PO/Box 1367, KUILS RIVER 7579 SOUTH-AFRICA Tel:+27(0)21 903 1901 Fax:+27(0)21 906 2637
E-mail: info@kerugma.org.za Web: www.kerugma.org.za

JESUS BREATHED UPON THEM

- Ignatius A le Roux

The practice by certain Christian leaders of blowing in people's faces, making some of them fall down, is apparently being justified by references to the incident when Jesus breathed upon his disciples and told them to "receive the Holy Spirit". This does however raise a few questions: Can the act of blowing in someone's face be justified on this basis? If not, what implications does this action hold for us today? Did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit at that moment? Did this action by Jesus not precede the real arrival of the Holy Spirit some time after His ascension?

Jesus breathed on His disciples during His first appearance before them after His resurrection. It was the evening of the first day of the week (Jn 20:19), the very Sunday on which He arose from the grave. In addition to John's description of events, we also have Luke's report (Lk 24:36-49). It is clear from the Scripture that the disciples were not expecting Him to arise from the grave (compare Lk 24:1-12, Jn 20:1-10).

By evening on that day, they were gathered behind closed doors. Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene and Peter (Lk 24:34, Jn 20:11-18). Then the visitors to Emmaus also arrived with the news that Jesus was alive! And while they were busy discussing this, Jesus appeared in their midst proclaiming, "Peace be upon you!" During this same appearance He also instructed them: "As the Father sent Me, I send you too."

Before his death He cherished these words in his heart and prayed for his disciples: "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world" (Jn 17:18).

It is possible that the instructions given to them, as referred to in Matthew 10 and Luke 10, were included in this, but by that time He had arisen and was among them and ordered them to continue the work He had started. He had earlier explained that not He, but the Holy Spirit, would come and live inside them to equip them for this task (Jn 14:12-17).

When Jesus breathed on his disciples and told to them to receive the Holy Spirit, was this event to which He was referring? Did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit then? If that is the case, then what was it that happened on Pentecost? How can we understand these two incidents?

Kérugma are currently distributing 2 new videos and DVDs named JESUS ON JESUS, which deal specifically with the Gospel of John. In these videos and DVDs, Parts 1 & 2., Dr Randall Smith explains how John carefully compiled his Gospel by taking a selection of everything Jesus did and taught (Jn 20: 30-31).

Earlier in his Gospel, this same John explains that the Holy Spirit was not with us yet, as Jesus had not yet been glorified (Jn 7:39).

The name Holy Spirit does not appear anywhere in the original Hebrew Old Testament. However in some translations, you will find the words "Holy Spirit" in Psalm 51: 11 and in Isaiah 63: 10,11. That is a translation of the Hebrew term "Spirit of his Holiness", but not the proper name "Holy Spirit". Only in the New Testament is the Spirit of God given the name Holy Spirit. The reason for this is that He was not known as the Holy Spirit living within us, until the glorified Jesus poured Him from the throne of God (Ac 2:32-36). Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit to live in the heart and soul of each and every one of those who believe in Him as Christ and Saviour. Since the day of Pentecost, those who have been born again receive not only a new heart and soul, as under the old covenant, but also the inhabiting Holy Spirit (Eze 36: 26-27). Furthermore since that day when the Lord poured out the Holy Spirit, every person who accepts Jesus as Saviour is baptised in the Holy Spirit and becomes a member of the Body of Christ (1 Co 12:13). The Holy Spirit comes to live deep in the heart, yes, in the new, born again spirit, of the believer. There, He lives and works to reveal and glorify the Lord in the life of His children.

The first fruit of His presence in the life of a child of God is the unwavering conviction this person has that he is saved and the certainty that God has accepted him as one of His children. Furthermore, he will experience the Lord's leadership through this peace. Apart from the fact that a spirit filled person would learn the will of God through Scripture and grow in it on a daily basis, he would also experience the way the Lord's peace draws him forward. It is by doing the will of God that peace comes with a quiet awareness deep in the heart that he is being obedient. This is how we know that what we do is right and pleasing to God.

