ACC ~ John 20 v21 - 23

OVERVIEW:

Jesus reiterates his comfort for the troubled minds of the disciples (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). He commissions the disciples in love (PETER CHRYSOLOGUs), sending them on a mission to preach his message of repentance and forgiveness. They were in no way to follow their own will but the will of him that sent them (CYRIL). As the Father had sent his Son in love, so now he sends his disciples, who may undergo the same persecution Jesus did (GREGORY THE GREAT). He gradually prepares them to receive more and more of the Spirit (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). Christ gives his Spirit to the disciples more than once after the resurrection: He first gave it while he was on earth and later from heaven when the Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost, where they manifested the Spirit’s power (AUGUSTINE). This was the second breath of the Spirit, the first breath in Genesis having been stifled by willful sin (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM), while the second would enliven their faith to be bold in the preaching of the Gospel (THEODORE). The Spirit, which is the breath of God (CYRIL), is the Son’s to give (ATHANASIUS). He prepares the apostles for being sent by breathing his Spirit on them, giving them the spiritual power to remit sins (CHRYSOSTOM). The authority that the apostles have is found in Christ, and their unity, and that of the church that grew from them, is traced back to their one Lord, who binds them together through the Spirit (CYPRIAN).

Forgiveness is given by the Spirit through all of Christ’s apostles who receive his authority (THEODORE) to both forgive and retain sins. Both binding and loosing sin are allowed to the church; neither is allowed to heresy (AMBROSE). Christ gave this authority to all of the apostles (JEROME) and confirms the sentence they pronounce (CHRYSOSTOM). They can only forgive what God forgives (ORIGEN). The transformative power of ordination given by the Spirit to the apostles provided them with the strength they needed to fulfill their calling (CYRIL). But those who receive such power through the gift of ordination should understand that with great power comes great responsibility (GREGORY THE GREAT, CHRYSOSTOM).

20:21 | Peace Again, and the Disciples’ Commissioning

PEACE REITERATED TO COMFORT TROUBLED MINDS

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: What does this repetition in bestowing peace mean, except that he wants the tranquility that he had announced to their minds individually also to be kept collectively among them by granting peace repeatedly? He knew, at any rate, that they were going to have far from insignificant struggles in the future stemming from his delay, with one boasting that he had persevered in faith [1] and another in grief because he had doubted. [2] … Peter denies, [3] John flees, [4] Thomas doubts, all forsake him: [5] unless Christ had granted forgiveness for these transgressions by his peace, even Peter, who was the first in rank of all of them, would have been considered inferior and undeserving of his subsequent elevation to the primacy. SERMON 84.5. [6]

[1] Peter, perhaps.

[2] Thomas; see Jn 20:28.

[3] See Mt 26:69-75.

[4] See Mk 14:51-52. See also Sermon 78.4, 8 for the identification of the fleeing youth with John, although it was likely John Mark, rather than John the Evangelist.

[5] See Mt 26:56.

[6] FC 110:51*.

HE SENDS THEM IN LOVE

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The mention of his having been sent does not diminish him as Son but declares that what he wants to be understood here is not the power of the one who sends but the charity of the one who has been sent. This is why he says, “Just as the Father,” not the Lord, “has sent me, so I send you.” In other words, I send you no longer with the authority of a Master but with all the affection of someone who loves you. I send you to endure hunger, to suffer the burden of chains, to the squalor of prison, to bear all kinds of punishments and to undergo bitter death for all: all of which charity, and not power, enjoins on human minds. SERMON 84.6. [1]

[1] FC 110:51-52*.

THE APOSTOLIC MISSION

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Christ says that he sent the apostles even as the Father had sent him, that they might fully comprehend their mission: to call sinners to repentance and to minister to those who were caught up in evil, whether of body or soul. In all their dealings on this earth, they were not in any way to follow their own will but the will of him who sent them. They were also called to save the world by their teaching, so far as was possible. And in truth we shall find that holy disciples were eager to show the utmost enthusiasm in performing all these things. It is not difficult for people to see this, if they give their attention to the Acts of the Apostles and the words of the holy Paul. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12.1. [1]

[1] LF 48:671**.

THE FATHER SENDS THE SON, THE SON SENDS YOU

GREGORY THE GREAT: The Father sent his Son, appointing him to become a human person for the redemption of the human race. He willed him to come into the world to suffer—and yet he loved his Son whom he sent to suffer. The Lord is sending his chosen apostles into the world, not to the world’s joys but to suffer as he himself was sent. Therefore as the Son is loved by the Father and yet is sent to suffer, so also the disciples are loved by the Lord, who nevertheless sends them into the world to suffer. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 26. [1]

[1] CS 123:201-2.

20:22 | The Breath of the Spirit Given and Received

THE GRADUAL MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: [Christ’s disciples] were able to receive [the Spirit] on three occasions: before he was glorified by the passion, after he was glorified by the resurrection and after his ascension. … Now the first of these manifests him—the healing of the sick and casting out of evil spirits and so does that breathing on them after the resurrection, which was clearly a divine inspiration. And so too the present distribution of the fiery tongues. But the first manifested him indistinctly, the second more expressly, this present one more perfectly, since he is no longer present only in energy but … substantially, associating with us and dwelling in us. ON PENTECOST, ORATION 41.11. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 7:383.

TWOFOLD GIVING OF THE SPIRIT

AUGUSTINE: But the reason why, after his resurrection, he both gave the Holy Spirit, first on earth, and afterward sent him from heaven, [1] is in my judgment this: that “love is shed abroad in our hearts,” [2] by that gift itself, whereby we love God and our neighbors, according to those two commandments, “on which hang all the law and the prophets.” [3] And Jesus Christ signified this by giving them the Holy Spirit once on earth because of the love of our neighbor and a second time from heaven because of the love of God. And if some other reason may perhaps be given for this double gift of the Holy Spirit, at any rate we ought not to doubt that the same Holy Spirit was given when Jesus breathed on them, of whom he says, “Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” [4] where this Trinity is especially commended to us. It is therefore he who was also given from heaven on the day of Pentecost, that is, ten days after the Lord ascended into heaven. ON THE TRINITY 15.26.46. [5]

[1] Acts 2:4.

[2] Rom 5:5.

[3] Mt 22:37-40.

[4] Mt 28:19.

[5] NPNF 1 3:224**; see also Novatian On the Trinity 29.

RECEIVING THE SPIRIT DISTINGUISHED FROM BEING CLOTHED IN IT

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: This was the second time he breathed on human beings—his first breath [1] having been stifled through willful sins. [2] … But though he bestowed his grace then, he was to lavish it yet more bountifully. And he says to them, I am ready to give it even now, but the vessel cannot yet hold it. For awhile therefore receive as much grace as you can bear. And look forward for yet more. “But stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.” [3] Receive it in part now. Then, you shall wear it in its fullness. For the one who receives often possesses only a part of the gift. But the one who is clothed is completely enfolded by his robe. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 17.12. [4]

[1] See Gen 2:7.

[2] Of Adam and Eve.

[3] Lk 24:49.

[4] NPNF 2 7:127*.

THE LIFE-GIVING POWER OF THE SPIRIT

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: With these words he teaches them the identity of the giver and the distributor of all these goods. His “breathing” convinces them to have no doubt about this because the body was created in the beginning as immobile and inanimate but then received life, which it did not have in itself when the soul entered into it through “breathing,” as the blessed Moses said. [1] After Jesus breathed for the first time, he mentioned the Spirit in order to show that, as then nothing prevented the body from living even though it did not by nature possess [life], which the soul by entering gave it, so now they had to believe that the body of human beings was made imperishable through resurrection, because the Spirit who gives it this strength is powerful. Therefore he said to them, You must truly believe in what has been said to you and must have no doubts about the resurrection. You must not reject the honor of the apostolate because you are scared of being sent as messengers of a new doctrine into the world. You will indeed receive the effect of the Spirit, which, at the right time, will confer on you resurrection and immortality.

Through the Spirit, you will receive in this life an amazing, supernatural strength to perform unheard-of miracles by a mere word. You will be able to face easily any afflictions that may befall you because of those who oppose your preaching. And even though there were many other things to be accomplished in them through the Spirit, without mentioning them, he mentioned the most important argument of all. Here, he says, is what will clearly demonstrate to you the strength of the Spirit. Indeed, as soon as you receive it, you will be able to absolve the sins of whomever you want, as well as to pronounce a sentence of condemnation against anyone. If you, who are human, after receiving the gift of the Spirit, will be able to do all those things that are of God—indeed, only he has the power to judge—I leave to you to consider what the effectiveness of the Spirit is. Once you have received it, you must no longer doubt. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 7.20.22. [2]

[1] Gen 2:7.

[2] CSCO 4 3:354-55.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE BREATH OF GOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Son, sharing the same nature as God the Father, has the Spirit in the same manner that the Father would be understood to have the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit is not something added or which comes from without, for it would be naïve—even insane—to hold such an opinion. But God the Father has the Spirit, just as each one of us has our own breath within us that pours forth from the innermost parts of the body. This is why Christ physically breathed on his disciples, showing that as the breath proceeds physically from the human mouth, so too does Christ, in a manner befitting God, pour forth the [Spirit] from the divine essence. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 9.1. [1]

[1] LF 48:303**.

THE SPIRIT IS THE SON’S TO GIVE

ATHANASIUS: [He gave the Spirit] to the disciples, demonstrating his Godhead and his majesty and intimating that he was not inferior but equal to the Spirit. And so, he gave the Spirit, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and “I send him,” and “he shall glorify me,” and “Whatever he hears is what he shall speak.” [1] … Through whom then and from whom is it that the Spirit should be given but through the Son, to whom also the Spirit belongs? And when were we enabled to receive it, except when the Word became man? DISCOURSES AGAINST THE ARIANS 1.12.50. [2]

[1] Jn 16:14.

[2] NPNF 2 4:336**.

PREPARED TO RECEIVE THE SPIRIT

CHRYSOSTOM: How is it that he says elsewhere, “If I do not go away, he [1] will not come,” [2] and yet he gives them the Spirit here? Some say that by breathing he did not give them the Spirit but prepared them to receive the Spirit by breathing on them. For if Daniel’s senses were so overpowered by the sight of the angel, [3] how would they have been overwhelmed in receiving that unutterable gift, if he had not first prepared them for it! … It would not be wrong, however, to say that they received then the gift of a certain spiritual power, not to raise the dead and do miracles but to remit sins. For the gifts of the Spirit are of different kinds. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.3. [4]

[1] The Comforter.

[2] Jn 16:7.

[3] Dan 10:18-19.

[4] NPNF 1 14:325**; PG 59:471.

THE BEGINNING PROCEEDS FROM UNITY

CYPRIAN: To all the apostles, after his resurrection, he gives an equal power and says, “As the Father has sent me, even so send I you: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever’s sins you remit, they shall be remitted to him. And whoever’s sins you retain, they shall be retained.” And yet, that he might promote unity, he arranged by his authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one … so that the beginning proceeds from unity. And this one church, also, the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs designated in the person of our Lord, saying, “My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bore her.” [1] THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 4. [2]

[1] Song 6:9.

[2] ANF 5:422*.

20:23 | The Breath of the Spirit and Forgiveness

THE APOSTLES RECEIVE CHRIST’S AUTHORITY

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: What truly wonderful gifts! Indeed, it does not only give the power over the elements and the faculty to make signs and wonders but also concedes that God may name them [judges], and therefore the servants receive from him the authority that is proper to him. The prerogative to absolve and retain sins only belongs to God, and the Jews sometimes raised this objection with the Savior, saying, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [1] The Lord generously gave this authority to those who honored him. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 7.20.22-25. [2]

[1] Mk 2:7.

[2] CSCO 4 3:357.

