Theme: God's Spirit of life and forgiveness

Exegetical note
The fact that John here places the giving of the Holy spirit on Easter evening rather than on Pentecost proper should not detract from the central facts that (1) the bestowal of the Spirit as breath recalls God's life-giving creation of Adam in Genesis 2; and (2) the bestowal of the Spirit thus on the apostles is the basis of their mission, which here can be summarized as preaching and baptizing (which is the context for the forgiveness and retention of sins mentioned).…