The heroes of the faith in the Old Testament also received testimony that they pleased God (Heb 11:2 and onwards), but with a difference. They had to follow the Lord through signs, because they did not have the Holy Spirit living within them.

They had to make regular sacrifice (Lev 1-6), and were led by a cloud and a column of fire (Ex 40:36-37). The High Priest had to use the Urim and Tummim to determine the will of God (Ex 28:30, Lev 8:8) and the entire nation were required to journey to Jerusalem three times a year for an eight-day festival to serve God. Because the Holy Spirit now lives within us we are no longer required to follow this procedure.

It is interesting to note that even though Jesus breathed on the disciples and gave instructions, they continued as if they were still acting under the Old Covenant. This is something that the Church since the day of Pentecost no longer does. But it was repeated when they realized that a new apostle had to be appointed in the place of Judas. Following the proposal of the two men, they prayed and drew lots to determine which one was chosen by God, much as the High Priest would have done with the Urim and the Tummim. However since the coming of the Holy Spirit, the drawing of lots is no longer required. The Holy Spirit personally takes the lead and points to the right people (compare Ac 6:5, 13:2).

How do we then understand the instructions of the Lord Jesus as He gave it to the disciples in Jn 20:22? When we read the original Greek, something interesting is revealed. We read:

"And after He spoke, He blew and said unto them: 'Receive Holy Spirit'."

The word "the" does not appear in the Greek before the words "Holy Spirit". If we translate directly into English, the word "the" is omitted. This can give Bible translators a problem. Personally, I believe this can be overcome either by printing it in italics or providing a footnote.

In the Greek language, the word is not required, as it would be in English. And it gives a completely different meaning to the instruction Jesus issued - a meaning that would have been understood by those listening to Him just as it is understood today by those who are able to read the new Testament Greek. What Jesus said was: "Receive the enablement of the Holy Spirit that you will need for the task I now give to you". Without the qualifying "the" it refers to a work of, a characteristic of or property of, the person being mentioned, but not the whole. There are about 11 instances in the New Testament where the article does not appear in front of the term "Holy Spirit" in the original Greek. One example can be found in Luke 11:13 where we read how Jesus said:

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give [the] Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

If we kept the word there, as is the case in many Bible translations, then it will sound as if we can pray and ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit. But that cannot be right, as He had already given us the Holy Spirit when we repented and were given salvation. What Jesus is telling us here is that we can ask the Father to give us an enablement of the Holy Spirit. Just as James teaches:

"... if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach and it will be given to him" (Jas 1:5).

When the Lord Jesus arose from the dead and sent his disciples out as his Father had sent Him and tells them to: "Receive Holy Spirit", he effectively equips them with something of the Holy Spirit they needed then and there, but had never known before.

From the moment that sin came into the world, the Holy Spirit ceased to live within mankind. Man is full of sin, unclean and unholy. The Lord Jesus however was a human being of flesh and blood just like us, but never sinned. That is why He, who bought us with his blood on the cross, is able to cleanse us of our sins with that blood, to allow His Spirit to live inside us. He died as a perfect sacrifice without blemish (Heb 9:14) through the eternal Spirit to God to redeem us. It was through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that He was able do this. More than that, the Father raised Him from the dead through the Holy Spirit (Ro 8:11). It is this same Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ's resurrection, who lives in every child of God today. In this way Jesus instructs those who follow Him during His first appearance after his death: "Receive Holy Spirit." With this, He is saying to his disciples that they should receive the working of the Holy Spirit, which He was unable to give them until after the crucifixion. Now however, He was also able to share with them the power of the resurrection. That which the Holy Spirit worked in Jesus, He could now also work in the disciples. They could arise with Jesus and live with Him (Ro 6:5, 8:11).

Now do you understand why Jesus breathed on them? Just as He blew the breath of life into Adam to bring man to life during the Creation, so He came as the first to be victorious over death and blew the breath of the resurrected life into them "as the Father has sent Me, I also send you, receive this working of the Holy Spirit".

THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

And what a difference this new resurrected life made to their lives! Luke 24:45 explains that on that occasion, Jesus opened their minds so they were able to understand the Scriptures. In terms of the Old Covenant, the prophets were required to study and consider carefully what it was that the Spirit of God was prophesying through them concerning the suffering of the Messiah and the Kingdom that He would bring (1 Pe 1:10-12). But they were unable to comprehend it. Even John the Baptist was not able to fully understand the prophesy. He had to send his disciples to ask of Jesus: "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" (Mt 11:3).

Through his resurrection however, the Lord was able to open the eyes of the faithful that they might understand that He had to die and arise on the third day to fulfil the prophesy. He did this so they could carry the message of repentance and forgiveness to all of mankind. But they had to wait in Jerusalem until He had poured out the Holy Spirit upon them as He had promised, before they could do this. (Lk 24:45-49).

During this period, while waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit, a remarkable change could be seen among them. The power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, worked in them by the Holy Spirit, brought forth wonderful fruit in their lives.

Many teach today that when the Holy Spirit comes upon a group of believers, there will be power and unity amongst them and a new understanding of the Word. Prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit however, we see that the Lord's disciples were already joined together in unity. They were also understanding the Scriptures and living in obedience to Him even though the Holy Spirit had not been poured out upon them.

We read about this in Acts 1:13-26.

Verse 13: They obeyed Christ's command to remain in Jerusalem and wait upon the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 14: In the garden of Gethsemane, they were unable to stay awake and pray with Jesus. But later they were able to persevere together in prayer.

Verse 15: The unreliable Peter of old now took over leadership.

Verse 16: They found answers in Scripture regarding Judas.

Verse 20: They discovered that the Scriptures confirmed that Judas should be replaced.

Verse 21-22: They were able to determine the criteria by which a particular person should be chosen.

Verse 23-26: They were able in an adult manner to nominate two people and make a final choice. They were truly changed from the disciples we had come to know before the resurrection of Christ. Earlier, they had argued about which one was going to be the greatest only to flee when Jesus was arrested. Fearful of the Jews, they had met behind locked doors. Now they were waiting in prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

ATTITUDE OF FORGIVENESS

Jesus gave them far more than that on the day of his resurrection, however. The power of resurrection brings life from somebody who had arisen from the dead. This is somebody who has had victory over death. Before His death, while hanging from the cross, Jesus prayed for those who rejected and murdered Him. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Lk 23.34).

Remember, Jesus firstly appeared to Peter alone and then, later the evening, before the whole group. Paul also explains how Jesus was resurrected on the third day and that He had appeared first to Cephas (that is Peter), and then to the Twelve (1 Co 15:5).

Why did Jesus first appear only before Peter? Was it because he had the keys to heaven? Was it because he would become the leader of the apostles? No, if Peter had been such a wonderful leader, he would certainly have been able to accept why Jesus appeared to them all at once. But there is a reason why it would be an embarrassment for Peter if the arisen Jesus had suddenly appeared before the whole group. Peter was the one, who only three days earlier, had sliced off the ear of Malchus and then denied knowing Jesus three times shortly after that. As he denied knowing Jesus for the third time and the rooster crowed, Jesus looked at him and Peter went outside and wept bitterly (Lk 22:61-62).

Following that, the Lord Jesus died on the cross and Peter had no understanding that He would arise again. Peter was one of the first to reach the empty grave but even then did not comprehend that Jesus had to arise from death (Jn 20:6-10).

We are not told what happened between Jesus and Peter when the Lord appeared to him later that day. But one thing we do know for certain is that the risen Lord would have reassured Peter that He had seen his remorse. What a wonderful experience it must have been for Peter to be forgiven by the Lord Jesus.

Later that evening when He breathed over them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit's life-giving power, He said even more:

"If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained" (Jn. 20:23).

