John 20:23 & 27 –
<23>If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.
<27>Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
This chapter focuses on the resurrection of Jesus and the meetings after. They start entering an empty tomb with Jesus’ head covering folded and set aside. Interestingly this is what carpenters did when their job was finished. Put their equipment away, fold the shop towel and place it on the work to signal they were finished.
I have also heard this as a napkin analogy where if it was balled up the servant knew to clear the table, if it was folded the servant knew the master would return. Not 100% sure the “correct” analogy, but each is significant and the disciples understood the meaning.
As you can see there is a bunch to talk about in this chapter. Verse 23 is significant since it ties into the Lord’s Prayer which says “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” Both are significant when you think about it, we need to forgive others as we expect God to forgive us. We hold grudges and over time they eat us from the inside, like acid to its container and it destroys anything it’s poured on. So when we hold grudges in, eventually we end up dumping them on others and destroying a relationship or a witness that’s of value. So in your prayer time when you confess your sins, make sure you forgive all others who have wronged you.
Verse 27 got me today in my prayer time since I was calling out to God in question. I knew I was reading about the Resurrection and on a logical level questioned the validity of this story. Thomas is so like me at times, I hear this story and believe it by faith, but still in the back of my head think it may be just a cool story. Or that Jesus and Lazarus were not dead, only very near death and therefore appeared to come back. Either way God reminded me of this past Tuesday at WE, where during the final worship song I prayed to have my son call, which he did before the end of the song. God is with us, God is real and we just have to get that through our thick skulls. And don’t worry, like me it may take some time to work it through!