John 20: The Power to Forgive and the Grace of Being Forgiven

Introduction

Three texts were read this Sunday at the Église Protestante Baptiste La Fraternité: 2 Chronicles 7, Mark 2 and John 20. In all three, Pastor Siméon points out, "the word forgiveness comes up or comes back."

From there comes the theme of the message, in two parts: the power to forgive and the grace of being forgiven. God has the power to forgive, that is true. "But Jesus says: I give you this power too." This is the aspect the pastor dwells on: the forgiveness we can grant or withhold, and the consequences of each.

The message ends with a scene acted out by Sunday school children, which shows where the trap closes on the one who refuses to forgive.

Message Outline

1. Three Texts, One Word: Forgiveness

In 2 Chronicles 7, God answers Solomon's dedication prayer: if his people humble themselves, pray and seek his face, he will forgive their sin and heal their land.
In Mark 2, Jesus says to the paralyzed man: "Son, your sins are forgiven." The scribes murmur: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
In John 20, the risen Jesus breathes on his disciples and gives them the power to forgive or to retain sins.
"The power to forgive or not to forgive. It is as if he were giving his disciples the possibility of deciding the fate of others all the way to heaven." What we do on earth has consequences in the heavens.
The pastor also emphasizes that the disciples receive the Holy Spirit on the spot, before Pentecost: "What grace!" It is a quite exceptional case.

2. 2 Chronicles 7: Do Not Read Verse 14 on Its Own

The temple has just been dedicated, after seven days of celebration. God appears to Solomon during the night: "I have heard your prayer and I have chosen this place." He accepts that this house now belongs to him.
Everyone knows verse 14, "if my people who are called by my name," and recites it. But verse 13 comes before it, and verse 14 is only its consequence: when I shut up the sky, when I command the locusts to devour the land, when I send a plague, "like the coronavirus."
The pastor quotes his former Greek professor: do not grab the snake by the tail, or it will bite. "Do not take a verse in isolation."
"My people" means you and me, those over whom the name of Jesus Christ is called. When things go badly, this people must first humble themselves, without arrogance, then pray, seek God's face and turn from their wicked ways.
Then God answers, forgives the sin and heals the land. "Wow! I will heal their land." Forgiveness and healing go together.

3. God Is the First to Initiate Forgiveness

In Mark 2, a family brings a sick man to Capernaum. There is no room, so they open up the roof and lower him down in front of Jesus.
Jesus sees their faith and speaks directly to the sick man: "Your sins are forgiven." Then he heals him: get up, take your bed and walk.
The scribes say: "This man blasphemes." They did not know that the one speaking was also God.
The pastor takes this from it: "The first to initiate forgiveness is God himself." Jesus Christ forgives because he is the only Son of God and carries out the work of God.

4. The Power to Forgive, and the Trap

After the resurrection, Jesus gives his disciples the power to forgive or not to forgive. When you forgive, heaven forgives. When you do not forgive, heaven does not forgive.
The pastor throws out a challenge to the congregation: "Is there a text in the Bible where the Lord Jesus refuses to forgive someone?" If someone sends it to him, he will accept being wrong. No one finds one.
"So it is a trap." Jesus does not say: you will not forgive. He simply says: forgive.
"Forgiving is divine, it is not human." Yet the pastor cites Psalm 82:6, where humans are told: "You are gods." And it is through the ability the Holy Spirit gives that we can do as Jesus did. "We can forgive and we must forgive."

5. Forgiving Sets Healing in Motion

"Forgiving is answering the will of God." And forgiveness goes hand in hand with healing: "When we forgive, we set in motion the healing of someone somewhere."
The pastor speaks about generational conflicts. In some families, people were handed the instruction never to forgive another family that had wronged a great-great-grandparent. Generations follow one another this way, with conflicts they never even knew. "What a bad inheritance!"
If you are in this situation, today you make the decision: you step out of this trap, you step out of "this generation of sinners who do not like to forgive others."
Jesus begins by saying "your sins are forgiven," then "get up." "I forgive first and I heal." When you forgive, God accomplishes a work through you. "Do not hold anyone back. Heal others."

