The Spirit that Quickens Us

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:21-23).

Jesus showed up in the midst of His disciples as they cowered in fear behind locked doors on that dark night and He brought a familiar word of encouragement… “Peace be with you”. He also brought a challenge. This was not a time to surrender to fear. It was time to get to work. There was a lost world waiting to hear good news and to receive forgiveness. The disciples’ time of personal training and orientation had come to an end. They were now to take the gospel to the world… “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). They were to be a reflection of their Teacher to the world… “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). This was no ordinary task. Nothing like this had ever been undertaken by human beings. If the disciples were being sent into the world just as Jesus had been sent they would need the same power He had exhibited throughout His ministry. They would need supernatural encouragement to overcome the numbing fear that immobilized them. They would need supernatural power to demonstrate the presence and authority of Christ to a disbelieving world. Jesus was the consummate Teacher. He gave the disciples an indispensable gift that night as He turned their pity party into a glorious commissioning service complete with an introduction to the Spirit that quickens us.

To be sent like Jesus, the disciples had to be born of the Holy Spirit. Matthew recorded this basic truth about Jesus in His gospel… “And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35). Jesus taught the indispensability of this Spiritual birth to His future disciple Nicodemus… “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Disciples are born of the Spirit through faith in Christ… “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). In that secret room the disciples’ faith in Christ was confirmed upon seeing their risen Savior and just as His Father had breathed the breath (spirit) of life into the first man Adam, the Son now breathed the Breath of eternal life (the Holy Spirit) on His disciples, and they were quickened, brought to life, and born of the Spirit!

To be sent like Jesus, the disciples had to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke makes special note of this truth about Jesus at the beginning of His ministry… “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness” (Luke 4:1). Truth seekers note here that although He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was also filled with the Holy Spirit. Since disciples are becoming like our teacher, it follows that like Jesus we are born of the Spirit, and like Jesus we must be filled with the Spirit too. Jesus promised this filling was available to disciples that earnestly seek it… “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Notice how carefully the Teacher chose His words to paint a vivid picture of the kind of Spirit-clothed life He wants for His disciples. To be sent as Jesus was sent we must be anointed or covered with the Holy Spirit (see Luke 4: 18-19). In another post-resurrection encounter with Jesus, He promised His disciples that were willing to wait for and seek this filling of the Holy Spirit would be baptized or immersed in the Holy Spirit… “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4-5). Jesus made it clear that this lost world will be conquered by quickened, enlivened, empowered disciples who like Him are born of and fully clothed with the Holy Spirit.

As we grow up into Christ we share His gospel with a lost world as we are born of and clothed with…

The Spirit that Quickens Us.