Achievement vs implementation

I am still using N.T. Wright's "For Everyone" bible study/commentary for my morning devotions. I finished Part 1 of the gospel of John, and am just about done with part 2. I read the Scripture passage, read Wright's commentary on it, re-read the Scripture, and then journal about a page worth of thoughts/notes/prayers. I usually do it at work once things have settled down a bit (after opening the Y), and it doesn't take much time at all. I find it quite helpful.

The other day I read John 20:19-23. This is the passage where the disciples were hanging out behind closed doors after the resurrection. They're hiding out from the Judaeans, and all of a sudden Jesus is standing in their midst. Jesus shows them his wounds, and then says, 'As the father has sent me, so I'm sending you.' Then he breathes the Holy Spirit on them, and says, 'If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you retain anyone's sins, they are retained.'

Now, when I first read through this, I am drawn to the fact that Jesus seems to appear out of nowhere. Wright went beyond, to something much deeper. He says,

"There is all the different in the world between something being achieved and something being implemented. The composer achieves the writing of the music; the performers implement it. The clockmaker designs and builds the wonderful clock. The owner now has to set it to the right time and keep it wound up. Jesus has accomplished the defeat of death, and has begun the work of new creation (notice how John again stresses that it was the first day of the week). His followers don't have to do that all over again. (This, by the way, is why the early church didn't say exactly the same things that he said. That confuses people who think that Jesus was just a great moral or spiritual teacher. They then wonder why his followers kept talking about him instead of simply repeating what he had said. The answer is that they were implementing his achievement, not trying to duplicate it...

Jesus' mission to Israel, reaching its climax in his death and resurrection, is thus to be implemented by the disciples' mission to the world. That's why they need the holy spirit: Jesus breath, God's breath, to enable them to do the job they could otherwise never dream of doing."

As I read the above, and re-read the text, it was like a light bulb turned on in my brain. THIS is what I struggled with so much at the former church! It wasn't that Jesus was emphasized too much. He should be! What I longed for was more teaching on how we are to implement this new life in our walk with him. We did not (and cannot) achieve what Jesus did. We are, however, called into his kingdom work.

This reminds me of the whole WWJD thing. 'What would Jesus' do is the wrong question for us. The more appropriate question is: What Does Jesus Want Me To Do? (WDJWMTD). I know it doesn't fit on a bracelet quite as nicely... and maybe that's the point. It isn't meant to be easy. In fact, it isn't meant to be done in our own power. This kind of living requires the breath of new life... the Holy Spirit.


On a related note, I have always been a little confused about v. 23 as well: "If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you retain anyone's sins, they are retained." What does it mean to 'retain' sins? Wright says, "to warn the world that sin is a serious, deadly disease, and that to remain in it will bring death. They are to rebuke and warn - not because they don't like people, or because they are seeking power or prestige for themselves, but because this is God's message to a muddled, confused and still rebellious world."

Yes! This is a second part of the same issue for me. It DOES matter what we do. Not that we should be judgmental, but sometimes it seems in our efforts to not judge, we go too far the other way.

Anyway... I was glad for this bit of light shining in today. I am far from where I want to be or need to be, but it's always nice when we at least feel like we're moving in the right direction.

Peace out; and in.