John’s Account Of The Great Commission

by Micky Galloway

John 20:21-23, “Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace (be) unto you: as the 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 Spirit: whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever (sins) ye retain, they are retained.” This is John’s account of the great commission and is not as complete as the Synoptic gospel accounts (cf. Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-48). However, the basic message is the same.

Context: Jesus had sent the apostles on a limited commission “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6). This anticipated a much larger task to which they were sent later. In the prayer of Jesus in John 17, our Lord said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:17-18 KJV). After his resurrection Jesus said to them, “As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21). That brings us to the very meaning of the word “apostle.” An apostle is one sent. He is one who goes on the business of the one who sends him. Let us summarize the things said in the four accounts of the great commission. The apostles were to “teach” or “preach the gospel” to “all nations, beginning from Jerusalem,” when they would “be clothed with power from on high.” They were to preach the gospel of “repentance and remission of sins … in His name.” The people were to believe the gospel, (i.e., in the Christ preached), repent of their sins at Christ’s command, and be baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The promised result was those believing, repenting, and being baptized should be saved (i.e., receive remission of sins).

Binding and Loosing: In preaching these things the apostles were binding and loosing. What does that mean? Those obeying were to have their sins remitted, those refusing would have their sins retained. Jesus said the same thing to Peter (Matthew 16:19), and to all of the apostles in Matthew 18:18, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (KJV). The New American Standard Version translates the tense of the verbs with great accuracy as follows: “shall have been bound in heaven” and “shall have been loosed in heaven.” This conforms to Psalms 119:89, “For ever, O Jehovah, Thy word is settled in heaven.” The apostles would be involved in the work of making known (revealing) the settled will of God in heaven. Their work was of the greatest importance and their word to be respected. “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me” (Matthew 10:40). Likewise, “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me” (Luke 10:16). They were not at liberty to preach their own message but they were to preach what already had been “bound and loosed in heaven” (cf. Matthew 16:19; 18:18; I Thessalonians 2:13; I Corinthians 1:21).

The apostles were guided by the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. These men would not be left to their own devices in such an important work. Jesus said to them, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). In that setting He said, “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” (John 16:7). Further, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, (these) shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). Later Paul said “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things yea, the deep things of God … Which things we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth … But we have the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:9-16). What the apostles taught as they were guided by the Spirit was not human wisdom. It was the word of God already settled in heaven.

Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” Jesus appeared in the gathering of His apostles who huddled behind closed doors in fear. This was His first appearance to all of them except Thomas since His resurrection earlier that day. After saying, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” … he “breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-23). When Jesus “breathed on them” and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit,” He employed a fitting gesture to prophecy what would occur (future) when the Spirit would come upon them to lead and guide them into all truth. Inspiration means “God breathed.” We know that Jesus did not then and there impart the Spirit as their guide because later, after His resurrection, we learn that the receiving of the Holy Spirit was still yet future. He said, “For John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence” (Acts 1:5) and, “Ye shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you” (Acts 1:8). It was not until ten days after His ascension, on the day of Pentecost, that they began to speak “as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). But what Jesus said to them is urgent! As prophesied, they would go forth to speak under the direction of the Holy Spirit. They would present the terms by which God would remit sins. He charged them to go and preach the gospel to every creature and said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16 KJV). “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:46-49). On that first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, Peter commanded, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). The terms of the Great Commission were to be preached by the apostles (by inspiration of the Holy Spirit) in all the world until the end of the age. Upon obedient faith to that message delivered by them, lost men and women would have their sins remitted. But those who refused the message would have their sins retained. They would not be forgiven.

Here in John’s account of the great commission is promised to the apostles, as it pertains to the forgiveness of sins, the power to remit and to retain. They become the ambassadors of Christ (cf. II Corinthians 5:20), to declare to the world Christ’s law of pardon. None of these things were to be done until the apostles should be empowered from on high by the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 24:49). This power came upon them the Pentecost following Christ’s ascension, the record of which is found in Acts 2. These men had no successors wielding such power. What an awesome task these men had.