6. The Paradox: Refusing to Forgive Is Refusing to Be Forgiven

We can withhold forgiveness (John 20:23). But the trap closes on ourselves. Matthew 6:14-15: if you do not forgive people, your Father will not forgive your trespasses either.
"What a paradox!" You refuse to forgive, and God does not forgive the other person. But for you too, God does not forgive. Not forgiving means accepting not to be forgiven yourself.
In the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), we say: forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. We sing "forgive me, Lord, forgive me," yet the faults of others, we like to blow them up, as with a magnifying glass.
The pastor testifies: "As for me, by God's grace I have learned to forgive before anyone asks me for forgiveness." If someone ever comes to ask him for forgiveness, he will tell them: "I have already forgiven you. It is over."
"Holding on to someone means making yourself sick." The one who carries a conflict, even one inherited from their parents, carries a sickness they need to be healed of.
He hands all of this over to the one who said: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). "I carry nothing and I hold no one in my heart."

7. The Children's Lesson: The Unforgiving Servant

The pastor calls up his granddaughter from Sunday school. With other children, she acts out a scene in front of the congregation.
A child borrows 10,000 euros and cannot pay them back. Her creditor has compassion and cancels her debt. She then meets someone who owes her 100 euros and demands to be repaid. The first creditor hears about it: "I cancelled your debt, and you, toward your neighbor, do not do the same as I did. Go to prison."
This is the parable of Matthew 18:23-35: a servant whose debt of ten thousand talents the king forgives, and who has his fellow servant thrown into prison over a small sum. "So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."
"Do you see where the trap closes? The little children have just preached to us."
The pastor's conclusion: "Forgiveness comes with healing. If you want others to be healed, forgive. And if you want to be forgiven, if you want to be healed yourself, learn to forgive as God forgave you in Jesus Christ."
He invites everyone to pray: "Lord, give me a heart to forgive." And when going home, to call the people we are still holding on to and tell them: "The Lord spoke to me today." In his prayer, he reminds us that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17): we are learning to do things the way God does them.

Key Takeaways

God is the first to initiate forgiveness. Jesus forgives because he is God, and he entrusts this power to his disciples.
No text shows Jesus refusing to forgive: you can forgive, and you must forgive.
Forgiveness and healing go together. When you forgive, you set healing in motion in the other person and in yourself.
Refusing to forgive means accepting not to be forgiven yourself. This is the trap that closes.
You can forgive before anyone asks you for forgiveness, and step out of the conflicts inherited from your family.

Personal Application

Is there someone you are still holding in your heart, sometimes for years?
Are you carrying a conflict inherited from your family, against people you never even knew?
When you say "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," are you ready for God to take you at your word?
Do you blow up the faults of others as with a magnifying glass, while minimizing your own?
Who could you call this week to tell them that you have forgiven?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does John 20:23 mean about the power to forgive?

After his resurrection, Jesus breathes on his disciples, tells them to receive the Holy Spirit and entrusts this power to them: those whose sins they forgive will be forgiven. For Pastor Siméon, what we do on earth has consequences all the way to heaven. Yet no text shows Jesus refusing to forgive: we can forgive, and we must forgive.

Why is forgiveness linked to healing?

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God promises to forgive the sin of his people and heal their land. In Mark 2, Jesus tells the paralyzed man "your sins are forgiven" before telling him to get up. Pastor Siméon concludes that every time you forgive, you set a healing process in motion, in the other person and in yourself.

What happens if I refuse to forgive?

According to Matthew 6:14-15, if you do not forgive people, your Father will not forgive your trespasses either. This is the trap that closes on the one who withholds forgiveness, illustrated by the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23-35. Pastor Siméon adds that holding someone in your heart means making yourself sick.