The Big Work of the Church
Read John 20:11-23.
Evening. The disciples have heard all day that Jesus is risen; Mary won't stop talking about it. She saw him, in the garden, while she was crying. (She saw angels, too, and she won't stop talking about that, either.) It's evening when Jesus finally shows up among the disciples. He comes into a locked room and speaks peace to them.
Then he breathes on them. Now, the breath that comes out of most people doesn't smell all that great. (It's just a fact, folks! Of course, I'm not talking about YOU.) But remember Jesus is in a new, resurrected and redeemed body! Besides that, the point of "breathing" on the disciples is to impart to them the Holy Spirit. (This is John's version of Pentecost, about 50 days early.) And then he tells them what the Holy Spirit will enable them to do.
"If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven" (20:23).
This is the big work of the church. This is why Jesus gave the Holy Spirit, according to John: to announce forgiveness, to empower forgiveness, to actually forgive! Some see this as an empowerment given to a particular group of people (priests, pastors, clergy) to actually pronounce forgiveness and to "make it so." In that understanding of this statement, the announcement of forgiveness during the communion liturgy takes on special significance.
But Jesus is not giving the Spirit to just a special group of people. We know from other accounts that it wasn't just the eleven remaining disciples in that room. There were others. There were women, for starters, and others who had been traveling with Jesus, who now were afraid of the penalty that was visited on Jesus coming down on them. My point is this: Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to everyone gathered there, this group of fishermen and accountants and women and ordinary folks. That says to me that it's everyone's work to practice forgiveness.
Jesus' second statement here, though, often bothers people. "If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Does that mean we can barter with forgiveness? Can we intentionally withhold forgiveness from someone so that they won't be forgiven? Can we actually bar people from the kingdom of God? This verse seems to echo what Jesus also says in the Sermon on the Mount: "If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14-15). The point there is not that God refuses to forgive us; the point is that we block God's forgiveness when we hold onto unforgiveness, bitterness, anger and resentment. When we refuse to forgive, we actually block what God wants to do in our lives. I think Jesus, breathing on the disciples, is reminding them of this teaching. It's your choice, but the big work of the church, the right choice of the Christian, is always to forgive.
It's for your health. It's for your soul. It's good for you and allows you to enjoy all the blessings God has for you. Forgiveness is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, to empower us to be able to practice it. But it's still your choice. Will you forgive?
Evening. The disciples have heard all day that Jesus is risen; Mary won't stop talking about it. She saw him, in the garden, while she was crying. (She saw angels, too, and she won't stop talking about that, either.) It's evening when Jesus finally shows up among the disciples. He comes into a locked room and speaks peace to them.
Then he breathes on them. Now, the breath that comes out of most people doesn't smell all that great. (It's just a fact, folks! Of course, I'm not talking about YOU.) But remember Jesus is in a new, resurrected and redeemed body! Besides that, the point of "breathing" on the disciples is to impart to them the Holy Spirit. (This is John's version of Pentecost, about 50 days early.) And then he tells them what the Holy Spirit will enable them to do.
"If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven" (20:23).
This is the big work of the church. This is why Jesus gave the Holy Spirit, according to John: to announce forgiveness, to empower forgiveness, to actually forgive! Some see this as an empowerment given to a particular group of people (priests, pastors, clergy) to actually pronounce forgiveness and to "make it so." In that understanding of this statement, the announcement of forgiveness during the communion liturgy takes on special significance.
But Jesus is not giving the Spirit to just a special group of people. We know from other accounts that it wasn't just the eleven remaining disciples in that room. There were others. There were women, for starters, and others who had been traveling with Jesus, who now were afraid of the penalty that was visited on Jesus coming down on them. My point is this: Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to everyone gathered there, this group of fishermen and accountants and women and ordinary folks. That says to me that it's everyone's work to practice forgiveness.
Jesus' second statement here, though, often bothers people. "If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Does that mean we can barter with forgiveness? Can we intentionally withhold forgiveness from someone so that they won't be forgiven? Can we actually bar people from the kingdom of God? This verse seems to echo what Jesus also says in the Sermon on the Mount: "If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14-15). The point there is not that God refuses to forgive us; the point is that we block God's forgiveness when we hold onto unforgiveness, bitterness, anger and resentment. When we refuse to forgive, we actually block what God wants to do in our lives. I think Jesus, breathing on the disciples, is reminding them of this teaching. It's your choice, but the big work of the church, the right choice of the Christian, is always to forgive.
It's for your health. It's for your soul. It's good for you and allows you to enjoy all the blessings God has for you. Forgiveness is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, to empower us to be able to practice it. But it's still your choice. Will you forgive?
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
ReplyDeleteLewis B. Smedes
Great post!