In light of this excerpt from impossible to receive Holy Spirit while Jesus was physically on earth by fellow member Dottard
“Now, there is one more subtlety. Jesus declared in John 16:7 that unless Jesus went away the Holy Spirit would not come to the disciples. Since we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit by faith, while Jesus was personally and physically present with the disciple, it would have been humanly almost impossible for them to exercise that faith to receive "another" comforter. Hence Jesus remark.”
The question that follows in my mind is, “when did Jesus go to the Father?”
- at the ascension as per
“While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.” Luke 24:51
- prior to the ascension as per
““A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”” John 16:16
And
“Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not YET ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”” John 20:17
Depending on when Jesus ascended, as to when the Comforter could come and be received by the disciples as per
“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.” John 16:7
My position is that the disciples received the Holy Spirit while Jesus was on earth (went and returned from the Father after incident with Mary) and not in Acts 2
“And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22
This is after the incident with Mary in the garden. But I’m open to being corrected that it’s actually in Acts 2 or elsewhere using the Scriptures.