**The easiest interpretation of the verse is that Jesus breathed on them and then immediately they received the holy spirit.**
But, the passage doesn’t say they immediately received the Spirit. That’s ‘interpretting’ the situation. Jesus reaffirms in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8 what is actually prophecy in John 20:22
Jesus commanded them in Matthew 28:19 to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,.....”. They did ‘go’, but not immediately; they tarried for days in Jerusalem because they were told by the Lord before he ascended that they would “be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” And that they “shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you..”. Acts 1:5,8
**The plain reading with two occurrences is still easier for me to fit to the text.**
The command wasn’t immediately followed by a recorded occurrance. The occurrance happened days later, fulfilling a command that was also a prophecy. Here’s some plain reading: The command in Luke 18:42 IS followed by an occurrance in verse 43: “Receive thy sight.....And immediately he received his sight...”.
We both agree Jesus, before he ascended, told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit.
The only disagreement I see is over the passage in John 20:22 that is apparently not clear enough to provide convincing evidence about what it says.
You believe it says
1) generally a prophetic pronouncement of the holy spirit being given at Pentecost
2) Breathing is present tense and occurred as Jesus was speaking
3) Receive is prophetic even though it is not a future tense verb
4) Because it doesn’t say “immediately” after “receive”, the best interpretation is that it is a future promise.
I still think it is easier to interpret as they received the Holy Spirit then, and then again at Pentecost.
You can guess my reasons
1) breathing on them. I rather expect Adam awoke as soon as God breathed the breathe of life into him in Gen2:7. Not that God breathed the breathe of life in him and he awoke 10 days later (that complicates 6 days of creation). It doesn’t say he woke immediately, but I think most people would assume even though it isn’t stated that God breathed and Adam immediately awoke.
2) Receive is a tense that is more likely to indicate something starting immediately rather than in the future. If Jesus meant it to be prophetic, he could have used a future tense verb.
3) The places where it discusses waiting in Jerusalem for the promise of the spirit is obviously a different meeting with the disciples, since they went to galilee after this occurrence.
I wouldn’t hazard a guess as to why it seems they received the spirit twice, unless it was for different purposes. I certainly believe every new testament believer is indwelled with the holy spirit when they are saved. That being said I see very few that live with the same kind of courage and power displayed by the disciple after pentecost.
Whether of not we discuss speaking in tongues or other supernatural manifestations is not really that important to me. The fact I see few believers that live according to promises like “sin shall have no dominion over you” or “greater works than these ye shall do” worries me more. I’m just saying I see these as the exception rather than the rule, and I’ve often wondered why the average baptist for instance seems so impotent of God’s power in their life, in spite of being indwelled.