The problem of “Receive the Holy Spirit”

And with that he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.   This verse is from John 20:22.  Yes - John's Gospel.  This is one of those verses that just makes you want to ask, "What is going on here?  Didn't that happen later?  Wasn't that in Acts?  On Pentecost?" Let's start someplace unexpected.  In the middle.  At the very beginning of the book of Acts, written by Luke.

Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven

Ac 1:1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Ac 1:6 So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Ac 1:7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Ac 1:9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Ac 1:10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

You can read more on that last verse in "Why do you stand here looking into the sky?".

So this is from Acts.  After the Gospels.  After Jesus' death and resurrection.  And Jesus is telling the apostles they will soon be receiving the Holy Spirit.  Was this a mistake?  Was the verse from John a mistake?  What is going on?

To check further, let's make sure we properly remember what happened on Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

Ac 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Ac 2:5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Yes - all of them were filled by the Holy Spirit.

And what about the promise Jesus made before His crucifixion?

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

Jn 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Jn 14:22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jn 14:23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. Jn 14:25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Jn 14:28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.

Let's see now.  But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Will send, will teach, will remind.  That's all talking about the future.  And it was all said before Jesus' death on the cross.

We seem to have a problem here.

John 14 says the Holy Spirit will be coming.  And it's going to be after Jesus dies on the cross. John 20 says Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  But at that time, Jesus had not yet been crucified. Acts 1 says, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.  Here, Jesus has died, been resurrected, and is about to return to Heaven.  And He's still saying the Holy Spirit is coming.  And this is after what happened in John 20. And then in Acts 2 we read, All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. This begs the question, what was that breathing thing from John's Gospel?  Did it not say, receive the Holy Spirit? The answer is interesting.  Fascinating.  Disappointing.  Fascinating, because it appears to be something other than what we think.  Disappointing because, well, because of what you'll soon see. Now, let's state the problem here - so that we're all on the same page. First, the problem is not that the Bible is wrong. Second the problem is not that any of the statements made were incorrect. Third, it's not that the events were recorded incorrectly. No - the problem is that something's not coming across correctly.  Something is, as they say, lost in translation.  Literally.  Almost.  In this case, something's added in the translation.  One seemingly innocuous little word.  Three letters.

The

Yes - three little letters. And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit." It looks right.  In fact, it's the correct translation that looks wrong! Do you see that arrow under "the"?  It means "the" was added to "Holy Spirit".  In this case, it's to make the sentence grammatically correct.  However, in the process we seem to have completely destroyed our chances of comprehending what actually happened. You may remember, in Old Testament times, the Spirit of God (The Holy Spirit) was given only to certain people and even then, only for a certain amount of time.  There's an excellent example of this in Numbers.  It's from the time when the people were grumbling for meat, rather than just the manna.  The entire passage is included here, to show that having the Spirit of God was a limited experience back then.

Quail From the LORD

Nu 11:4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”