John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. John 14:17 Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you. (19) Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me; because I live, you also shall live.
After the Lord Jesus entered into resurrection, He came to His disciples. According to John 20:22, "He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit." The Greek word for Spirit, pneuma, also means breath. This indicates that the Lord Jesus was telling the disciples to receive the holy breath. On the one hand, He breathed out; on the other hand, the disciples breathed in. In 20:22 the Lord Jesus told the disciples to receive the holy breath, the Holy Spirit. The Word, who was God, became flesh. Eventually, having passed through crucifixion and resurrection, He became the holy breath for us to breathe in. If we see the steps of this process, we shall have a proper and thorough understanding of the Gospel of John. According to John 1:1 and 14, the Word, who was in the beginning with God and who is God, became flesh. In verse 29 we see that this Word become flesh is the Lamb of God. On the one hand, He is the Lamb for accomplishing redemption; on the other hand, He is the tree for imparting life. Therefore, we may speak of Him as the Lamb-tree. According to John 15, the branches of the vine are the living of the vine. Ultimately, the Lamb-tree becomes the holy breath. Hallelujah! In our experience we have Christ as the Word, the Lamb, the tree, and the breath. The Word is for expression, the Lamb is for redemption, the tree is for the impartation of life, and the breath is for our living. We cannot live without breathing. No doubt, to stop breathing is to die. However, to keep on breathing is to live. No matter how many schools we may graduate from, we can never graduate from breathing. No one can say that because he has become so knowledgeable or mature, it is no longer necessary for him to breathe. Rather, the older a person becomes, the more concerned he may be about his breathing. How marvelous that for our spiritual life we have the holy breath for our living!
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Philippians, pp. 296-297. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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