THE CHURCH FORGIVES AND RETAINS SIN

AMBROSE: They affirm that they are showing great reverence for God, to whom alone they reserve the power of forgiving sins. But in truth no one does him greater injury than those who choose to prune his commandments and reject the office entrusted to them. For the Lord Jesus himself said in the Gospel, “Receive the Holy Spirit; whoever’s sins you forgive they are forgiven to them, and whoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.” Who is it that honors him most, the one who obeys his bidding or the one who rejects it?

The church holds fast its obedience on either side by both retaining and remitting sin. Heresy is on the one side cruel and on the other disobedient. It wishes to bind what it will not loosen and will not loosen what it has bound, whereby it condemns itself by its own sentence. For the Lord willed that the power of binding and of loosing should be the same, and he sanctioned each by a similar condition. So whoever does not have the power to loose does not have the power to bind. For as, according to the Lord’s word, the one who has the power to bind also has the power to loose, their teaching destroys itself, inasmuch as those who deny that they have the power of loosing ought also to deny that of binding. For how can the one be allowed and the other disallowed? It is plain and evident that either each is allowed or each is disallowed in the case of those to whom each has been given. Each is allowed to the church; neither is allowed to heresy. For this power has been entrusted to priests alone. It is only right, therefore, that the church, which has true priests, claims it. Heresy, which does not have the priests of God, [1] cannot claim it. And by not claiming this power heresy pronounces its own sentence, that not possessing priests it cannot claim priestly power. CONCERNING REPENTANCE 1.2.6-7. [2]

[1] This is not a denial of the validity of Novatian ordinations, which were admitted by the Eighth Canon of the Council of Nicaea, but of their lawful jurisdiction.

[2] NPNF 2 10:330**.

THE CHURCH FOUNDED ON ALL OF THE APOSTLES

JEROME: But you say the church was founded on Peter, [1] although elsewhere [2] the same is attributed to all the apostles, and they all receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the church depends on them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for schism. AGAINST JOVINIANUS 1.26. [3]

[1] Mt 16:18.

[2] Mt 18:18.

[3] NPNF 2 6:366**. Origen makes a similar comment in his Commentary on Matthew 12.11 (ANF 10:546).

THE MASTER CONFIRMS THE SENTENCE OF THE SERVANTS

CHRYSOSTOM: Anyone who considers how much it means to be able, in his humanity still entangled in flesh and blood, to approach that blessed and immaculate Being [1] will see clearly how great the honor is that the grace of the Spirit has bestowed on priests. [2] It is through them that this work is performed, and other work no less than this in its bearing on our dignity and our salvation.

For earth’s inhabitants, having their life in this world, have been entrusted with the stewardship of heavenly things, and they have received an authority that God has not given to angels or archangels. Not to them was it said, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose, shall be loosed.” [3] Those who are lords on earth have indeed the power to bind, but only people’s bodies. But this binding touches the very soul and reaches through heaven. What priests do on earth, God ratifies above. The Master confirms the decisions of his servants. Indeed, he has given them nothing less than the whole authority of heaven. For he says, “Whoever’s sins you forgive are forgiven, and whoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.” What authority could be greater than that? “The Father has given all judgment to the Son.” [4] But I see that the Son has placed it all in their hands. For they have been raised to this prerogative, as though they were already translated to heaven and had transcended human nature and were freed from our passions.

Again, if a king confers on one of his subjects the right to imprison and release again at will, that person is the envy and admiration of all. But although the priest has received from God an authority as much greater than that, as heaven is more precious than earth and souls than bodies, some people think he has received so slight an honor that they can imagine someone entrusted with it actually despising the gift. God save us from such madness! For it is patently mad to despise this great office without which we cannot attain to salvation or God’s good promises. For if one “cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again of water and the Spirit,” [5] and anyone who does not eat the flesh of the Lord and drink his blood is excluded from eternal life, [6] and all these things can happen through no other agency except their sacred hands (the priests’, I mean), how can anyone, without their help, escape the fire of Gehenna or win his appointed crown? ON THE PRIESTHOOD 3.5. [7]

[1] That is, God.

[2] Or pastors.

[3] See Mt 18:18.

[4] Jn 5:22.

