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Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 21-22).
When Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit to his disciples, the language hearkens back to Ezekiel’s visit to the valley of dry bones, when God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel prophesies over the bones. He calls for the Great Breath to come and breathe on the dry bones, and the good news is, these dry bones live!
Just like those bones Ezekiel saw, we can say, “God has breathed on me.” Just like the disciples on that fear-filled Easter evening, we can say, “Jesus has breathed on me.”
Whether we find ourselves behind locked doors or dried up in a valley, God’s Spirit is blowing. When we find ourselves barricaded behind a wall of anxiety, our hearts full of stress, we can say, “Jesus has breathed on me.” The gift of the Spirit allows Jesus to be present with the disciples. Today that same gift of the Spirit allows Jesus to be present with us.
This message is excerpted from “Breathe on us.” by Angela !Khabeb in the March/April 2023 Gather magazine.