and preparing them for when they receive the gift.

Also, Jesus says “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This is both a promise and a command. It is a promise because the Holy Spirit is coming to them, and it is also a command for them to receive the Holy Spirit when He comes.

This brings a number of other thoughts into my mind:

• If we consciously receive the Spirit, we can consciously reject the Spirit.
• Also, we must be ready to receive the Spirit for Him to come. In this promise, we have the command to “be ready”. This means that we may miss the Spirit if we are not ready to receive Him.
• The Spirit was promised to ALL the disciples, and not just a select few. Was this only something for the eleven remaining disciples? No, because the Holy Spirit came to Paul, the apostle, who was not in the room and didn’t have Jesus’ breath on Him.

Paul is the clearest example that we, as followers of Jesus today, can also receive the Holy Spirit. However, we must remember Jesus’ words in this focus text: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Be conscious, be willing, and be ready to receive the Holy Spirit. Be in places that the Holy Spirit is more likely to be, and be available to be used by God to bring about His purposes and plan in the situation you are in.

“Receive the Holy Spirit.”

On the night of Jesus’ arrest, while He was praying in the garden, Jesus’ disciples slept. While we don’t know if every single one of the eleven disciples slept when Jesus had asked them to stay awake, we do know that Jesus repeatedly returned to the disciples and found them sleeping.

It is interesting to me that Jesus specifically asks Peter a question that He answers for Peter. On waking the disciples up, Jesus says, “How is it that you three were not able to keep watch with me for even one hour? Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (v. 40b-41)

Jesus draws our attention onto a key challenge that many of us face. All too often, our spirit is willing, but our bodies are weak. There are plenty of things we can do, and things that we know we should do, but when it comes down to actually doing them, we don’t follow through. In the moment, our body’s weakness takes power over our spirit’s will.

Part of me wonders if Satan helped encourage the drowsiness of these disciples to keep them from keeping watch. I wonder what would have happened if one or more of them had stayed awake and had seen the mob approaching from a distance. Would they have been more prepared to face what was coming?

Matthew tells us that the disciples slept up to the point when the mob arrived. This last time Jesus returned to the disciples after praying, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look! The hour has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the power of sinners. Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!” (v. 45-46)

In His final words to the disciples, Jesus makes an interesting remark. Jesus stated that “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the power of sinners.” (v. 45b)

This phrase stands out to me because it demonstrates Jesus’ character and God’s humility. Jesus was willing to submit to be under the power of sinners. In a way, this echoes Jesus’ baptism at the opening of His ministry, where He submitted to John the Baptist (who was a sinner like we all are) to be placed under the water. These two events signify Jesus’ willingness to submit to those who believed He was God (John the Baptist), and those who believed He was their enemy (the Mob and religious leaders).

Jesus was willing to submit to all sinners as a way of showing us God’s love for each of us. We may end up sleeping on the job, but Jesus still loves us in spite of these mistakes. Our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak. We stumble, fall, and mess up what we know we should do, but no mistake we can make has the power to stop Jesus from submitting to the cross to take the death we deserved!

At the close of Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount”, He draws our attention to an illustration contrasting what people who obey His words are like when compared to those who ignores Jesus’ teaching. This illustration is most famous because it has been turned into a children’s song. However, while the song is fun to sing with kids, the illustration itself is very powerful.

Matthew’s version of Jesus’ illustration is more popular. He begins by quoting Jesus as saying, “Therefore, everyone who hears what I say and obeys it will be like a wise person who built a house on rock. Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not collapse, because its foundation was on rock.” (v. 24-25)

Jesus contrasts this wise builder with an example of a foolish one. He continues by saying, “Everyone who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it will be like a foolish person who built a house on sand. Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and struck that house. It collapsed, and the result was a total disaster.” (v. 26-27)

While it is easy for us to look at the illustration as a construction example, Jesus really is sharing it as a metaphor for laying the foundation of our lives: obedience to Jesus makes a strong foundation while ignoring Jesus makes a weak foundation.

In my mind’s eye, the builder who built the house on the rock built high above the waterline, perhaps near the edge of a cliff, where they would be plenty of protection from the waves. His house then overlooks the foolish builder who is building on a sandy beach.

But Luke also shares a version of this parable. He describes Jesus opening this parable with a question: “Why do you call me Lord but don’t do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46)

This question frames everything that Jesus is about to share. Then He continues by painting us a picture in our minds of two builders: “I will show you what everyone who comes to me, hears what I say, and obeys it is like. He is like a person who dug down to bedrock to lay the foundation of his home. When a flood came, the floodwaters pushed against that house. But the house couldn’t be washed away because it had a good foundation. The person who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it is like someone who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The floodwaters pushed against it, and that house quickly collapsed and was destroyed.” (Luke 6:47-49)

In Luke’s version, we have two homes that might look identical to a casual observer, but the thought process when building each of them was completely opposite. The wise builder focused on making his home strong in the non-visible areas. The foolish builder only cared about the parts of the home that could be seen.

The big key Jesus wants us to take from this illustration is that obedience to His teaching will result in a life that has a solid foundation. By obeying Jesus, we might not avoid challenges, but we will be able to withstand anything that comes our way. When we build our lives on the truth Jesus shared, our lives will be able to survive whatever storms life sends our way.

While reading through this passage, a number of things stood out to me. For this journal entry, we will focus on the role of the servant, and discuss who he might represent in this parable.

In my analysis, I can see three possible representatives for the role of the servant.

1. The first possible representative for the servant’s role is Jesus. He spent a good portion of His ministry showing people what God is like, and inviting them to believe in Him. Jesus invited people to follow Him, and by following Jesus, we are accepting the invitation to the banquet.
2. The second possible representative for the servant’s role is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is no longer on the earth, but He promised to send the Holy Spirit to as a Comforter and Guide. The Holy Spirit leads individuals into a growing relationship with God – which leads to accepting the invitation to the banquet.
3. The third possible representative for the servant’s role is us (His followers / His Church). Who better to invite other people than people who are already invited? Jesus tells us that “the person who is greatest among you will be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11) By inviting others to know and experience a relationship with Jesus, we are able to step into the servant’s role and invite others to the banquet.

Some might think that we must now choose one of these possible representatives to fill this role, but I disagree. In my mind, and in my experience, all three are the servant.

First Jesus came and served us, modeling true servant behavior, and opening a way for us to be invited to the banquet. Now, both the Holy Spirit prompting on an individual’s heart, as well as the invitation from a friend can inspire someone to accept Jesus into their lives – which is another way of saying that they are accepting the invitation to the banquet. All three of these representatives play a key role in the inviting process.