Reckless GraceSýnishorn

Grace Released in an Upper Room

It’s been three unbearable days. The disciples are huddled together in a secret room having the most depressing prayer meeting ever. Why? Jesus—their rabbi, master, and friend—just died.

With the law on their backs and their Messiah slain, the disciples have nothing left but one another. So they hide without a hope left in the world. And suddenly, the unthinkable happens. Out of nowhere, they hear a familiar voice: “Peace to you.”

Jesus appears to them in the flesh and says, “Peace to you,” which is what you would have to say if you appeared in the middle of a locked room to a group of people who thought you were dead! He has to say it twice, which gives us a clue to the physical and emotional responses he must have triggered. Fear. Shock. Disbelief. And then? Wild amazement. Unspeakable joy. Laughter, tears, and warm embraces. As plot twists go, this was one for the history books. Christ is risen, just as he said! It is finished. Sin and death are done, but Jesus is just getting started.

Jesus stands before his disciples, who represent you, me, and all believers. He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” 

Jesus is restoring God’s image and likeness back into his creation. But what Jesus says next is downright shocking. After more than a decade of preaching on this verse, it still offends my mind. Yet this passage is the scriptural linchpin for God’s grace gift. I pray it stirs your heart and changes not only your life but also the lives of those around you who desperately need God’s grace. John 20:23 reads, “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

Wait. What did Jesus just say? Pause for a moment and read it again. Let his words soak in. If you forgive the sins of others… they are forgiven. If you don’t forgive them, they’re not forgiven.

I can imagine what you might be thinking right now. The disciples may have been thinking it back then, too. Hold up, Jesus. Only God has the power to forgive sins. But where did you hear that? Who told you only God has the power to forgive sins? Suspend disbelief with me for just a few more days.