If you haven’t already read part 1 of this article from yesterday, check it out here.
Hopefully Jesus’ breathing on the disciples now makes a little more sense. This is an act of recreation. But I also wrote that it was an act of equipping the disciples as Jesus was sending them out. For what are they being equipped? First, I want to quickly flash back to the creation narratives again. Remember that humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and also we were given the responsibility to be stewards over creation. God put Adam in the garden to till and keep it (Genesis 2:15). It would make sense then, that this new creation that God has brought forth through Jesus Christ, that Christ has breathed life into, would also have some vocation in living out the image of God. I bring that up, because I believe that is what is going on in the forgiveness of sins that Jesus is passing on.
We must first recognize that only God can forgive sins. We see this, for example, in Mark 2:7 where Jesus got into trouble for forgiving someone’s sins. The religious leaders recognize that Jesus was doing something that was only God’s prerogative. Furthermore, I should point out that the phrase, “they (sins) are forgiven them,” (John 20:23) uses a passive form of forgiving, which is often used in scripture to indicate that God is doing the action. If that is the case, as I believe it is, then this is further evidence that God is the one forgiving sins. So if God is the one who forgives, what is going on? As NT Wright points out in his commentary, “John for Everyone,” God is the one who forgives sins, and he is doing it through them! The disciples are being given a commission to be the instruments of God. J. Ramsey Michaels writes in his commentary on John, “The disciples are being given authority to act as Jesus’ agents in the course of their mission, and consequently agents of God himself.” (Michaels p.1014).
What if we took the vocations that God has given to us seriously? What if care for the earth was not an American political issue, but instead a pattern of life arrived at from a theology grounded in scripture? Furthermore, what if our stewardship extended to those people among us, who were created in God’s image and just like us in need of redemption and forgiveness? What if God was serious in giving the followers of Jesus Christ the vocation of extending the good news of the Gospel of Jesus to the world? It is as Paul writes, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)