Commentaries:
People's Commentary (NT)
John 20:23
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, etc. It
will be seen at once, by a comparison with Matthew 16:19, that the keys
they promised to Peter are now given to all the apostles, and all have
similar power to open and shut, to remit sin, and to bind. The meaning
is plain when we consider, first, the charge that the Savior was
making, and, secondly, look forward and see how that charge was carried
out; or, in other words, observe the apostles "remitting sins" and
retaining them. It is the Great Commission to preach the gospel that
the Savior gives for the first time in John 20:21. It is with
reference to carrying out that Commission that he speaks in John 20:23.
It was in order that they might present the terms of that Commission
infallibly to the world that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was
imparted, of which there is a foreshadowing in John 20:22. The great
end of that Commission was to declare to men "repentance and remission
of sins" (Luke 24:47) in the name of Christ. The following facts are
manifest: (1) The Savior gave to his apostles his Commission that they
might make known his will. (2) He bade them preach "remission of sins"
(Luke 24:47). (3) He gave them a measure of the Holy Spirit, and
bade them wait until "endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).
(4) When the Holy Spirit fell, they spoke as it "gave them utterance"
(Acts 2:4). (5) They then declared, under the influence of the Holy
Spirit, the terms on which "sins could be remitted". To anxious sinners
they answer, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ, 'for the remission of sins'" (Acts 2:38). Here, then,
they, directed by the Holy Spirit, "remit" and "retain" sins by
declaring the terms on which Christ will pardon. Thus, also, they do in
their preaching recorded through the Acts of the Apostles the very
thing that the Savior gave them power to do. This power was not
imparted to a hierarchy, nor to any ecclesiastical body, but to the
apostles, and was fulfilled by them in declaring to the world the
conditions of pardon and condemnation under the Commission of our Lord.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Matthew 18:18
Luke 24:33
John 20:23
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