Luke's Pentecost is the one that is familiar to most Christians. The Eleven (and others) are in hiding. It is just weeks after the Crucifixion, and they are terrified for their lives. Even an appearance of the Risen Lord hasn't taken the edge off their terror. They are trapped in Jerusalem, if not by a Roman/Sanhedrin dragnet, then by their own fears. Suddenly, the wind picks up and there's a loud sound -- think of sitting under at the edge of a Logan runway as a 757 takes off:
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. (Acts 2: 1-4 )
The once-fearful disciples are transforrmed in a trice to bold declaimers of the Good News. They rush out to preach to the masses of Jews assembled to celebrate the feast and make 3000 converts in a single day. A noisy, carefree and raucous affair!
John's account is much more lowkey and intimate. It is the evening of Easter Sunday. Again, the disciples are gathered and in hiding "for fear of the Jews." Suddenly, without fanfare, Jesus is among them. "Peace," he greets them -- great news to allay fears that they are being haunted by the spirit of the one they abandoned.
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:19-21)Two greetings of peace, and a job offer.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:19-21)Remember that this story takes place two days after the Crucufixion. The disciples are in fear of their lives, and likely guilt-ridden about their inbaility to protect their master. They loath themselves and each other. The wild story of the women about an empty tomb seem cruel -- they can't even keep track of their teacher's corpse. Now, comes Jesus, ignoring their failings and refusing the opportunity to recriminate. These disciples, desprately in need of forgiveness themselves, are commanded to offer forgiveness to others. Out of the depth of their own inadequacy and woundedness, they are ordered to pour a bounty of healing upon others.
There is something comforting about the way that John and Luke tell their Pentecost stories. One offers a glimpse ino the public face of the Church -- preaching, teaching, fearless, expanding outward. The other offers a complementary vision of inner healing, restoration and reconciliation with Jesus, and thus with God. The disciples of Jesus, before they embark on their mission of evangeliziong the world, are not gifted with instant feelings of "let's let bygones be bygones," but with a forgiveness that comes from becoming agents of forgiveness. Theirs is not a forgiveness that comes instantaneously like magic, but one that requires time, effort and application. This is much like our own experience of forgiveness. It's not an immediate result of prayer or abosolution, but requires struggle and reflection. Perhaps, like Christ's guilt-ridden disciples, it comes through the active forgivenss of the sins of others. "By his stripes we are healed" becomes, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
There is no free lunch or instant salvation implied in John's Pentecost narrartive, but a slow transformation that is dependent on our willingness to practice that forgiveness and normalization of relationships that Christ offered his disciples on that first Easter/Pentecost.
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