John 20:11 ¶ But Mary stood without at the sepulchre
weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
12 And seeth two angels in white
sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of
Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto
her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away
my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned
herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest
thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him,
Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will
take him away. 16 Jesus saith unto her,
Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not;
for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto
them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the
disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto
her.
Peter and John do not understand the Resurrection. Mary
thinks someone stole Jesus’ body. It is given to Mary Magdalene to see two
angels and then to turn and see Jesus, thinking Him to be the gardener. Jesus
says her name and then she sees Him for who He is. Is that not the way
salvation is and the way the translation of the church will be? We knew Christ
for how He was when He spoke our name. Our coming to Christ had to be a very
personal thing, not a group thing. There is no group salvation in Biblical Christianity.
You were not saved because you were a Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, or
Pentecostal. You were saved because God spoke your name and you saw Him for who
He is.
John 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear
his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Genesis 22:1 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that
God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I
am…11 ¶ And the angel of the LORD called
unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
Exodus 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to
see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses.
And he said, Here am I.
1Samuel 3:4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered,
Here am I.
Song of Solomon 2:8
¶ The voice of my beloved! behold, he
cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills….10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up,
my love, my fair one, and come away.
Acts 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice
saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
1Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord. [you certainly don’t think here, in
consideration of other passages that the Lord is just shouting, “HEY!” do you?]
Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of
the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Jesus told her not to touch Him as He had not ascended to
the Father. We can only guess the reasons for that and the physics of it. But,
she ran and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and what He had said
to her.
19 ¶
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the
doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came
Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them
his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace
be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on
them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But
he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and
put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I
will not believe.
Later, the disciples were hiding behind closed doors for
fear of the Jews, and Jesus appeared in their midst. He greeted them with Peace be unto you and showed his pierced
hands and side to them. The disciples were glad to see Him. He repeated His
blessing to them and declared His authorizing of them to be sent by giving them
life, in a way, as He had given Adam life in Genesis 2:7. Christ gave the
eleven remaining Apostles the Holy Ghost.
These Apostles were given the authority to remit sins. It is
reported elsewhere that Jesus said;
Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Modern definitions of remission include, “the cancellation
of a debt, charge, or penalty,” or, “a temporary recovery from a disease or the
pain associated with it,” and, “forgiveness of sins.”
In the era the King
James Bible was translated there was a thesaurus called Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae. This was
compiled by Thomas Cooper in 1584. In it, remit, meant, “to acquit one of his
debt; to forgive…”, and, “to pardon and remit the punishment one has deserved.”
In 1587 Thomas Thomas’ Dictionarium Linguae Latinae et Anglicanae had, “to remit,
or forgive, to pardon.” Remission in those early dictionaries and thesaurus in
Early Modern English is listed as synonymous with forgiveness or pardon. (40)
What does the Bible say? Clearly, in the verse in Matthew we
know that Christ’s shed blood is required for the forgiveness of our sins.
Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins:
John the Baptist preached the baptism of repentance to the
Jews as a nation for the remission of sins.
Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and
preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
And when Peter faced the proselyte Jews after the
Resurrection he told them that they must receive this baptism of repentance to
receive the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
But, what about the Christian? Does remission mean
forgiveness and was this a special authority given to the Apostles only or was
it for all Christians?
Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of
sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
The use of the word remission
has to do with a debt that is cancelled. Many would say that remission and forgiveness are distinct and that if sins are remitted they not
completely removed. But it is clear that remission
and forgiveness are synonyms.
The Apostles were given the authority to forgive sins, but
clearly, like speaking in tongues or foreign languages without learning them,
and healings administered by individuals this was used to spread Christianity
in its early days. Here is another authority given to the physical Apostles
that we do not have;
Matthew 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.
Jesus Christ gave the Apostles the Holy Ghost and the Holy
Ghost came again in a very public way on the Apostles, in Acts, chapter 2;
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth.
Acts 2:1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,
they were all with one accord in one place. 2
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Clearly, since these are two events and the Holy Ghost is
involved in both they have two distinct purposes. One, the first, is in
granting authority to the Apostles to forgive sins, and, two, the second one is
giving the spiritual power to accomplish the supernatural task Jesus set for
them.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world. Amen.
Thomas doubts the Apostles’ account; the evidence of
Christ’s pierced side and hands. He wants to see what they have seen and if he
does not see it he will not believe.
The conclusions drawn here from this passage are that Christ
gave the Holy Ghost to the Apostles in two stages; one with authority and power
to forgive sins and the other with the ability to carry out their mission.
Another conclusion is that the Apostles had power that we do not have in this
age of the Church. The third thing is that remission and forgiveness are
synonyms.
(40) Lexicons of Early Modern English, http://leme.library.utoronto.ca/search/results.cfm
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