May 20, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Forgiving and Retaining Sins

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. – John 20:23

This is the final verse from the gospel reading for this upcoming Sunday. For years I would read this passage, and this verse, and immediately think that the disciples whom Jesus is addressing, and by extension the Church, were being given the authority to pass judgment on people. They were being given the authority to forgive sins and/or continue to use a person's sin as a form of punishment, giving this whole thing a kind of Law & Order feeling: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.”

In that system people are either found innocent (their sins are forgiven) or guilty (their sins are retained). That certainly seems to be the “plain reading” of this verse. And there are many churches, in both the denominational sense of the word and in the congregational sense of the word, that use this verse in that way; just think about how many people have been ousted from churches because their sins were retained.

But, and I've said this before, forgiving sins isn't about the other person. When we forgive those who have sinned against us, we have come to the point where what was done to us no longer holds sway over us. We are no longer beholden to the feelings of hate or revenge or whatever that permeated us when an act was committed (or maybe omitted). This does not mean we forget, because there are plenty of reasons why a person would not want to forget what was done; but it does mean we can move on with our lives instead of dwelling on the event.

So instead of creating an ecclesiastical court system of forgiving and retaining sins, I think this statement was, and is, addressed to individual people. “If you (Tom, Bob, Sally, Mary) forgive the sins of any, then you will be able to live in peace. But if you retain their sins, then you will continue to live with that sin festering within you and you will not live in peace.”

Forgiving the sins of others isn't about letting them off without consequences. Forgiving the sins of others is about allowing ourselves to move on in peace.

Blessings,