This week we begin a series of sermons focusing on the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus – the times between His Easter rising from the dead and His ascending to Heaven. All these appearances happened before Pentecost, so in only a matter of weeks, Jesus shared proof of His resurrection and visited many people who were then witnesses to the Truth of His resurrection. Through the passing on of the stories of these witnesses, we have the chance to hear the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and to then share it with others.
Today’s story begins with the appearance of Jesus to Mary at the tomb that first Easter morning. Her first instinct, like ours might be, was to hold fast to Jesus. She did not mean to be selfish, keeping Him for herself, but only wanted to hold onto this One she loved so dearly for a little longer. It is almost a story of disbelief – the lack of comprehension that such a great thing could happen for one so lowly as she. A mere common woman witnessing the risen Lord whom she saw die. It is not unlike the times we have had special occurrences, moments of personal connectedness with God that seem so amazing, so special we are reluctant to move, even to breathe, lest what we experience is proven only a dream. Yet Mary was told, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ’I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (v. 17) Just as we are not meant to stay in isolation, keeping the stories of our own faith experiences a secret, Mary was told to go and share the news with the disciples, the brothers in faith of Jesus. And thus begins the sending of the disciples into the world. Mary is the very first disciple sent and she is sent to the others who followed Jesus. She is sent with an unbelievable story of resurrection. Who will believe her – a sinner and a mere woman?
Jesus would have known that the disciples would need more proof than the rantings of a once demon-possessed female. He knew they were gathered together, fearful and disbelieving the events of the past few days. How could it be that this One who was to lead them to victory had died an ignominious death at the hands of the Roman soldiers? How could it be that their teacher, the Promised Messiah, could be gone? Perhaps they were questioning: was He really the One? What do we do now? Where do we go from here? Perhaps they were waiting, for safe escape, for a sign from God, for a sense of direction, for a new leader to emerge, or even for the promise Jesus made of returning to be fulfilled. Perhaps they were simply grieving or perhaps pondering the possibility that Mary’s words were true. Suddenly, Jesus appeared among them. He just appeared in the room where they hid and greeted them as if it were the most expected thing in the world, “Peace be with you.”
Of course, it should have been expected. That, to me, is one of the most interesting yet overlooked parts of this story. Jesus’ resurrection appearance should have been expected. Jesus had told them not once but repeatedly that He would be put to death and would rise again. He had appeared to Mary Magdalene outside the tomb and told her to tell the others. His appearance should have been expected, or at least anticipated. Yet we tend to read this story as if the disciples are surprised. Perhaps they were. Perhaps we read it this way because of the later story of Thomas’s doubt. Perhaps we assume they were surprised because we would be surprised to see Jesus appear in the flesh in our midst. But in this Scripture there is no mention of surprise; instead the word used is “overjoyed.” This is translated from the Greek “έχάρησαν” which comes from the word χαιρω, which means to be cheerful or to rejoice. So what the Scriptures say is not that the disciples were surprised, but that they were very happy to see Jesus. He showed them the wounds in His hands and side – the wounds from His crucifixion – proving that He was the same One they knew before, the same One who died on the cross.
After this rejoicing, Jesus breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit, The He sent them into the world, as He was sent. The disciples now become the apostles, literally “those who are sent.” As J. Vernon McGee notes, “[The] expression "breathed on them" occurs only one other time in the Bible. In Genesis, God breathed into Adam the breath of life. I believe here that Jesus Christ breathed into these men eternal life by giving them the Spirit of God.” It is God’s breath that gives life and without it we have no life. God first breathed life into Adam, creating human life for the very first time. In this passage, Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit into the disciples, creating in humanity eternal life for the very first time. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, God living in us, He bestowed some extraordinary abilities. The main ability Jesus gave them apostles was preaching the good news of salvation. This is what He refers to when He says, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” He is not speaking of human forgiveness nor bestowing on them the power to actually forgive sins. Instead, He is giving them a command to preach the message of God’s forgiveness in Him, the crucified and risen Lord. The power of the Holy Spirit enabled the apostles to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only through the good news of salvation in Christ that one’s sins can be forgiven. So the apostles were granted the power of the Holy Spirit to declare the forgiveness that comes from Christ. That is different from granting them the power to actually forgive particular sins in the eyes of God.
