Becoming Prepared

Becoming Prepared

John 20:19-23

Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

John 20:19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “1bPeace be with you.” 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

Many years ago, well actually decades ago, I had to take the SAT tests. For those who are not familiar with the SATs, they are tests you had to take to gain admission into college. The basic SAT was in English and Mathematics. Then there were the Level 1 and above tests for other subjects. Today a lot of colleges, including my Alma Matta, do not require the SATs. I wish they did not require them when I was applying for college. Why do you ask? Because I did not do well on the basic SAT. However, I took several Level 1 and above SAT tests and knocked them out of the park.

I took the SATs three times. Yikes, that was a lot of times. I had to get a score of over 1000 points for Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA to consider my application. I was twelfth in my High School class with some extracurricular activities. However, the college wanted that minimum SAT number. The first two times I did not prepare for the test. I showed up on a Saturday morning and took the test. Twice I failed to get over 1000.

I needed to prepare for the examination. I took a preparation class that was offered through my High School guidance counselor. It was an intense class that taught me how to take the test. There was a strategy for the examination. For instance, the test was multiple choice. The instructors said if you did not know the answer or were not sure select “B” because 60% of the time “B” was the correct answer. They added if you simply select “B” for all your answers, you will not like your score. There was a deduction in points for every wrong answer. But if “B” looked good, take it.

We can look at this passage about Jesus appearing before the disciples on Easter evening in the same way. It is a difficult passage at first because the exact wording shows that Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples that evening. The Orthodox churches believe this to be true. If that is true, then the Pentecost story is not necessarily factual. In the Catholic and Protestant faiths, we believe that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples that day. So, what is this narrative saying to us?

I learned I needed to prepare myself for the SAT test. In the same way, Jesus knew his disciples needed to be prepared to receive the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit is so huge that it would have overwhelmed them. The disciples had to be told and instructed on what was about to happen to them.

Let me stop here and say that on Pentecost, Jesus’ followers received the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father, Son and Spirit, which we call the Trinity, always existed. The Holy Spirit was known to the people before Jesus’ time. In several places in the Hebrew Scriptures, you can find references to the Shekinah. The Shekinah is another name for the Holy Spirit. However, only the prophets of the LORD received the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told his disciples that the power of the Holy Spirit was to be given to all believers. With this power, it energized the disciples with the courage to go out into the world and preach the Gospel message. Peace and love will come to the world if the disciples of Jesus Christ are preaching the Gospel. Each disciple of Jesus Christ receives the power of the Holy Spirit, either on the first Pentecost or during baptism.

The power of the Holy Spirit can move us to preach the Gospel if we allow it. Jesus works through us if we allow him. We teach individuals about the meaning of being a disciple of Jesus Christ before baptizing them or confirming those who were baptized as infants. Therefore, when the baptism or confirmation occurs, the power of the Holy Spirit can enter the person. When baptism occurs, believers believe they die to their old self and are raised with Christ. That rising is when the power of the Holy Spirit is given.