The account of Jesus' appearance in "the house where the disciples had gathered" (John 20:19–23) is similar to the account in the
Gospel of Luke (
Luke 24:36), when Jesus appeared to his disciples in
Jerusalem (after the return of two of his followers who met Jesus on the
road to Emmaus) on the evening of the day of his
resurrection. Jesus' promise here is given to the whole group of disciples: the verbs ἀφῆτε,
aphēte, "forgive" and κρατῆτε,
kratēte, "retain", are both plurals. This promise parallels the promise in
Matthew 16:19 and
Matthew 18:18, where the text refers to "binding" and "loosing". The disciples' power to forgive sins is linked to the gift of the Spirit in
John 20:22, and does not reside in human power. The verbs for forgiving and retaining are in the passive form, indicating that God is the one in action. Thus, most Protestants believe that this is in the Gospel message, that those who respond with faith to the Gospel will receive grace, their sins forgiven by God. With the statement in this verse, Jesus declares that in his messianic community (the "new covenant") his followers ("
Christians") now hold the key to membership, in contrast to the authority held by the Jewish leadership (represented by the
Sanhedrin and the
Pharisees at that time) to affirm or deny acceptance in the synagogues (the "old covenant"). John 20:23 is seen as the origin for the practice of
Confession and Absolution by the
Catholic Church,
Lutheran Churches,
Anglican Communion,
Eastern Orthodox Churches,
Oriental Orthodox Churches,
Assyrian Church of the East, and
Irvingian Churches. ==Notes==