John 20: 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father sent Me, I send you”
The message of Christmas is a call for mission.
Jesus was sent by the Father God into this world, a tiny planet in the galaxy called the Milky Way, just one among the billions of galaxies in the universe, to give the promise of eternal life and peace to mankind.
We may well wonder why God chose earth out of the billions of galaxies, and I believe there is life in many such galaxies. [It would be foolhardy to believe that earth is the only planet in the universe with life on it.] The reason is given in the Book of Genesis 1:28 ‘ then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….’ Of all the creations, only man was created in the image of God and hence when man fell from fellowship with God due to sin, God sent Jesus, His only Son, to die as a perfect sacrifice and thereby redeem humanity from the curse of death which is eternal separation from God [”the wages of sin is death”]
So we see the heart of God the Father, who “loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall never perish, but shall have eternal life” [John 3:16]
John 20:19 says, ‘On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the door locked for fear of the Jews…”
Coming to the text John 20:21, Jesus spoke to the disciples who were in hiding fearing for their own lives after His crucifixion and first spoke “peace” to them. What they lacked at that moment in their lives was peace…they had run away from their Master and friend at the time He was arrested by the soldiers and the priests, when He needed them most! They had deserted their companion of three and a half years to whom they had sworn loyalty and allegiance. The Jewish population was searching for them, to arrest and kill them possibly
They had believed their Master to be the Christ, Son of the living God [Mathew 16:16] They believed that He had come and will restore the Kingdom of Israel to its former glory!! And here He was, dead and buried in a tomb shut and sealed by the soldiers of Rome with the seal of the Governor!
They were, at that moment, hiding for their lives, in fear…What they lacked was “peace”….and what Jesus gave first to His disciples was “peace”
Then He added, “as My Father sent Me, I am sending you…”
His Father did not sent His only begotten Son to a palace on the planet…He was born not as the Son of a great King, as befitting His stature as the Son of the Living God, or even to a noble house, but to the humble abode of a poor carpenter, to be born in a manger among sheep and cattle. His birth was announced by the angels in heaven and by the star in the sky, but they all pointed to the lowly status of the King of Kings as the poorest of the poor.
He did not live with a horde of heavenly hosts ever at His side, to obey His every order. We read about the angels in the Bible, of their awesome power [one unnamed angel killing 185 000 enemy Assyrian soldiers of Israel in one night – 2 Kings 18: 35], their authority [ 2 Samuel 24: 16, 17] and their number [ “The Lord of Hosts”]. His majesty was hidden to the world except for once to His three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration [Mathew 17:1,2]
Mathew 20: 28 says, “..the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”. He washed His disciple’s feet, forgave the woman caught in adultery, ate with the sinners and the tax collectors, touched and cleansed the lepers…..things which the established religious authorities would have faltered to do.
“As my Father sent Me, I send you”
Jesus lived in this world but He was untouched by sin. It can be compared like the fish which has lived its life in the salt water of the sea, yet its flesh remains tasty and not salty. He ate with sinners, but did not partake of their sin. He came to save the lost and lonely and the sick and the outcasts, not the rich and the powerful [“It is only the sick who need a physician”]
“As my Father sent Me, I send you”
He was holy in a world that is unholy and fallen…He lived a pure life in a world that had gone away from the Father and was cursed. He spoke of heavenly blessings available freely to those who believe in Him and accept Him. He spoke of values of the Kingdom of the world which were so different from the values of the modern world. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”……..He taught the disciples to turn the other cheek, to forgive trespasses, to guard against temptations and worldly honors…
“As my Father sent Me, I send you”
He came knowing what His end would be at the hands of the world that He had come to save. His hands which healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead were nailed to the cross. His body was broken for the sins of mankind…His body was marred beyond recognition, yet He did not hesitate to obey His Fathers’ will to the last [Isaiah 53]
He knew His mission….and He asks His disciples today, “As my Father sent Me, I send you”
Mathew 28: 18,19 Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them …”
[Acts 11: 26 …”The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch”]
If you are a true Christian, then live as one - a disciple of Jesus
God bless,
Motty