Through the power of the resurrection to new life, God gives us the grace to serve others with forgiveness as well as the authority to admonish those who transgress. That which we freely receive, we can freely share. Without doubt Peter was able to forgive others thereafter. Sometimes it is necessary to admonish those who do not ask forgiveness. The same Peter who received such blessed forgiveness was also on occasion required to exercise admonition (Read about it in Acts 8:18-23).

Do we know the resurrected Christ? Do we live in community with He who is seated at the right hand of the Father, or do we blow over people to get them to collapse in a hypnotic trance?

The Lord Jesus never did such things, but gave his followers, through his Spirit, the authority to give the new life to others by forgiving them and setting them free. Yes, there are those who have to be severely spoken to, who have to be admonished and scolded. Do we do that? And when they show regret, can we from the heart forgive them?

A spirit of forgiveness is the main characteristic of the new life of the resurrection. When we realise that we are lost in our sin and call upon the Lord, He will forgive us and give us His power of resurrection. This is how we arise into a new life. Even more, we then become instruments through which the Lord can reveal Himself to others. When a person receives the new life of the resurrection from the Lord Jesus, he receives an attitude that, no matter what others do to you, you are able to pray:

"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

INFO ON DAVE HUNT'S VIDEOS

Dave Hunt''s ministry, The Berean Call, decided earlier this year that their videos were no longer to be duplicated here locally. It has been produced by different organisations of which each got a percentage royalty per video sold, according to their own arrangements. Additionally, we had to buy the master copies from these organisations before it could be duplicated. Because of all the administration and costs involved, it was decided that the videos were no longer to be duplicated here.

There were, however, a lot of enquiries from you about some of these videos. It has now been established that there are still a few copies of these videos available at Elijah Ministries in Johannesburg. Elijah Ministries sell quite a lot of Kérugma's videos. They let us know that they have the following videos available: Israel, Islam and Armageddon (23), What Love Is This? (12), An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith (15), Roman Catholicism and the Early Church - A Debate (1), as well as Roger Oakland''s video: New Wine and the Babylonian Vine (6), You can order it at R115.00 each plus R15.00 postage. Their telephone number is: 011-7835082

YOU ARE STILL ON OUR LIST

This issue of the Bulletin is the first since September 2002. Thank you for all the calls from those who asked why they had not received the Kérugma Bulletin. Due to various circumstances, we were unable to produce a Bulletin this year. We also have to look at the high costs of producing it and the postage and we are limited in what we can do as there are just too few hands for all the work. The Kérugma team only has two full time staffers, Naas and Marina le Roux. Then we have Anita Fouché, who when not on duty nursing, helps us in her spare time. Christelle Pretorius and Selma Lundy come in two mornings a week every quarter to help administering the video/DVD club and the packaging of the videos. There are more people who are willing to help when they can, but they are not often available because they have full-time employment.

Shortly after the last Bulletin appeared in September 2002, we returned to Israel to film the whole eight-day "Feast of Tabernacles" presented by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. We filmed it with three cameras and a Sony technician from Cape Town, Hennie Groenewald who did all the live mixing. Hennie is a child of the Lord who offered to help us out. The fact that he could directly edit the filming as it was taped over two to three hours every night, allowed us to have the videos available to the public the very next day. Upon our return, we spent about a month taking care of the fine-tuning of the master copies.

Then we began to put some of our videos on DVD. We had no inkling what we had let ourselves in for. It took months before we reached the stage where we could author our videos to DVDs with the required live, interactive motion menus. This contents page allows the viewer the option of selecting that part of the video he wants to watch, much like choosing the different cuts on a CD. It is however not that simple to set up such a contents page or menu. We thank God that He put it in the heart of Mr Ko Eigenhuis of Stellenbosch to master the technique. Mr Eigenhuis currently helps us with the process to author our videos to DVD.

Meanwhile we produced new videos. So far, three videos and DVDs have been produced bearing the messages of the well-known David Pawson from England who spoke at the festival in Jerusalem on ISRAEL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT - ROMANS, Parts 1, 2 & 3. They offer a wonderful explanation of the role and place of chapters 9 to 11 in the letter to the Romans and how one should understand these chapters. We are getting an excellent reaction to these videos.

