If the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, then what about John 20:22?
John 20:21-22 (ESV)
21 Jesus said to them [His disciples less Thomas] again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Why it is Puzzling:
In v22, Jesus asks His disciples to receive the Holy Spirit. Based on a plain reading of the text, one would commonly understand this to mean that the Holy Spirit was given at that point and thus the disciples received the Holy Spirit at that point. However, this would bring about much cognitive dissonance to readers who are aware that the Holy Spirit was only given on the day of Pentecost. So how is it that there is another earlier episode of the Spirit’s coming?
In fact, in John 16:7, John writes of Jesus saying: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” So if Jesus has not yet ascended, then how can “the Helper” (Holy Spirit) come at this point?
Alternative interpretation:
A huge clue in resolving this conundrum is to see John’s style of writing in the rest of the book of John. For example, in John 17:5 (ESV), John wrote of Jesus saying: “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” Also in John 13:31 (ESV), John writes: “When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”
So in John’s writings, we do see Jesus making statements that sound like things will take place immediately but actually the description is meant to take place in future rather than immediately. Therefore, it is a better interpretation to also see v22 as a future reference to Acts 2 where the Holy Spirit was first given and descended in the upper room.
Furthermore, if the giving of the Spirit is to have happened immediately in v22, then the events following the giving of the Spirit are indeed very disappointing. For example, afterwards, we see Thomas still in disbelief (20:27) and the disciples are still living behind locked doors [presumably in fear of the Jewish authorities (20:26)]. This is in contrast with the boldness that ensues after the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2.