On resurrection evening, what was Jesus conveying by John 20:21-23?
Jesus appeared to the disciples on the evening of the day of resurrection. Notice the context.
19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
What did Jesus convey in verses 21-23? Here is some:
1/ The Commission to go preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God
This is readily seen in verse 21. It is the first installment of Jesus’ instruction to His Apostles known as The Great Commission. Such instruction would continue in Galilee (Matthew 28:18-20) and would conclude back in Jerusalem on the day of His ascension (Luke 24:45-49).
Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection had accomplished His mission for coming to earth. Now the Apostles were to go and evangelize the world. That was the purpose for which they were called.
2/ The essence of salvation would involve the remission of sins.
Sin had been the great impediment between God and man since Adam’s fall. That was about to change, thanks to Calvary.
Jesus made it clear that remission of sins would be effected by means of grace given to the Apostles, namely, baptism. They would not have missed that point. Baptism had been the revolutionary mode for receiving remission of sins for the last three and a half years since it was first introduced by John the Baptist.
3/ The Apostles would receive the Holy Ghost.
Jesus had spoken about the promised Spirit from the beginning of His ministry to the very end. It was declared in prophecy eight hundred years prior by the prophet, Joel. On the evening of the Last Supper, Christ said, in so many words, that He first had to go to the cross for the Holy Ghost to be poured out (John 16:7). That was because it was necessary to settle the matter of mankind’s sin so that they could receive it. By breathing on the Apostles and saying to them, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost”, He was indicating that all obstacles to receiving the Holy Ghost were removed.
4/ Jesus breathed on His Apostles and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost”.
That certainly got their notice. It does ours as well. This dramatic expression hearkened back to the dawn of creation when God breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). It would not have been lost upon the Apostles. Jesus had previously spoken about the requirement of new birth. We see it early in His Spirit ministry to Cornelius (John 3:3-7). He no doubt mentioned its necessity often. Jesus was showing that, by receiving the Holy Ghost, they would be born again unto eternal life. This event on the evening of the resurrection was in anticipation of what would occur on the Day of Pentecost when God Spirit would be poured out for the first time.
5/ By breathing on the Apostles, Jesus was teaching them what the coming Spirit would be.
The Holy Ghost they were about to receive would come from within Him, as His very own breath. It would be the divine Spirit that was centralized in Him who was the God-man. Jesus was God incarnate (Matthew 1:23; John 14:9-10; Colossians 2:9-10; 1Timothy 3:16; etc., etc., etc.). Peter announced on the Day of Pentecost that it was the crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ that poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:33).