And now for something completely different - the videos of Dr Edward Panosian's interpretations of the lives of famous people from church history. In these videos, he acts the lives of William Tyndale, Martin Luther, John Knox, John Bunyan en Charles Spurgeon in the first person. Dr. Panosian is a professor in church history at Bob Jones University in the US. It is great to see how he virtually lives the lives and life situations of these people and presents it to us as if it was he himself who had been there.

ETERNAL PRODUCTIONS

We also wish to announce that we had obtained the rights to distribute the videos of the USA company Eternal Productions. Unfortunately, there are already large numbers of illegal copies of these videos in South Africa, distributed by so-called Christian video companies and ministries. They are low quality copies. Kérugma Productions is the sole distributor of this company's videos and DVDs in Southern Africa. A few years ago, through a special agreement, we distributed two of these videos. Since then we have, after numerous attempts, finally obtained the distribution rights. This entails buying the master and paying royalties for every copy we sell. In this way, the buyer of each video contributes to covering the production costs of these products. Those people who distribute illegal copies or take part in it in any way not only sin by reducing the quality and therefore the effectiveness of the messages of the videos, but also prevent those who make all the effort to spread the Word of God from covering their costs as they continue to produce more material. Many people buy these low quality products without realising that they are actually being dishonest.

When you watch one of the Eternal Productions videos or DVDs, ask yourself how long it took for the producer, Jim Tedlow, to make it. And how much do you think does it cost to make?

Perhaps every Christian who obtained a pirate copy or bought one somewhere, should simply return it and tell those people who distributed it illegally that they do not wish to keep it.

If a member of the South African Police had to find such a video in your possession, not only you but also the person you bought it from and the person who supplied it to that person (the copy maker), could be liable for a fine of R5 000-00 or 3 years in jail for every illegal copy found. According to our information, that is the minimum sentence. Further more: If a production house like ours became aware of somebody making, distributing or possessing illegal copies, we too can be held responsible.

Are people who do this really children of the living God? What then has happened to the clear conscience with which we are supposed to serve the Lord?

Since the time when we first distributed the two videos of Eternal Productions some time back, Countdown to Eternity en A Question of Origins, we have had many further orders. We had the masters, but we did not distribute a single copy. We were really anxious to see the wonderful message of these videos go out to the public, but we simply had to wait until we were given the official distribution rights before we could go ahead. Today, we can look you all in the eye and our consciences are clear, because there is nothing we owe Jim Tedlow and we are not guilty of anything before the Lord. Now we can freely offer you Jim's videos. The third one, Messages from Heaven, deals with a very current affair. It shows how thousands of "Christians" stream to places where the so-called Mother Mary appear to them, where oil falls upon them, where their silver trinkets turn into gold, etc, etc. It is nothing more than spiritism where the spirit of the dead is being evoked. In the light of the popularity of spiritist TV programmes such as Crossing Over with John Edward, etc, it is essential that you get this video and to show it to others.

The truth is that your name is on our address list. Is our name on your prayer list? We would really appreciate that, because we need all the prayer support we can mustert. There are so many things that still have to be done. Videos to be filmed, editing that lies waiting, DVDs that need to be authored and every day comes with new decisions that have to be made. In the mean time, there is no money for most of these things and we know that time is running out. There is so much that can be done and should be done, in other languages too. Just think about the languages in South Africa alone. The majority of people in this world have not yet heard of Jesus Christ and how He died for them on the cross. We depend on your prayers. Without them, we would not be able to do what we have done.

Copyright © 1999 Kérugma^® Productions. All rights reserved.
PO/Box 1367, KUILS RIVER, 7579 SOUTH-AFRICA Tel: +27 (0)21 903-1901 Fax: +27 (0)21 906-2637
E-mail: info@kerugma.org.za; http://www.kerugma.org.za/