The Office Of The Keys
John 20:19-23
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
John 20:22-23 The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… It is the evening of the very first Easter. The disciples of our Lord were gathered – huddled, even – together in fear behind closed and locked doors. Three days earlier they saw their Lord Jesus crucified and buried. Since Jesus was their leader, they themselves would naturally think that those who killed Jesus would now be coming after His followers. They had every reason to be afraid for their own lives. Fear had locked the disciples in – fear of their own life, and fear about their sins of deserting Jesus in His hour of greatest need. They were afraid to go out; they were afraid to be seen; they were hiding out behind closed and locked doors. Indeed, fear itself had locked them in.
This is an accurate and graphic depiction of what sin does to a man. Sin brings fear. Sin brings shame. Sin brings the need to cover up and lie and blame others for our own actions – all the things Adam and Eve taught us in Genesis 3. Sin can lock us up in our own house. Sin can even prevent us from coming to the Divine Service to receive the Gospel and God’s good gifts while the devil accuses and berates us of being unworthy even to show up here where we most need to be.
Enter Jesus. He simply appears. He does not knock. He does not ask to be invited into the house. He just appears behind closed and locked doors and hearts. And He says, “Peace be with you.” And it is so! For Christ Himself – “the peace that passes all understanding” (Phil 4:7) – is with the disciples: peace in the flesh is in their very presence. The spoken Word has delivered what it has said.
“Now when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.” Jesus not only appears and speaks – delivers – His peace to these frightened and locked-in men, but He also shows them the very wounds by which that peace was accomplished. Even though Jesus had now risen from the dead and was in a glorified state, His hands and His side still bore the marks of His death – a death which was necessary in order to purchase forgiveness of sins for all mankind.
When the disciples saw the wounds and heard the word of peace from their Master’s lips, “they were glad…” Of course, they were glad! By the greeting, “Peace be with you,” they had just been disabused of the idea that Jesus was out to get them and exact revenge for their absence at the cross. Yes, we would say, Jesus had every right to condemn them for their cowardly actions and their lack of faith. But Jesus came and spoke – delivered – peace to them; peace from the One who chose to come into their presence and from whom they fully expected retribution, condemnation, and death.
And while the disciples were still basking in their relief and gladness of heart at Jesus’ appearance, “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Again, Jesus reassured His disciples by speaking and delivering His peace to them, for He knew they needed all the comfort they could get.
And then Jesus gave them a job to do; He gave them their orders. He said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” We know from Holy Scripture that Jesus was sent by His Father to suffer, die, and rise again, thereby paying for the sins of all people through His body crucified and blood shed for us on the cross. To put it simply, Jesus was sent by God to give away His life. And in these words, Jesus sends His disciples – these first of the New Testament pastors – to do the same thing, to give away the life of Jesus.
And how is that done? There is no question how that is done, for then our Lord Jesus “breathed on [His disciples] and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” Jesus gave both His authority and His command that sins be forgiven and retained. Jesus gave to His disciples the keys to lock and unlock heaven by virtue of their forgiving and retaining sins in His place, by His authority, and by His command.
Of course, we Lutherans understand this passage best in the words of the Small Catechism. “What is the Office of the Keys? The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.” And the next question is, “Where is this written?” to which the answer is given in the words of today’s text from John 20:22-23.
Not only that, but in the Catechism – based clearly on Scripture – we are also told precisely how those sins are to be forgiven and retained. For the question, “What do you believe according to these words” (meaning the words of John 20:22-23), is answered thus: “I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His” – Christ’s – “divine command” [and in that we see and hear Christ’s command to His disciples in our text], “in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation” [“…if you retain the sins of any they are retained…”] “and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better” [“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven”], “this is just as valid and certain even in heaven as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.”
Therefore, dear fellow redeemed, we believe, teach, confess, and therefore practice that Christ has given both His authority and His command that His pastors give away Christ’s life; and by that we mean to preach the Gospel, to Baptize, to distribute Christ’s own body and blood, and to give Holy Absolution to those who confess and repent of their sins.
