Why confess to a Priest? John 20:23

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Biblical Catholic Doctrine:

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the missions which was given the Church.  This is expressly stated in Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:18  
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

This ministry of reconciliation entails all the Sacraments.  Baptism chief amongst them.  But also Confession, Eucharist and Annointing.  Scripture is very clear that God gave men the power to forgive sins:

Matthew 9:5-8
King James Version (KJV)
5For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7And he arose, and departed to his house. 8But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

Scripture is also clear that God appointed men to rule over us and to be responsible over our souls to whom we should submit and obey.  Protestants do their best to deny and ignore this teaching:

Matthew 18:17And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Hebrews 13:17
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Especially when it comes to confessing our sins to a Priest.  But Scripture says:

John 20:2323Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

And how else could we confess our sins if we were not supposed to confess them through a Priest?

But a Protestant will say, "I confess directly to God!"  But Scripture says:

2 Corinthians 5:19-21King James Version (KJV)
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Has anyone ever heard that the Priest in confession stands in "persona Christi"?  That is what that verse tells?  He stands in the person of Christ.

Now, because Protestants have discarded tradition, because they deny the authority of the Church, and because they deny the authority of the men which God appointed to be responsible for his soul, they can't imagine that God could actually have given the Church the authority to forgive sins in confession.  But that is exactly what Scripture says and that is what we see the Tradition of the Church doing, from the beginning.

Origen
[A filial method of forgiveness], albeit hard and laborious [is] the remission of sins through penance, when the sinner . . . does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who say, "I said, to the Lord, I will accuse myself of my iniquity" (Homilies in Leviticus 2:4 [A.D. 248]).
http://www.staycatholic.com/ecf_confession.htm

You don't believe me? Don't make me slap you!