Odpuścić grzechy, zachować wiernych (J 20,23)
Forgiving sins, holding believers (John 20,23)

Summary/Abstract: This article presents an exegesis of John 20:23: If you forgive people’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you hold them they are held fast. Traditionally them refers to sins, and exegetical basis for this interpretation was reading John 20:23 (with the eliptical antithetical parallelism) as parallel of Matt 16:19 and 18:18. How¬ever the grammatical and lexical structure of John 20:23 suggests that v. 23a and 23b is a synthetic (progressive) parallel. In the Johannine com¬munities and in first three centuries of Christianity John 20:23 was not understood as the scriptural account of the institution of the sacrament of Penance that can only be administered by the ordained ministers. This text may be an allusion to baptism First of all, John 20:23 is a missionary command to the disciples. They have the power (v. 22: Receive the Holy Spirit) and right to preach the for¬giveness of sins and entry into the community of believers (cf. Matt 28:19; Mark 16:16; Luke 24:47).

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