Another way that I thought of looking at that verse, is that if I personally forgive you of a sin that you committed against me, then God considers it forgiven and doesn’t need to deal with the person over it.
The context bears that out much better than the idea that Jesus is giving a special class of believers authority to retain the sin HE promised to forgive if it were confessed. NO man can override God’s promise and decision.
Your explanation works well, too. I never thought of it that way.
Me? I’ll go right to God because HE promised that HE’D forgive me if I confessed. If I go to one of those Catholic priests, they might be having a bad day and decide that I’m not sincere enough for them and refuse to forgive, but rather retain.
Why should I take my chances with a Catholic priest when I have God’s sure word to count on?
Good post.