It took a while for everything that happened during Holy Week to sink in.

Nothing in Jewish thought or expectation foresaw a Messiah dying on a cross. That was failure, not success.

Even the concept of resurrection was not thought to apply to the long-expected Messiah or even to just one person.

The entire world view of the disciples had to be transformed.

And that didn't happen overnight.

Take, for instance, the power Jesus gives to his followers in John 20:22-23:

He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven; if you do not forgive, they are not forgiven."

Jesus breathes on them his breath. Receive my breath. Receive my Spirit. And what power does this gift of the Spirit impart?

The ability to forgive each other. Or not.

Luther called this the Office (or Power) of the Keys.

These Keys open up the doors to heaven, that is, to life itself.

It is a word of forgiveness spoken by any follower of Jesus to another troubled by sin.

Any follower of Jesus can extend this to another. No church official need be involved. And this gift can only be found in the body of believers who follow a risen Lord.

We, in other words, are empowered to do Christ's work. And that primary work is forgiveness.

In baptism the promise of forgiveness is given a tangible form.

At the font. With water. Connected to the life-giving Word. Gathered among God's people.