Оканчивая объяснения Писания, Иисус сказал, что всему, что произошло с Ним, надлежало быть; надлежит также проповедовать во всех народах покаяние и прощение грехов во имя Его. И проповедовать это должны

вы... как

свидетели сему. Мир вам! как послал Меня Отец,

так

и Я посылаю вас (Лк. 24, 48; Ин. 20, 21).

Сказав это, Иисус

He breathed, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, they will remain.

Giving the Apostles the Authority to Forgive Sins

In His farewell conversation with the Apostles, before His sufferings and death, Jesus told them that He would beseech the Father, and the Father would give them another Comforter, the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17), this Comforter would not come to them unless He, Jesus, departed (John 14:16-17), but when He, the Spirit of truth, came, He would guide them into all truth (John 16:16). 13). From these words we must conclude that the Holy Spirit will be sent to the Apostles by the Father Himself at the request of the Son, but not by the Son. Therefore, the Orthodox Church recognizes the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the Father, but not from the Son; The Roman Catholic Church, on the basis of the above-quoted words of Jesus (receive the Holy Spirit), recognizes that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son

80.

In connection with these words of Jesus, John Chrysostom says: "As a king, when he sends governors, gives them the power to imprison and to release them from prison, so Christ, when he sends his disciples, invests them with the same authority. How did He say before:

if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you (John 16:7), and now gives the Spirit? Some say that Christ did not communicate the Spirit to the disciples, but only by a breath made them capable of receiving Him. For if Daniel was terrified at the sight of the angel, what would not the disciples have experienced if they had received this ineffable grace without being prepared for it? But he will not sin who says that even then the disciples received some spiritual power and grace; wherefore Christ added: