23. Cf. Matt. xviii.
18; xvi. 19. In view of the fact that ‘to forgive sins’ (αφιεναι αμαρτιας)
and ‘to retain’ (κρατειν) are expressions not used elsewhere in the F[ourth]G[ospel]
are not found in the Matthean parallels, it is unlikely that this verse is an
adaptation from Matthew or a free invention of the Fourth Evangelist. It has
frequently been noted that Matt. xvi. 19 recalls Isa. xxii. 22, and it has been
plausible suggested that if the Matthean and Johannine sayings are variants of
a common original (which one might reasonably suppose was composed in Aramaic),
this may well have followed Isaiah in describing the authority conferred in
terms of opening and shutting, but without defining it further. Matthew and
John then provide different interpretations of what was said, the Johannine
version developing naturally out of an ambiguity in the Aramaic; אחד, ‘to shut’,
can also mean ‘to seize or hold’, and פתח, ‘to open’, could well have suggested
the meaning ‘to release, let loose, set free’. One merit of this hypothesis is
that it satisfactorily accounts for the verb ‘to retain’, which is not used
here in any of its normal Greek senses, as a Semitism.
The authority conferred is connected with the gift of the
Spirit, cf. on xvi. 8-11 for the continuation of Jesus’ ministry by the Spirit,
and also Luke xxiv. 47, which speaks of the preaching to all nations of ‘repentance
and forgiveness of sins’ (μετανοιαν
εις αφεσιν αμαρτιων). Matt. xxviii. 19 (and also Mark xvi.
16) mention baptism in a comparable position, and it is likely that the
immediate reference in the FG is to the remission of sins which accompanies
conversion and baptism, and the retention of the sins of those who reject the
apostolic preaching. It would not, however, be impossible for there to be a
secondary reference to the situation which arises when a person who has been
excommunicated wishes to be readmitted to the Christian community. In any case,
‘the controversy whether the commission is given to the Church as a whole or to
the apostles is irrelevant. There is no distinction here between the Church and
the ministry; both completely overlap’. (J. N. Sanders, A Commentary on the
Gospel According to St John, ed. B. A. Mastin [London: Adam & Charles Black,
1968], 433-35)
