Have you noticed how essential forgiveness is to God? We may not have done a study on it, but from as early as The Fall, forgiveness has been a theme in biblical literature. No, we don’t actually see the word, ‘forgiveness’, but it is implicit in the way God opted to cover the First Couple’s nakedness.
Forgiveness was also one of the themes on that First Day of the week when the disciples saw the risen Christ. The reference was explicit, having a slightly different nuance by placing responsibility for forgiveness on the disciples. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
John 20:21-23 NIV
[21] Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
[22] And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
[23] If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Sent … to Forgive
I’ve noted the need to read scripture in context before, as it helps to broaden a concept for greater impact. Reading our Nougat in a vacuum mightn’t offer us as fulsome a concept of forgiveness as it would if we have the background. Having reflected on all but the last verse, we are able to reflect on the context as well as the content so we get a better grasp on what Y’shua said about forgiveness.
-Context-
It was the first day of the week. But not just any week. The Feast of the Passover had just been observed, and it marked three days since Y’shua had been crucified. The disciples of Y’shua would perhaps have harboured some resentment toward the Roman leadership, the Teachers of the Law, Scribes, Pharisees, Chief Priest, the temple council, and Judas. They were certainly fearful. Above all else, they were grieving.
It was in that setting that Y’shua appeared. He was the same, yet different. For, Y’shua appeared before them in the manner of a spirit, yet the wound marks attested to Him being human. It was still their Lord, but not quite. Likewise, it was still the first day of the week, but more than just another first day. Some would even say, and rightly so, that it was the first day of the rest of the disciples’ lives.
-Content-
As stated in a prior reflection, what happens and what is said are worth considering. Having considered the facts and possible emotions, we turn our thoughts to what Y’shua Jesus said.
‘Peace’ – Y’shua’s first words on that First Day was ‘Peace’. It underscored or contrasted the starkness of fearful disciples hidden, even as it could be considered a greeting. Despite having literally been dead for three days, Jesus’ next words did not offer an explanation for being alive.
Rather, He reiterated the peace greeting.
Was He suggesting that the disciples were extremely agitated, or was He needing their full attention as He proved that He still had the stigmata (wound marks) on His body?
I’m sending you (as I’ve been sent) – I believe that Y’shua was establishing a shift in status, a graduation of sorts, for the disciples. They had been training with Him for the years. The apprenticeship was over. They were ready to face the world. The newly minted graduates had been through many a journey with Y’shua, Who had been sent to offer salvation to a lost and broken world. It was time for them to do the same.
They were sent as Y’shua was sent. In peace. With God’s Peace. To God’s world.
Receive God’s Spirit – But they could not accomplish their task without God’s Spirit. Y’shua did not leave them as orphans, God’s Spirit was there to provide peace, the absence of fear, for their journeys. God’s Spirit would also offer them reminders about what Y’shua had taught them for their new journey. There was, however, another tool needed by those disciples, which God’s Spirit would also provide.
Forgive – Yes, the disciples needed the grace to forgive. Not only those with whom they would encounter as God’s sent people, but they also needed to forgive the past. If Y’shua’s death were to have merit, then these newly sent disciples would need to forgive as Y’shua forgave.
That would not necessarily have been an automatic response for the disciples. It certainly isn’t for me. It is God’s Spirit Who would ensure that peace prevailed in the disciples’ hearts so that they could go as they were sent. It is God’s Spirit Who would effect forgiveness of those religious and political leaders in the disciples.
Application
We are also God’s sent people. Y’shua has breathed God’s Spirit into our lives so that we have God’s Spirit within. As Y’shua’s sent people, we are sent in peace, to forgive as we have been forgiven. Otherwise, we deny them peace, or access to God’s grace.
In spite of all we have done against His name, Y’shua has forgiven us. Might we do the same for others?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
