“Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.””
John 20:21-23 NLT
Once again Jesus said “Peace be with you”. In a world that had seen the disciples’ bumpy ride following Jesus in His ministry, the chaos was continuing in their souls. They had seen the miracles, the dead raised, Jesus walking on water. They had received training for the future in Jesus’ University of Kingdom Life. They had experienced the abuse from the Jewish leaders. They had even gone out themselves, healing the sick and preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God. And now, following a couple of days of grieving for their crucified Leader, entombed and graveyard dead, He was now standing with them, alive and well, in a locked room. And He said “Peace …”. They needed a shed load of that, for sure.
Jesus then said to them, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” The disciples commissioned, sent out to continue Jesus’ mission. The handing on of the Kingdom baton, charged with the message of hope for an otherwise dying race of people. Then Jesus breathed on them. This wasn’t just a febrile puff. It was a full throated blast of air from the bottom of Jesus’ lungs, emulating what was to come on the Day of Pentecost, where the disciples would indeed “Receive the Holy Spirit”. The connection was that on their own, and in their own strength, they would be unable to carry out their mission. They would need the Holy Spirit without doubt, empowering them and working through them each and every day.
Jesus continued, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven”. Does that mean that Jesus was giving the disciples the authority to forgive sins? That can’t be true of course, because only God can forgive sins. There seems to be a problem with the translation, according to Greek scholars, and a better translation might be, “If sins have already been forgiven, then they are forgiven. If they have already been retained then they are not forgiven”. Perhaps another of the Bible’s foibles that needs further scrutiny, which is why we need to read the Scriptures often and in depth, prayerfully asking God to reveal the meaning of His Word.
Peace and forgiveness are both features of God’s Kingdom living. We pilgrims can experience both on our journey to Glory.
Dear Father God. Living in Your Kingdom here on earth provides a foretaste of what is to come, and we are so grateful. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 