Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Jesus – the Empowerer

John 20v22 “With that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

On that Sunday evening when Jesus appeared to the disciples, John records that he commissioned the disciples with “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” and then empowers them for this with the Holy Spirit.

It might be asked, “But I thought they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost?” and that is right.

A lot seems to have happened on that first Easter Sunday evening – the disciples going to and from Emmaus and meeting Jesus, then the disciples sharing their various stories of empty tombs and appearances of Jesus, then the appearance of Jesus himself; then the seeing and touching of his body; then him eating and drinking; then him imparting the Holy Spirit to them; then him “opening their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24v45), and then him also saying that when he was gone they were to wait to be “clothed with power from on high”.

This seems to indicate the multiple fillings and equipings of the Holy Spirit for different purposes. Maybe it is best to read it that on the Easter Sunday evening, the disciples were given the wisdom and insight of the Holy Spirit to understand what God had said in the Bible, but they were to wait for Pentecost when they would receive a new and greater anointing.

One thing for sure, Jesus does not send us out into the world without resources to go with. He equips us with an understanding of what God has said and the authority to speak in His Name.

With love and blessing,

Roland