John 20:23, If you forgive the sins [NKJV] or Whose soever sins ye remit [KJV].
Forgive is the Greek word aphiemi, which has a wide range of meanings including “to send away, to permit, allow, not to hinder, to give up a thing to a person, to leave, go way from one, to let go, let alone, let be, to disregard, to leave, not to discuss now, to omit, neglect.” Of the 146 times this word occurs in the NT, in the KJV aphiemi is translated as “forgive” 47 times (as in forgiving sins; e.g. Matt 6:12, 14; 9:2, 5, 6; 12:31; 18:12; Rom 4:7; Jas 5:12; 1 John 1:9; 2:11, etc.). The KJV also translates this word as “leave” (52 times), “suffer” (meaning “allow, let or permit”, 14 times), “let” (8 times), “forsake” (6 times), “let alone” (6 times).
What would be the purpose of remitting someone’s past sins (assuming that one has the authority to do so)? By asking heaven’s court to forgive a person’s sins, this could possible open the doorway to salvation to them by lessoning the burden of sin and the guilt, shame, hopelessness, depression and fear that comes with sin. With these burdens removed by which the forces of darkness keep that person imprisoned to their sin, they might actually come to see the glorious light of Yeshua and be set free and come to salvation.
The Greek word for forgive (aphiemi ) in John 20:23is different than the Greek word translated as “to loose” (i.e. deo; e.g. Matt 16:19; 18:18) as in “binding and loosing,” or in Matt 12:29 as in “binding the strong man” when casting a demon out of someone.
Similar to the binding and loosing scriptures (Matt 16:19 and 18:18), in John 20:23, Yeshua is giving his disciples judicial authority to declare a person innocent or guilty (i.e. bound or loosed) of the charges made against him by someone else. This seems to go hand-in-hand with Yeshua giving his apostolic disciples the keys of the kingdom (Matt 16:19) as his spiritual authorities and representatives on earth to make decisions with regard to legal scriptural matters and to render legal decision in church matters. Moreover, Yeshua also gave his disciples authority and power over demonic forces and Elohim’s enemies (Luke 9:1; 10:19), including over sickness and disease (Mark 16:17–18).
Loose as used in the Matt 16:19 and Matt 18:18 is the Greek word deo meaning “to bind tie, fasten, to bind, fasten with chains, to throw into chains, being bound by Satan or his demons, put under obligation of the law, to be bound to one, a wife, a husband, to forbid, prohibit, declare to be illicit.” The counterpart to binding is loosing is the Greek word luo meaning “to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened, to loose one bound (i.e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free), to loosen, undo, dissolve, anything bound, tied, or compacted together.”
The concept of binding and loosing was also a first century Jewish colloquial expressions relating to correctly or incorrectly interpreting the Torah. If the Jewish legal scholars believed that a person was incorrectly interpreting the meaning of a Torah law or one of the traditions of the elders, they accused him of breaking or loosening (luo) the law or making it less binding or less strict (deo). This was the case when Yeshua picked some grain to eat on the Sabbath in John 5:18. The NKJV and most English translations of this verse incorrectly state that “he broke the Sabbath.” This is a misleading, faulty and unfortunate translation of the Greek word luo. It is unthinkable and unscriptural to think that the perfect and sinless Yeshua actually sinned by violating the fourth commandment. In reality, he loosened the Jewish extra-biblical legal restrictions that forbad anyone from picking a handful of grain to eat on the Sabbath—something that the Torah doesn’t consider to be work (as opposed to harvesting a whole field of grain), and thus doesn’t forbid. Luo in this sense may possibly be read into Matt 5:19, John 7:23, and 10:35 as well.
Is this where the idea of Catholic confession came from?
I was thinking the same thing so I went and did some research. The following are from a Roman Catholic website called ScriptureCatholic.com and share where they believe the sacrament of Confession comes from. I will put my thoughts in parentheses below:
Scripture
I. Jesus Christ Granted the Apostles His Authority to Forgive Sins
John 20:21-23 – before He grants them the authority to forgive sins, Jesus says to the apostles, “as the Father sent me, so I send you.” As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors forgive sins. the Lord “breathes” on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins. The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord “breathes” divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place. Jesus says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear.
(This is obviously a HUGE jump from Yeshua to the apostles. He had “all power” in heaven and earth as He stated in Matt. 28:18. He gave that authority to his disciples in order to carry His message throughout the world. I believe he was taking the authority away from the current priesthood and placing it on His disciples to make authoritative decisions in His name. For example, the story of Peter, Ananias, and Sapphira. It was not the ability to forgive sins, but to make decisions for the expanding ekklesia or assembly of Elohim. Another example would be Acts 15.)
II. Matt. 9:6-8, Mark 2:10, Luke 5:24 – Christ forgave sins as a man (not God) to convince us that the “Son of man” has authority to forgive sins on earth. This verse shows that God has given the authority to forgive sins to “men.” Hence, those Protestants who acknowledge that the apostles had the authority to forgive sins (which this verse demonstrates) must prove that this gift ended with the apostles. Otherwise, the apostles’ successors still possess this gift. Where in Scripture is the gift of authority to forgive sins taken away from the apostles or their successors? Luke also points out that Jesus’ authority to forgive sins is as a man, not God. The Gospel writers record this to convince us that God has given this authority to men. This authority has been transferred from Christ to the apostles and their successors.
(Yeshua forgave sins, not His disciples. Verse 8 says, “they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.” The term men or unto man is not speaking of giving the ability to forgive sins to his disciples or future believers, but to the fact that the ability to forgive sins was given to the Master, the “Son of Man” and that he could forgive the sins of mankind.)
III. Matt. 18:18; John 20:22-23 – the apostles are given authority to bind and loose. The authority to bind and loose includes administering and removing the temporal penalties due to sin. The Jews understood this since the birth of the Church. The power to remit/retain sin is also the power to remit/retain punishment due to sin. If Christ’s ministers can forgive the eternal penalty of sin, they can certainly remit the temporal penalty of sin (which is called an “indulgence”).
(This passage is explained well by Natan above.)
I’ll admit this is blowing my mind a bit…..
The scribes and Pharisees, at least “some”as scripture says, believed that Elohim was the only one that could forgive sins, Luke 5:21; and so accused Him of blaspheming.
Of course, when we understand that in that passage, Yeshua was speaking from his provenance as Elohim, as we know per John 1:1, and as the Creator of all humans, we fully understand how it was legal and divine right to forgive sin.