[5] Jn 3:5.

[6] See Jn 6:53.

[7] COP 71-73*.

WHEN TO FORGIVE, WHEN TO RETAIN

ORIGEN: Consider the person inspired by Jesus as the apostles were and who can be known by his fruits [1] as someone who has received the Holy Spirit and become spiritual by being led by the Spirit as a son of God to do everything by reason. [2] This person forgives whatever God forgives and retains sins that cannot be healed, serving God like the prophets by speaking not his own words but those of the divine will. So he, too, serves God, who alone has authority to forgive. ON PRAYER 28.8. [3]

[1] Mt 7:16, 20; Lk 6:44.

[2] See 1 Cor 2:14-15; Rom 8:14; Gal 5:18.

[3] OSW 150-51*.

TRANSFORMING POWER OF ORDINATION

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: After dignifying the holy apostles with the glorious distinction of the apostleship and appointing them ministers and priests of the divine altar, as I have just said, he at once sanctifies them by promising his Spirit to them through the outward sign of his breath, that we might be firmly convinced that the Holy Spirit is not alien to the Son but consubstantial with him and through him proceeding from the Father. He shows that the gift of the Spirit necessarily attends those who are ordained by him to be apostles of God. And why? Because they could have done nothing pleasing to God and could not have triumphed over the snares of sin if they had not been “clothed with power from on high” [1] and been transformed into something other than they were before. … [Jesus] consecrates by actual sanctification, making people partakers in his nature, through participation in the Spirit and in some sort strengthening the nature of humanity into a power and glory that is superhuman. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12.1. [2]

[1] Lk 24:49.

[2] LF 48:671-73**. Leo the Great cites this same passage when urging that ordinations should take place on Sundays, since that is the day Jesus ordained his apostles. See Letter 9.2.

WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

GREGORY THE GREAT: It is pleasant to observe the disciples, lifted up to a height of glory equal to the burden of humility to which they were called. You see how they not only acquire peace of mind concerning themselves but even receive the power of releasing others from their bonds. They share in the right of divine judgment so that as God’s vicars they may withhold forgiveness of sins from some and grant it to others. So it was fitting that only those who had consented to be humbled for the sake of God be raised up by him. Those who feared God’s strict judgment were made judges of hearts. Those who were themselves fearful of being condemned condemn some and set others free. Their place in the church is now held by the bishops. Those who obtain the position of governing receive authority to loose and to bind. It is a great honor, but the burden is heavy. In truth it is difficult for one who does not know how to exercise control over his own life to become the judge of someone else’s life. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 26. [1]

[1] CS 123:204*.

IMPORTANCE OF PRIESTLY VIGILANCE

CHRYSOSTOM: You should hold your pastor [1] in high honor. You care about your own affairs, and if you care for them well you won’t have to give an account to anyone else. But your pastor, even if he orders his own life well, if he does not have an anxious concern for your life as well, yes and of all those around him, he is sent to hell with the evildoers. … Therefore, knowing the greatness of their danger, give them a large measure of your goodwill. … They should receive your most favorable attention. But if you join with the rest in trampling on them … and throw them into despondency, you weaken their hands and render them, as well as yourselves, an easy prey to the waves, no matter how courageous they are. … You have respect for secular authorities, but when God appoints do we despise him who is appointed and abuse him and besmirch him with ten thousand reproaches, and though forbidden to judge our brothers, do we sharpen our tongue against our pastors? … I am not saying that I approve of those who exercise their pastorate unworthily, but I do greatly pity them and weep for them. … And even if there is much to say against the way they have lived their lives, this in no way invalidates what they do by commission from God. … But why am I speaking only of pastors? Not even an angel or archangel can do anything on its own. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit do it all while the pastor only furnishes the tongue and the hand. For it would not be right that the salvation of those who come to the sacraments in faith should be endangered by another’s wickedness. [2] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.4. [3]

[1] The Greek speaks of “priests,” but both can be rightly understood.

[2] Augustine makes the same point in his writings against the Donatists.

[3] NPNF 1 14:326**; PG 59:471-72.