"[Jesus] breathed on [His disciples] and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.' " (John 20:22,23)
When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He brought them more than proof that He was indeed alive -- He gave them new life. As Jesus breathes on His disciples, He is giving them the Holy Spirit. This is the ruach, the breath, the life, the Spirit of God filling them up and changing them. Something new is expected of them in light of this Spirit. They are to be new people, new creations. This act of breathing the Holy Spirit out brings new life for the disciples, one in which they follow a resurrected Christ who is Life, who is Spirit, who is Breath. With each breath, we too can take in the glory of God and be reminded of the Spirit that fills us and sustains us and changes us.
Merciful God, we breathe in Your Spirit as the disciples did before us. May the life You give us extend to others as we forgive and seek to be forgiven.
-- Carla Barnhill in The Green Bible Devotional
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