A Breathing Upon

 

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 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 retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.


I know there are a lot of curious minds out there who like to resolve contradictions when they appear, and this passage seems to contain a huge one: Jesus breathing on the apostles and saying to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Hadn’t he previously told the apostles that it was better for them that he went, because unless he went away, the Counsellor — the Holy Spirit — would not come to them? (See John 16:7). 


And wouldn’t he tell them later to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit that he had spoken about. “For John baptized with water,” he said, “but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (See Acts 1:4-5). “And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), he continues. This, as we all know, happened on Pentecost (see Acts 2). So what was this, then?


Pentecost is universally regarded as the birthday of the Church, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. Thus, Jesus breathing upon the apostles after he makes a dramatic appearance in a locked room seems to be a special anointing for a special purpose. What could this be?


His words make this clear. “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” By making the connection between the Holy Spirit and forgiveness, he is authorizing these first witnesses to forgive sins of those within the community of believers. This is a special priestly anointing given to the apostles and their successors.


These words should not only help clarify the contradiction, but also bring Scriptural validation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I know that a lot of us have questions about why we need to confess our sins to a priest. Here is the answer. It isn’t something that the Church invented, but something that Jesus himself established in that locked room that day. 


So, something to think about.


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