From Pastor Biar’s Pen 

As You Believe

            It’s a month early to be talking about Easter, but the focus is on sin, so I think this will fit with Lent; one thing that often gets overlooked in the narrative of Easter Sunday comes in the evening when Jesus appears to the 10 apostles (minus Judas and Thomas) in the upper room – with the Thomas narrative usually stealing the thunder. But when He appears and breathes the Holy Spirit on them, He gives them the authority to forgive sin.[1] This, combined with giving the Keys of the Kingdom to the apostles in Matthew 16 & 18 has always been the justification for the historical use of the clergy declaring forgiveness in the absolution. 

            I recently got into a very long and very weird debate on Facebook about this. You can ask me about it if you’re morbidly curious, but the gist of it was that this guy refused to accept the plain meaning of this text because he somehow thought that if any human were given authority to forgive sins, then this would mean that Jesus was no longer the atoning agent. This is not so! The role of the pastoral office is to be the vicar of Christ – the one who stands in His place. Think of it as being an ambassador on Christ’s behalf, but always acting upon His authority. Just as an ambassador may negotiate a deal with full governmental authority behind him such that his word in the peace talk is effectively the same as the President’s, so too does clerical absolution speak as an agent tasked with the Master’s authority in this manner. So, while I proclaim forgiveness of your sins, and indeed it is me who is forgiving them, you ought to hear it as though Christ Himself were speaking these words unto you – in the same way that I’m physically the person pouring the water upon a person being baptized while at the same time it is Christ’s Word and Promise that does the work. So come to Church during this penitential season, as you meditate upon the sin which necessitated Christ’s sacrifice, and hear with full confidence and assurance that, by His authority, your sin is forgiven.

God’s Blessings

Pastor Biar

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