The Forgiveness of Sins

An excerpt from the book Come and See

Because Jesus established the rite of Baptism, by which one’s past sins are forgiven (cf. Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38), it is only reasonable to expect He would establish a second rite by which future sins, those committed after Baptism, would be forgiven. Reconciliation has its roots in the penitential rites and practices of the Old Covenant. In the Book of Numbers, for instance, God instructs Moses to have sinners confess their transgressions and make restitution to those they have wronged (5:5-7). This rite of forgiveness is overseen by the priest, who pronounces sinners clean and makes offerings on their behalf. The priests of the New Covenant are given a greater and more intimate share in God’s “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18), a greater authority over sin. The Lord Jesus grants this authority when, appearing to the Apostles after the Resurrection, He declares to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:23).

In denying the authority of the Catholic priest to forgive sins, our separated brethren will often cite the Gospel story of the paralytic, in which the Lord says, “My son, your sins are forgiven;” and the scribes, scandalized by His words, cry, “Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:5, 7). To this, Jesus replies,

“Why do you question thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your pallet and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority to forgive sins” — he said to the paralytic — “I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home” (2:8-11).

The man promptly does as Jesus commands to the crowd’s astonishment. This story is designed primarily, of course, to affirm Christ’s divinity: the physical healing proves He has the power to forgive sins; the forgiveness of sins proves He is God, for only God can forgive sins. The story is also designed, however, to show that Jesus brought the ministries of healing and forgiveness to earth — ministries that would be handed on to His followers. In fact, at the conclusion of Saint Matthew’s version of the story we are told that the crowd “glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (Matt. 9:8). The authority, that is, to do what Jesus had done: to heal and to forgive sins.

Non-Catholics readily concede God has given certain individuals the ministry of healing, and recognize the healing is carried out, not by a power inherent to the minister, but by the power of Almighty God coursing through him. It is Christ who heals; the healing occurs by His authority. So it is with the ministry of forgiveness. In the sacrament of Reconciliation it is Christ who forgives sins through the instrument of the priest.

In the New Testament, Jesus gives the Apostles authority in various areas: to baptize and teach (Matt. 28:19-20), to bind and loose (Matt. 16:19, 18:18), to cure diseases (Matt. 10:1), cast out evil spirits (Luke 10:17), and even resurrect the dead (Acts 9:40). In John 20:23, He gives them the authority to forgive sins as well (cf. John 14:12).

In the historical writings, Tertullian states in 203 that “confession is a discipline for man’s prostration and humiliation.” And he continues, “It commands one … to bow before the presbyters, to kneel before God’s refuge places, and to beseech all the brethren for the embassy of their own supplications” (Repentance 9:4). Origen, in about 250, describes Reconciliation as “the remission of sins through penance, when the sinner … does not shrink from declaring his sins to a priest of the Lord” (Homilies on Leviticus 2:4).