John 20:19-23

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I recently got involved in an Email discussion and the topic that God only has the power to forgive sins. And I quoted John 20:19-23 in this manner:

As for the forgiveness of sins?

The bible says otherwise in the Gospel according to John 20:19-23 says that Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to his apostles.

19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

So let’s look at this event starting with verse 21.

21: Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you
God sent his son for a various reasons. And one of those reasons was to forgive people of their sins.

THEN HE FOLLOWED UP WITH AN ACTION. AN ACTION THAT HAS BEEN DONE ONLY ONCE BEFORE AND THAT WAS DONE UPON A HUNK OF CLAY.

22: he breathed on them

THEN HE FOLLOWED THE ACTION WITH A COMMAND

22-23: **Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. **

IT IS QUITE LITERAL. IT’S NOT SYMBOLIC. IT’S NOT FIGURATIVE. IT’S NOT A PARABLE. IT’S NOT AN EXPLANATION. IT IS A HOLY EMPOWERMENT BY THE RESURRECTED CHRIST.

Here are the two responses I got concerning this:
as far as John 19:19-23 goes, the last person to have that authority was the Apostle John, since he was the last Apostle to die according to church tradition. And that authority died with him.
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Jesus NEVER gave the authority to forgive sins to anyone. You have totally twisted that scripture. He told his disciples first of all…receive the Holy Ghost…which was received in a separate infilling at the day of Pentecost. A definite work of grace subsequent to salvation. Without that, there is nothing else. No ministering, nothing. Second of all…he was giving them the authority to be Gospel judges (so much for the much heralded and misquoted “Judge Not”). He did not give them his authority to forgive sins.
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How would you respond?
 
If you explained to him what you shared with us and he still won’t see it, there is nothing you can do to convince him. He’s determined not to believe, and that is an action not of the mind but of the will. Only the Holy Spirit can work on the will, so tell him if he wants to negate reality to believe what he wants to believe that is up to him, but it certainly doesn’t convince you. And, of course, pray for him.
 
Most Protestants would say that this authority to remit and retain sins, coming as it does along with the sending of the Apostles (v. 21) is related to the command to go and preach the Gospel; the preaching of the Gospel brings remission of sins to believers and retention or sealing of those sins to those who will not believe.
 
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JoeyWarren:
I recently got involved in an Email discussion and the topic that God only has the power to forgive sins. And I quoted John 20:19-23 in this manner:

As for the forgiveness of sins?

The bible says otherwise in the Gospel according to John 20:19-23 says that Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to his apostles.

19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

So let’s look at this event starting with verse 21.

21: Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you
God sent his son for a various reasons. And one of those reasons was to forgive people of their sins.

THEN HE FOLLOWED UP WITH AN ACTION. AN ACTION THAT HAS BEEN DONE ONLY ONCE BEFORE AND THAT WAS DONE UPON A HUNK OF CLAY.

22: he breathed on them

THEN HE FOLLOWED THE ACTION WITH A COMMAND

22-23: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

IT IS QUITE LITERAL. IT’S NOT SYMBOLIC. IT’S NOT FIGURATIVE. IT’S NOT A PARABLE. IT’S NOT AN EXPLANATION. IT IS A HOLY EMPOWERMENT BY THE RESURRECTED CHRIST.

Here are the two responses I got concerning this:

How would you respond?
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Your friend is right. Only God forgives sins. When the Apostles received the charism for the forgiveness of sins on Easter night, they received it in trust from the Lord. But the grammar in Greek is hands-down plain: Whose sins YOU forgive, they are forgiven. It is a concrete action to be performed by the Apostles. As for the authority to forgive sins dying with John, where is that in Scripture? Moreover, the Apostles handed on the Apostolic ministry to Matthias without saying, “Oh, by the way, you’re “enrolled among the eleven” but you know that gift of forgiving and retaining sins? Well you don’t get that.” If the agency of men can remit sins by the administration of Baptism (which your friend probably does not accept), then why is it such a stretch to believe that Jesus would keep his promise that the apostolic charism for the forgiveness of post-baptismal sin would remain with the Church?

Why would God withhold the one spiritual gift which would be needed throughout the history of the human race in its quest for God? Jesus’ entire mission through his Incarnation was to free men from sin. The gift of man-to-man forgiveness is a gift of the Incarnation transmitted by the Holy Spirit to the Church throughout the ages.

The authority to be Gospel judges? What the heck is THAT? Talk about twisting Scripture. That’s so remote it isn’t even a twist. The usual anti-Catholic interpretation is that they were given the Apostolic power to preach the forgiveness of sins and that whoever would receive the preaching would be forgiven, but those who did not receive the preaching would remain in their sin. It’s still a haywire non-reading of the text, but at least it doesn’t introduce a whole new concept.
 
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