Forgiven or Held Bound
There is incredible power in this Gospel. The Apostles identified Jesus as the Messiah sent from God. I am not sure they knew what that meant. They may still have thought of His power being used to overthrow the rulers and give them authority. But whatever they thought it meant, it was a moment of recognition and transition.
At the end of the reading, we have a crucial message. “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” We often think that whatever we forgive on earth will be forgiven in heaven. What we cannot forgive will remain for all eternity. And it does. But it goes much deeper than that.
This passage gives us power. We can forgive or not. We can hold another bound for whatever pain, great or small, intended or unintentional, they have inflicted on us. There is power in that, but there is also a tremendous responsibility.
This teaching of Jesus comes after the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. This comes after he taught them the words, “Forgive us as we forgive.” What he is telling the disciples (and us) is that they do have the power to forgive (or loose) on earth, and they have the ability not to forgive (hold bound). Their decision will remain forever with them.
They are being called to understand that what they hold bound will be bound to them in heaven, and what they forgive will be loosed from them in heaven. We carry the grace of forgiveness and the burden of the unforgiven grudge, slight, or intentional hurt we have chosen not to forgive. That is the responsibility, and Jesus has given us that power. Jesus modeled that power himself when from the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.”
Forgive and be forgiven, hold bound and be held bound. From the depth of Jesus’ humanity, He knows forgiveness is complicated and calls his disciples to this very high standard. Forgiveness is hard when we are sinned against and broken by the hurt. We pray for grace. We ask Jesus to help us to forgive what has left scars on our hearts. When we struggle to “loose” someone from the sin they have committed against us, we pray, “Lord, I want to forgive, forgive what I cannot. Heal in me what is damaged and wrap me in your grace.”
Soon after this, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says. “Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
We know this passage well. I don’t think it is a coincidence that it follows soon after the call to be people who bear the grace of forgiveness. There are many ways this passage can be read and many situations in which it can give us hope.
Today perhaps, we can see it as the next step when we find it hard to forgive. If we share our brokenness with another, that person joins their prayer to ours. They are one with us. Together, we have a strength that alone we could never muster. When we pray with another, we pray to heal what is broken in us. We pray that we might forgive what we hold bound.
We must learn not to covet our pain, protecting it from view. We are instructed to share our prayer and our suffering with another of God’s faithful. It is not a weakness to share your pain, and there is no honor in toughing it out alone. Jesus commands that we be lowly enough to admit our brokenness and ask for help. Grace comes when we humbly join our hearts together in prayer. Together we are so much stronger than we are alone. When we are together, Jesus is one with us.
In God’s Unending Love,
Gwen
