The Power to Forgive

 

John 20:19-31

When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, ""Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing." Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

Many other signs the
refore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Sermon for Quasimodogeniti Sunday 04/11/21

The Power to Forgive

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Every year, when I come to the Sunday after Easter, I think about the Hunchback of Notre Dame. His name was Quasimodo. This Sunday is called "Quasimodogeniti." It means, "Like newborn babes". The name is drawn from the first words in Latin of the traditional introit, "Like new-born babes, long for the pure spiritual milk of the word." The reason that Quasimodo was so named was that he was left - or found on the steps of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France (according to the story) on the Sunday after Easter - Quasimodogeniti.

And, every year I come to the gospel lesson, I see something different about which to preach. Some years, I preach about Doubting Thomas. Although I have often heard him ridiculed, I think doubting Thomas is a divinely worked piece of evidence for us. Here was the skeptic, and the evidence, evidence we cannot personally see, brought him to his knees, confessing Christ.

Some years I preach about the peace which John writes about. Jesus bids His disciples to have peace in a situation loaded with tension and fear and confusion. They fear the Jews, that they are coming to get them. They are justifiably spooked that a man they witnessed executed is now walking and talking among them, and somehow He managed to get into a securely locked room! Jesus is suddenly there, and He does what God seems to do invariably when He comes to His people, or sends them a messenger, He bids them to cease being afraid and to have a sense of peace and well-being. That is God's will for us, after all, although it is not every detail of the will of God for us.

Still other years I focus on the last verses of the passage, which say that these things have been written that you may know and believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing you might have life in His name. I then preach about the Word of God as a means of Grace. The text has so much in it, I could scarcely preach on everything that the text says or cover every point in just one normal sermon. And I haven't even gotten to the message for this week in this year.

This year our theme is "The Power to Forgive." Our verses are the first few in our Easter Gospel lesson; "When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.' And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.'"

Some of you may have noticed that when I read the Gospel this morning, the last verse of the section I just read was different from what you have on your inserts. The reason for that is that the Insert is the ESV, the chosen version of the Synod. But verse 23 is mistranslated in the ESV, saying that, "if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld." No other translation translates it that way, and it is not what the original Greek says. The original words translate, " if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." The Greek speaks about the sins, while the ESV speaks about the forgiveness. I do not believe that we have any warrant to alter the words of our Lord so significantly, so I used the correct translation for that single verse.

This verse is not the first time Jesus had ever said anything like this to His disciples. He actually said it two other times. The first time is reported in Matthew 16. Jesus said, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The second instance was in Matthew 18:18. Jesus spoke the same words, "Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The words were not precisely the same as in our Gospel today but the context, particularly in Matthew 18, shows us that forgiveness - or retaining sin - is what Jesus was talking about. In the Matthew 16 situation, Jesus calls this authority "the keys of the kingdom of heaven". That is because this authority opens heaven to the penitent sinner, or closes the doors of heaven to one who will not repent. Forgiveness or retaining sin does that, opens or closes heaven because it is sin that causes death and closes the door to eternal life in the first place.

Some have taken these passages to mean that only the ministers have such authority because Jesus spoke these words to Peter or to the twelve. And in Matthew 16 Jesus was apparently speaking to Peter - although in the presence of the others. And Matthew 18 is spoken to, and I quote, "the disciples", without actually limiting that title to the twelve, and John 20, our gospel this morning, just says that the disciples were there - and the verses we are focusing on make it clear that not all of the Twelve were there that day because Doubting Thomas was not. So, the Church has historically understood these words as being addressed to the entire Church, as it existed in that day, and this authority to forgive sins as being given to the Church, and not merely to any specific member of it.

The words were not precisely the same as in our Gospel today but the context, particularly in Matthew 18, shows us that forgiveness - or retaining sin - is what Jesus was talking about. In the Matthew 16 situation, Jesus calls this authority "the keys of the kingdom of heaven". That is because this authority opens heaven to the penitent sinner, or closes the doors of heaven to one who will not repent. Forgiveness or retaining sin does that, opens or closes heaven because it is sin that causes death and closes the door to eternal life in the first place.So, the Church has historically understood these words as being addressed to the entire Church, as it existed in that day, and this authority to forgive sins as being given to the Church, and not merely to any specific member of it.

I also want you to notice that Jesus gave this authority both before His death on the cross and after His resurrection. This authority to forgive is an important thing. You wouldn't be able to tell that, of course, the way some people talk about it. Some churches, and their leaders and teachers, speak boldly against this authority, just as the Pharisees did when Jesus exercised it in His day. They say they don't need it. They can go to God and get forgiveness. They claim that no human being really has the power to forgive. It is just a personal thing between them and their God.

Judging by our text, I would say that they are calling Jesus a liar, and that is blasphemy. Yes, it is true that God forgives. You can repent and confess your sins before Him all by yourself, alone, and in your closet. And God does forgive. But Jesus called this power the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. And Jesus also granted to the Church the power to retain sins - that is, to deny forgiveness to one who is not humble and penitent, and when their sins have been thus retained, there is no forgiveness. That power would be useless if someone could go behind the back of the Church, as it were, and get forgiveness outside of and without the body of Christ.

No, the power to forgive is given to the Church. No single individual has the power all to themselves. It is not given even to the visible church to use or abuse by manipulating people with it - although that has been done by some in history. The authority is granted, however, and so it is safe to say that there is no forgiveness outside of the church - and anyone who despises the absolution of the pastor, when He speaks it in the course of faithfully performing the duties of his office, has no forgiveness. If there is no church near, and you cannot come to confess your sins and hear the words of the absolution, yes, you can go directly to God. But if you seek to deny your sins and deny the words of Christ by keeping it all internal and silent and private, then you are despising the gift of Jesus Christ in the absolution, and you should not expect any forgiveness that does not include the absolution from those in whose hands Christ has placed it.

He has given this absolution for your comfort. How easily we could turn forgiveness into some abstract thing, not a reality at all, if we just pray silently about it, and take it for granted that we are forgiven. Soon it would become an intellectual exercise, not unlike a fantasy. But Jesus has given this authority to the Church, to be exercised publicly by pastors, and privately by any Christian as we forgive one another in our daily lives. He has given this power to be used out loud and in response to the confession of sins so that we may know that this is not just an intellectual game or fantasy and were are not just pretending or imagining it, but we hear the words, spoken by the command of Christ, and we know that our sins - our personal sins - have been forgiven.

Now and again, we find little comfort in the public, communal absolution. It is valid, but it is also impersonal. Sometimes we need to know that it is aimed right at us, and focused on our sins. We need to silence that guilty voice within that says, "If the pastor knew what I have done, he would not forgive me. This absolution is spoken for the others standing around me, who haven't sinned the way I have." For those moments, we still offer private confession and personal absolution. Then you can speak of your sins, as hard as that is, and be sure you have truly confessed. And you will then hear the absolution, spoken just to you so that your guilt cannot deny that your Lord has sent this man to speak His pardon to you. In those moments, we truly sense the wonder of this power to forgive.

And this power to forgive is all wrapped up in Easter. It was the death of our Lord that paid the price, and His resurrection that declares the divine verdict of righteousness on all who believe. Jesus cried out, "It is finished!", and with that declaration, announced that forgiveness, life, and salvation were purchased, won, and available. When He gave us the power to forgive, He was just working on the distribution side - giving us all the right to hear, and the right to say that when Jesus died, it was finished, and our sins are atoned for, and we are redeemed by Christ, the Crucified.

"Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool." Ahhh, the power to forgive.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)