John 20:21-22

Now in the New Testament we will look at John 20, verse 22 where the freshly resurrected Christ appears to His disciples and by breathing on them gave them a preview of what was soon to come on Pentecost, their receipt of the Holy Spirit.

In this scripture the Greek word for breathe is emphusao. It is Strong's 1720, meaning to puff or breathe on. And the word used here for spirit is pneuma, Strong's 4151, which means a current of air, a breeze, a blast of breath, and by implication, God's Holy Spirit. Now in II Timothy 3:16, where we learned that all Scripture is inspired by God, the word for inspired is theopneustos, Strong's 2315, which according to Albert Barnes communicates the idea of God breathing into the soul.

So I think we have firmly established the great importance that God confers on breathing and breath itself. So where is all this going? Well, just as God breathed life into the first man, Adam, He also breathes eternal life into us through His Holy Spirit, both at our baptism and whenever we have need during our trial-filled journey to the Kingdom. And just as physical man needs to keep breathing in order to live, we need to keep spiritually breathing in order to continue our journey. So just as Adam is considered a type of Christ, I believe he can also be considered a type of us, the elect, that is, as he was the first physical child of God and we are the firstfruits, the first spiritual children of God.

And just as Adam sinned and was separated from God and no longer able to walk and breathe in His divine presence, we are also vulnerable too and made weak by the effects of our sin which, like a respiratory illness, prevents us from comfortably breathing. You know when physically ill our lungs and nasal passages are filled with mucus, hampering and restricting our ability to breathe, just as sin spiritually hampers and restricts our ability to be inspired to walk with God and properly function. And just as increased physical activity requires more oxygen, more breathing, so too does increased spiritual activity require more of God's Holy Spirit, His divine breath. Consider also how contagious all these respiratory illnesses are. Even when our coughing and sneezing seems unproductive, it is still their very nature to spread and to infect others, just as it is sin's very nature to make us unproductive children while infecting those all around us.