John 20:21-23

“ Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be to you! As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. 22. And, having said this, he breathed on them and says to them, Receive [the] Holy Spirit. 23. Whosesoever sins you remit, they are remitted to them; whosesoever sins you retain, they are retained. ”

It is no longer only as to believers that Jesus desires to give them peace; it is in view of their future vocation. Peace is the foundation of the apostleship; hence the repetition of the prayer: Peace be to you! This message of reconciliation, which Jesus brings to them, they will have the task of preaching to the world (2 Corinthians 5:20). Jesus first confers on them the office (John 20:21 b); then He communicates to them the gift, in the measure in which He can do so in His present position (John 20:22); finally, He reveals to them the wonderful greatness of this task (John 20:23).

There is properly only one mission from heaven to earth: it is that of Jesus. He is the apostle (Hebrews 3:1). That of the disciples is included in His, and will finally realize it for the world. Hence it comes to pass that Jesus, when speaking of Himself, employs the more official term ἀπέσταλκε : it is an embassy; while, in passing to them, He uses the more simple term πέμπω : it is a sending.