John Calvin Commentary John 20:22

"And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:" — John 20:22 (ASV)

He breathed on them. No one is qualified to discharge such a difficult office, and therefore, Christ prepares the Apostles for it by the grace of his Spirit.

Indeed, to govern the Church of God, to carry the embassy of eternal salvation, to establish the kingdom of God on earth, and to raise people to heaven, is a task far beyond human capacity.

We should not be astonished, therefore, that no one is found qualified unless inspired by the Holy Spirit. For no one can speak a word concerning Christ unless the Spirit guides his tongue (1 Corinthians 12:3), so far is it from being true that anyone is competent to discharge faithfully and honestly all the duties of such an excellent office.

Again, it is the glory of Christ alone to form those whom he appoints to be teachers of his Church. The reason the fullness of the Spirit has been poured out upon him is so that he may bestow it upon each person according to a certain measure.

Receive ye the Holy Spirit. Though he continues to be the only Shepherd of his Church, he must necessarily display the power of his Spirit in the ministers whose agency he employs. This he also testified by the outward symbol, when he breathed on the Apostles; for this would not be applicable if the Spirit did not proceed from him.

All the more detestable, then, is the sacrilege of the Papists, who seize and claim for themselves the honor that belongs to the Son of God. For their mitered bishops, when they ordain priests, have the effrontery to boast of breathing the Holy Spirit on them. But the fact plainly shows how different their stinking breath is from the divine breathing of Christ; for what else do they do but change horses into donkeys?

Besides, Christ not only communicates to his disciples the Spirit he has received, but he bestows it as his own, as the Spirit he has in common with the Father. Consequently, all those who boast of giving the Spirit by breathing lay claim to the glory of divinity.

It should be observed that those whom Christ calls to the pastoral office he also adorns with the necessary gifts, so that they may be qualified to discharge the office, or at least, may not come to it empty and unprovided.

If this is true, there is no difficulty in refuting the foolish boasting of the Papists, who, while they employ lofty terms of commendation in extolling their hierarchy, cannot show a single spark of the Holy Spirit in their bishops.

They wish us to believe that they are the lawful pastors of the Church, and similarly, that they are the apostles and vicars of Christ, while it is evident that they are utterly destitute of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

A sure criterion is laid down here for judging the calling of those who govern the Church of God; and that criterion is whether we see that they have received the Holy Spirit.

What Christ chiefly intended by it, however, was to uphold the dignity of the rank of the Apostles. For it was reasonable that those who had been chosen to be the earliest and most distinguished preachers of the Gospel should possess uncommon authority.

But if Christ, at that time, bestowed the Spirit on the Apostles by breathing, it might be thought that it was superfluous to send the Holy Spirit afterwards.

I reply, the Spirit was given to the Apostles on this occasion in such a way that they were only sprinkled by his grace but were not filled with full power. For when the Spirit appeared on them in tongues of fire (Acts 2:3), they were entirely renewed.

Indeed, he did not appoint them to be heralds of his Gospel, so as to send them out immediately to the work, but ordered them to rest, as we read elsewhere:

Remain ye in the city of Jerusalem till ye are endued with power from on high,
(Luke 24:49)

And if we take all things properly into consideration, we will conclude that he does not furnish them with necessary gifts for present use, but rather that he appoints them to be the organs of his Spirit for the future. Therefore, this breathing should be understood as referring chiefly to that magnificent act of sending the Spirit which he had so often promised.

Although Christ could have bestowed grace on his Apostles by a secret inspiration, he chose to add a visible breathing to confirm them more fully.

Christ took this outward emblem from the ordinary way of speaking in the Scriptures, which very frequently compare the Spirit to wind—a comparison we briefly accounted for in the exposition of the Third Chapter of this Gospel.

But let the reader observe that the word is also joined with the visible and outward sign, for this is the source from which the sacraments derive their efficacy.

It is not that the efficacy of the Holy Spirit is contained in the word that sounds in our ears, but rather that the effect of all those things believers receive from the sacraments depends on the testimony of the word.

Christ breathes on the Apostles: they receive not only the breathing but also the Spirit. And why? Because Christ promises to them.

Similarly, in baptism we put on Christ (Galatians 3:27), we are washed by his blood (Revelation 1:5), and our old man is crucified (Romans 6:6), so that the righteousness of God may reign in us.

In the Holy Supper we are spiritually fed with the flesh and blood of Christ. From where do these derive such great efficacy but from the promise of Christ, who does and accomplishes by his Holy Spirit what he declares by his word?

Let us therefore learn that all the sacraments people have contrived are nothing but absolute mockeries or frivolous amusements, because the signs can have no truth unless they are accompanied by the word of the Lord.

Now, since we never trifle in this way with sacred things without wickedly pouring contempt on God and ruining souls, we must be most carefully on our guard against these stratagems of Satan.

If it is objected that we should not blame the Popish bishops when by breathing they consecrate their priests, because in those cases the word of Christ accompanies the sign, the answer is obvious.

1. Christ did not speak to the Apostles so as to appoint a perpetual sacrament in the Church, but intended to declare once, as we said a little earlier, that the Spirit proceeds from no other than from himself alone.
2. He never appoints people to an office without at the same time communicating strength to his ministers and furnishing them with ability.

Not to mention that in Popery the priests are ordained for a totally different, or rather a contrary purpose: namely, to murder Christ daily, while the disciples were made Apostles to slay people by the sword of the Gospel.

Yet we should also believe that it is Christ alone who gives all the blessings he represents and promises by outward signs, for he does not bid the Apostles receive the Holy Spirit from the outward breathing, but from himself.