Peace – Forgive.  By Arlene Hendriks.

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.”   -John 20:19–23 NASB

This encounter with Jesus is astounding on several levels. This is the third day since Jesus was crucified. Word of His resurrection is filtering down through the ranks, but the full realization and belief that Jesus is alive is not yet a reality for most of the disciples, and besides, Jesus has appeared and then disappeared, so that the disciples really have no understanding of what is happening. One thing they do know is that they could be next to be lined up to suffer the same death Jesus suffered.

Into the midst of this, Jesus appeared saying, “Peace to you.”

Without preamble or explanation, “Peace to you,” He said. “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus had spoken with His disciples on both of these topics just days previously as He was preparing them for His death and resurrection.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.” -John 14:27

“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”  -John 16:5-7

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33

 Now He is reminding them that all of these things are not a surprise to Him, and He is inviting them to trust Him at a deeper level in the midst of the events swirling around them. His words up to now seem pretty much in context with the events of the previous few days. But then He seems to drop an unrelated thought into midst of them, after which John, the writer of this gospel, moves on to a totally different scenario, seemingly leaving behind no interpretation or application.

“If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them;

if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”  -John 20:23

Some people have interpreted these words to mean they have the power to forgive or not to forgive sins of people under their care. But I believe Jesus had a far deeper concept for His disciples to chew on.

Jesus came into the room where the disciples were huddled in fear that the Jews who had crucified Jesus would now hunt them down to turn them over to the Romans for the same treatment Jesus had suffered.

But Jesus has better for them than to spend the rest of their lives in fear, hiding out, reminiscing in disappointed disillusionment about the “good ole’ days” when that man was here, and we had hoped that He was the one who would deliver Israel.

But if they had let the sins of those people lodge in their hearts, they would never have walked in the fulness of what Jesus died to bring into their lives.

“Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

He had already forgiven those who crucified Him.

Now He says these disciples are also to let those sins go. Let go of anger for the punishment He suffered.

He did it on purpose,

of His own free will,

in order that they would walk in peace, without fear.

And they listened to His words, received His peace and continued to press on through the confusion of the days following Jesus’ resurrection, ultimately carrying the gospel to the ends of the known world at that time. It’s because they listened to Jesus that we are sitting here today hearing the message of a Savior who loved us enough to die for us to bring us into relationship with Himself and find healing for our fears and anxieties.

Jesus’ death, resurrection and subsequent words to the disciples enabled them to forgive those who were responsible for His crucifixion, and to endure beatings, imprisonment and eventually they themselves would be put to death by crucifixion in order to be faithful to spread the gospel.

Jesus had erased the evidence of the Romans and Jews in their hearts so they could go forth being who God ordained them to be, His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He prepared beforehand that they should walk in them.

Those plans were not just for the disciples of Jesus who lived in a narrow frame of history, but for us here and now as well. He still invites us,

“Come to Me when you are worn out and overloaded and I will refresh you…” -Matthew 11:28

“Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him and he with Me.”  -Revelation 3:20

 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” -Psalm 147:3

He still hears David’s cry, “put my tears in your bottle…” -Psalm 56:8

as well as David’s declaration, “If I should say, ‘my foot has slipped,’ Your loving-kindness, O Lord, holds me up; and when my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.”   -Psalm 94:18-19

So what is our take-home message from this encounter by Jesus with His disciples?

It is that if we want to know Him and walk in the fulness of all He has planned for us, He wants to help us to cut loose all who have wounded us, leaving the judgement to Him, so we can receive God’s justice – the complete erasing of all evidence against the other person, which has been lodged in our hearts, so we can walk whole and holy with Him in the freedom for which Christ has set us free.