And this, by the way, is also why you have been hearing a different absolution since Holy Week, including and continuing after today; it is an absolution that is directed at repentant sinners. Simply speaking, throughout Holy Scripture, there is never forgiveness given prior to or without repentance and faith. Among the many passages we could cite to make this very important point, we have these words of our Lord in Luke 17:3 – “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” The words of the Small Catechism, quoted earlier, reflect this true Biblical teaching and understanding.
So with that clear Biblical understanding – that absolution is only for those who repent and believe – I now say these words to you after you confess your sins: “God, our heavenly Father, gave His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and has promised the forgiveness of sins to all who repent and believe in Jesus. Therefore, to all of you who are truly penitent and believing and intend to order your life according to God’s commandments, I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
There is not a pastor in Christ’s church, me included, who is exempt from the command of Christ to forgive penitent sinners. I must give away the life and forgiveness of Christ, for that is exactly what you called me here to do almost 10 years ago. You, on the other hand, are not required but are free to receive the life and forgiveness of Christ, for it is a gift, freely and lovingly given from Christ who uses the mouth and hands of His servant, your pastor.
So, what does it mean to confess one’s sins? Or, in the words of the Catechism, “What is confession?” And again, the Catechism gives the best and most concise Scriptural answer. “Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting but firmly believing that by it [the absolution] our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.” Again, confession and repentance come before being absolved.
“What sins should we confess? Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer. But before the pastor we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts.” Notice that the Catechism is not addressing the group or “general” confession which we say at the outset of the Divine Service; that is not the context. This is the one-on-one private confession and specific absolution between you, the penitent, and your own pastor. This is where you are encouraged to “confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts” – those sins that specifically trouble you, those sins that have you locked in, those sins that bring you fear, those sins that trouble your conscience to the point of despair, as well as any other sin, great or small.
And in the Office of the Holy Ministry God has provided the ears of Christ to hear your confession and the mouth of Christ to speak and deliver to you Christ’s forgiveness, His peace, His absolution. It is the same forgiveness of sins that we by faith receive in Holy Baptism, the preached Gospel, and in the Holy Supper of our Lord. It is given by Christ through His chosen instrument, the benefits of which are received by God-given faith.
You may say, “I pray to God for forgiveness, and I know He forgives me; Why do I need to go to the pastor.” Well, that’s just the wrong question to ask, for it is a Law question. Where exactly does Christ deliver His forgiveness to you? Forgiveness is not something floating around in the air which falls on people when they pray, for prayer is not a means of grace, and by that I mean that it is not your prayers or your work that deliver God’s gifts to you. No, the forgiveness Jesus gives is specifically delivered and concretely applied to you only in the Gospel and in the Sacraments: Baptism, Holy Absolution, Holy Supper.
The Lord of the Church has provided His people with everything they will ever need to live their life of faith. And in the Gospel gift of Holy Absolution the people of God have yet another sure and certain delivery of Christ’s never-ending forgiveness.
Do not let fear prohibit you from receiving Christ’s forgiveness, for in Christ’s perfect love He casts out all fear. Do not let your sins prevent you from confessing them, for there is no sin so great that Christ has not already dealt with it. Do not let your mind play games with you to the point that you fear confessing your sins out loud to someone other than God, for the truth is that God Himself hears your confession through the ears of your pastor and He Himself speaks and delivers His forgiveness to you through the mouth of your pastor. That is our confession of faith.
Do not fear that what you say in confession may be mentioned in another place, for your pastor is bound by his Office never to divulge the sins confessed to him. The pastor’s ears are a tomb – what goes into them dies with him. Do not let earthly thought talk you out of receiving God’s Gospel in as many ways as it is offered, for if that happens the only one who loses is you.
Christ has lived. Christ has died. Christ has risen. And His fountain of forgiveness is ever flowing and never ending. He is here in His Supper to give away His life and He is in Holy Absolution for the same reason – to give away His life to all who, by faith, repent and believe.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
