Is John 20:20-25 Exemplary of the Notion of a Priesthood?

[ValleyCatholic]

Unless I have missed it, I have read no place in the New Testament where God discusses the action of retaining sins for anyone other than the Apostles in this passage. I am wondering if this can be seen as an example of a special charge given to the Apostles, who would later become the founders of the new centers of the Church. In short, an example of the hierarchy that would later form as the foundation of the Early Church. Much like Matthew 18:15-20, this appears to me as an instance where Christ acknowledges the need for a hierarchy, with procedures. What do theologians contend today?

 

[ValleyCatholic]

Thank you for the reply. Have you or anyone else here found an instance in the NT where Christ or the Apostles ever tell a “lay” person that they don’t have to necessarily forgive another?

I haven’t.

 

[christismylord]

Have you or anyone else here found an instance in the NT where Christ or the Apostles ever tell a “lay” person that they don’t have to necessarily forgive another?

Nope! In fact quite the opposite

Matthew 6:14-15: “ For 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.”

Mark 11:25-26 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

I think this can be applied to all people, right?

 

[ValleyCatholic]

Yes, I have found this to be the case as well. “seven times seventy-seventy” and so forth.