Many weeks we hear the assurance of pardon begin with the words, “Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ…” This is almost a quote of Mark 2:7, which says in part, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Now if Christ is the only one in a position to condemn, then He is also the only one in a position to pardon or forgive. Yet Scripture here is clear, also: Jesus says to the disciples that if they forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven, if they do not forgive someone’s sins, they are not forgiven. Since God does not contradict Himself, how can both of these things be true: that only Christ can forgive, yet the disciples were told that sins would be forgiven or not based on their say-so? It seems like a quandary.
Yet from John 3:16-17, we know that God sent Jesus into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Since God sent Jesus into the world to save, and since Jesus sent the disciples, now apostles, into the world “as the Father sent [Him],” it becomes clear that Jesus was sending the apostles into the world for the purpose not of condemnation, but of salvation. Condemnation and judging the sins of others were not the job Jesus gave the apostles. Instead, Jesus gave them the command to preach salvation, which comes through Christ alone. The apostles were sent into the world to share the message of God’s redeeming and perfect love enfleshed in Jesus the Christ who atoned for the sins of the world by offering Himself on a cross, dying, and rising again. This is the message the disciples-now-apostles were to preach so that sins would be forgiven, but forgiven by God in Jesus Christ, not forgiven by the apostles themselves. They were preaching about forgiveness that had already occurred – God’s own divine forgiveness that was now freely given to all who believe. As Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament explain it,
Now we do talk about human forgiveness, and that is important, but it is not salvific. Being forgiven by another human being will never be sufficient to grant us eternal life. It is a good thing for us to be forgiven by others and a good thing for us to forgive others on a human level. In fact, the words of Christ can, in some ways apply to human forgiveness, but not as it relates to salvation and God’s own forgiveness. When we offer human forgiveness to another, then not only does the forgiven person have a clean slate with us, but we do not have to carry around the burden of a grudge. When we refuse to offer human forgiveness to another, that person may or may not bear a burden of guilt, but we certainly burden ourselves with the weight of resentment and anger. In this way, it is true in human forgiveness that sins we forgive are forgiven and sins we do not forgive are not forgiven. But in terms of human forgiveness, the one who is punished by lack of forgiveness is the one who refuses to forgive. This is very different from divine forgiveness which is not about carrying a burden of guilt or a burden of resentment, but about eternal life. As the Bible Exposition Commentary notes, “All that the Christian can do is announce the message of forgiveness; God performs the miracle of forgiveness. If sinners will believe on Jesus Christ, we can authority authoritatively declare to them that their sins have been forgiven; but we are not the ones who provide the forgiveness.” Eternal life belongs to God alone to grant; we can only declare God’s forgiveness, not grant it.
Declaring God’s forgiveness is what we are supposed to do. As Christians we are called to offer one another human forgiveness, certainly, but more importantly, to offer the world God’s forgiveness already granted in Jesus the Christ. God sent His only Son to live, die, and live again for the forgiveness of sins. The proof of this living again is in the resurrection appearances of Jesus to the disciples and others. After proving He was who He seemed to be, Jesus sent the apostles to preach the Gospel to the world, which was the beginning of the church. And the church sends us – you and me – into the world to share the good news in the very same way. We do no good for the Kingdom if we act like Mary did at first – enjoying our personal faith experiences, holding onto the stories of our faith, not wanting to let go even enough to share the good news. We can only help build up the Kingdom of God by doing what Jesus commanded to the early believers so long ago – sharing the forgiveness of God by preaching the Gospel. We are called to preach the Gospel always with our lives, and as the saying attributed to St. Francis of Assis reminds us, we are to use words when necessary.