Did Jesus Give Priests the Power to Forgive Sins? What Does John 20:23 Mean?

THE TEXT IS STRONG

Jesus did not merely tell the apostles to offer helpful advice about sin.

John 20:23 is sometimes handled badly from both directions. One side can treat the verse as though it obviously establishes the later sacrament of priestly absolution. Another can become so uncomfortable with that conclusion that Jesus' words are drained of meaningful authority.

Neither approach is necessary.

The risen Jesus commissions the disciples, breathes on them, speaks of receiving the Holy Spirit, and then speaks directly about forgiving and retaining sins.

Whatever interpretation follows, the authority in the passage is serious.

WHO IS JESUS SPEAKING TO?

Before extending the authority, identify its original recipients.

The immediate scene concerns Jesus' disciples after the resurrection. It belongs to the period in which Christ is commissioning His chosen witnesses for the work that follows.

Who Changed the Church? places John 20 alongside Acts 1 and Acts 2. The manuscript argues that the apostles received a unique Spirit-empowered commission and that supernatural signs confirmed their authoritative proclamation.

This matters because an authority genuinely given to the apostles does not automatically prove that the same authority belongs identically to every later church officer.

BINDING AND LOOSING

John 20 is not the only place Jesus gives His apostles extraordinary authority.

Matthew records Jesus speaking about binding and loosing. The manuscript connects that language with the apostles' foundational authority rather than treating them as inventors of doctrine.

Don emphasizes that the apostles were commissioned to reveal and enforce what came from heaven. Their authority was derivative: Christ authorized them, the Spirit guided them, and their message became foundational for the church.

That framework helps explain why the book takes John 20:23 seriously without concluding that later clergy possess an independent power to decide whose sins God will forgive.

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS IN ACTS

The apostles exercise their authority by proclaiming God's terms of forgiveness.

Pentecost provides the first major public test after Jesus' commission. Peter does not invite the convicted crowd into private confession so that he can individually absolve them.

He proclaims Christ, the hearers are cut to the heart, and when they ask what to do, Peter gives an authoritative answer: repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

The authority is real. Peter is not offering a personal theory. He is announcing the gospel Christ commissioned the apostles to proclaim.

Who Changed the Church? therefore reads apostolic forgiveness language together with apostolic gospel proclamation.

SIMON PROVIDES ANOTHER TEST

Peter confronts sin without presenting himself as Simon's sacerdotal absolver.

Acts 8 becomes particularly relevant because Simon has already believed and been baptized before committing the sin Peter condemns.

Peter possesses apostolic authority and directly identifies Simon's spiritual danger.

Yet Peter tells Simon to repent and pray to the Lord that the intention of his heart may be forgiven.

That is significant evidence when asking how an apostle understood his own role after Christ's words in John 20.

WHAT THE BOOK CLAIMS

John 20:23 belongs to the apostles' actual authority in Don Wood's argument.

The manuscript explicitly cites John 20:23 while distinguishing apostolic authority from later innovations.

Later, in its discussion of Acts, it again connects the verse with the apostles' specific commission and Spirit-confirmed authority.

That is an important limitation on what the book itself claims. Don is not arguing that nobody on earth ever announced forgiveness. He argues that Christ gave the apostles a unique foundational role and that later generations cannot simply appropriate apostolic authority without apostolic authorization.

THE SUCCESSION QUESTION RETURNS

To get from John 20 to later priestly absolution, another premise is required.

Even after establishing that the apostles possessed authority concerning forgiveness, a historical and theological bridge remains.

Was that authority attached to the apostles' unique foundational commission, or was it transmitted through bishops and priests as a continuing sacramental power?

Different Christian traditions answer that question differently. The verse itself records the commission; the claim of continuing priestly succession requires a further argument about office and transmission.

That is why this passage connects naturally with the separate investigation into apostolic succession.

• John 20:23 gives Christ's commissioned disciples real authority.
• The manuscript connects that authority specifically with the apostles.
• Acts shows the apostles authoritatively proclaiming God's terms of forgiveness.
• Peter tells the baptized Simon to repent and pray to God for forgiveness.
• A continuing priestly power of absolution requires an additional succession argument.
• The existence of apostolic authority does not by itself identify every later clerical office as apostolic.

THE QUESTION BENEATH THE VERSE

Who has authority to speak for Christ after the foundation has been laid?

That is ultimately why John 20:23 matters so much to Who Changed the Church?.

If the apostles possessed a unique foundational authority, their teaching becomes the standard by which later authority claims are measured.

If their authority instead continues institutionally through a sacerdotal succession, that produces a very different understanding of the church.

The disagreement therefore reaches far beyond confession. It concerns where binding Christian authority resides after the apostolic generation.