John 20:22'

Three principles of Bible interpretation

There have been a number of authors write on the subject of Hermeneutics, or principles of Bible interpretation. They have come up with a number of such principles. Here are 2 main ones. In its simplest form Hermeneutics can be defined as applying logic to the study of Scripture. Principle 1: It is one of the foundation principles of Bible interpretation that the best interpreter of Scripture is the Bible itself.

2 Tim 3:16: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.(KJV)1 Literally in the Greek the translation is "All Scripture, God-Breathed" (so translated by Wescott and Hort in their N.T. Greek text)2. Some have translated this verse as "All divinely inspired Scripture is profitable for doctrine, etc." meaning that not all scripture is inspired, or that only the O.T. is inspired (Adam Clarke)3. However the Greek text has the word

"All Scripture God-Breathed AND beneficial toward teaching...". What this verse is saying is that the author of the Bible is God Himself. The Bible was written by 40 different men over a period of 1500 years but each word penned was God-breathed. Because of this we can expect there to be no contradictions in the Bible. If there are no contradictions in the Bible then all scriptures on the Holy Spirit must agree without conflict. Our doctrine must fit the Scripture, not the Scripture fit our doctrine.

"The context of any verse is the entire Scripture. This is what is meant by 'Scripture interprets Scripture.'"4 "The most comprehensive rule of Biblical interpretation is: Compare Scripture with Scripture."5 Principle 2: The Bible is not organized like a lawyers manual or a text book of systematic theology. The doctrines of God are laid out in many places in the Bible, a little here and a little there.

Isa 28:9-13 "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." (KJV)

The full revelation of God is unfolded as we study the entire Word of God. It is interesting that this revelation of the nature of God's Word occurs in a passage containing a prophesy of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

"The obscure or doubtful passages are to be explained by what is plain and simple. A subject may be only incidentally noticed in one place, but be treated with extensive fullness in another."6 Principle 3: Silence in the Scripture proves nothing. You must build your theology and center your faith on what the Bible does say, not on what it does not say.

This principle in action is clearly seen in the following example. In Acts 11 when Peter was giving his defense to the church in Jerusalem (explaining why he was in a Gentile's house) he did not mention that they spoke in tongues. But we know that they did because Acts 10:46 says they did.

John 20:22

To put these three principles into action lets look at the following passage. John 20:21,22 "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you; as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." KJV

This scripture is used to prove that the disciples received the Holy Spirit prior to Pentecost without speaking in tongues. The allegation being that you can receive the Holy Ghost without speaking in tongues. So our question is, what happened here? Did they receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit? If so, did they speak in tongues or not?

To answer this question lets make a chart. We will divide the various pieces of information and suppositions into 3 categories: Facts: Things that are specifically stated. Probabilities: Things not specifically stated but strongly probable.

Possibilities: Things not specifically stated and less than strongly probable.

The verse above can be broken down as follows. John 20:22 Summary Verse Evidence Fact Probability Possibility John 20:22 Jesus breathed on them They received the Holy Spirit They did not receive the Holy Spirit Jesus said "Receive the Holy Spirit" They did speak in tongues They did not speak in tongues This is about all we can glean from this verse. We can't say definitely whether they did or didn't receive the Holy Spirit and if so, whether they did or didn't speak in tongues. To resolve the question we must look at other scriptures.

Let's look for more clues.

John 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.). Fact 3. Jesus had to be glorified before the Holy Spirit could be given.

Aside: In the section on "Terms for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit we study the terms used in the New Testament to refer to the BHS. Such as; "Baptized with the Holy Spirit", "Received the Holy Spirit", "The Holy Spirit given", The promise of the Father", "Filled with the Holy Spirit", "the Holy Spirit fallen upon", etc. I will show by plain text of Scripture that these are all interchangeable terms referring to the same thing.

Q. When was Jesus glorified? Lenski's commentary7 says: "The redemptive work of Jesus must first be completed, he must return to His sender (v. 33), rise from the tomb and ascend into heaven. Jesus at the last supper said "Now is the son of man glorified" - Jn 13:31. But he must have been speaking in prophetic anticipation because later that evening (Jn. 17:1) He prayed "Father the hour is come, glorify thy son". Not until Acts 3:13 after He had ascended do we read "The God of our Fathers' hath glorified His Son Jesus."

Here's another piece of information. Jn. 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." See Jn 14:26 The Comforter = The Holy Spirit. Fact 4. Jesus had to "go away" first. Here's a last piece of the puzzle.

Ac. 1:4,5 "And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Fact 5. They clearly had not received the Holy Spirit at the time of Jesus ascension.

Aside: "Not many days hence" In fact it was 7 days later. We know this because Pentecost is 50 days after Passover. Jesus was 3 days in the grave ,and after his resurrection was seen by the disciples for 40 days (Ac 1:3).

50 - 43 = 7.

Assembling all the facts we have the following: Summary of Known Facts Verse Evidence Fact Probability Possibility John 20:22 Jesus breathed on them They received the Holy Spirit They did not receive the Holy Spirit Jesus said "Receive the Holy Spirit" They did speak in tongues They did not speak in tongues John 7:39 Jesus must first be glorified John 16:7 Jesus had to "go away" first Act 1:4 They still had not received the H.S. at the time of Jesus' ascension.

Conclusion:

So what happened in Jn 20:22? Rom 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

This passage in Romans says that to be saved you must confess with your mouth that "Jesus is Lord" and you must believe that God raised Him from the dead. 1 Cor 12:3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

And this passage in I Corinthians says that it is impossible to say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.  This does not mean mearly mouthing the words.  It means confessing a relationship that you now have with Jesus whereby He has become your Lord.

This passage in John 20 transpired on the evening of the day that Christ rose from the dead.  This was the first time the disciples had seen him after the resurrection.  In fact it was the first time they could actually be saved because as Rom 10:9 says a condition of salvation is to believe God raised Him from the dead.  I Cor 12 says that they had to have the Holy Spirit to be able to come to this saving knowledge and receive him as their Lord.

What we are witnessing here is the birth of the New Testament church.  This is the first time where a group of people had their sins washed away by the blood of Christ and were saved. That there was another experience waiting for them is obvious for Jesus told them after this event to wait for the promise of the Father (Luke 24:49).