I Send You!

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31, NIV)

REFLECTIONS:

Try to imagine the “buzz” of discussion going on in that locked room on the evening of the day Christ arose from death.  John tells us (verse19) “the doors were locked for fear…”  Fear or not, these disciples had a great deal of information to share and process.  There had been at least four earlier resurrection appearances that same day: 1) Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18); 2) the other women (Matt. 28:9-10); 3) Peter (1 Cor. 15:5); and 4) the two Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:13-32).  Talk about having a LOT to share!!!  In the midst of their fear, confusion and excitement, who should suddenly be standing among them?  Our risen Lord, with a typical greeting—“Shalom!” (Peace be with you!).  Are you surprised Jesus felt compelled to say Shalom twice (v. 19 and 21)?  After showing them His hands and side, the disciples were overjoyed (v. 20).  I imagine the commotion created by their joy was expressed loudly, causing Jesus to again say “Shalom” (Peace).  I picture the second “Shalom” as more of a “Shush—I have more to tell you!”  Did He ever have more to share!

“As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.”  This single, short sentence communicates volumes!  I certainly have a difficult time fully accepting the comprehensiveness of Jesus’ assignment to the disciples (including us).  This one sentence seems to clearly and concisely summarize why Jesus was on earth (the Father sent Him) and why He came back to earth following His resurrection (to send us).  Notice, Jesus did NOT say, I have come to “save” you, but to SEND you.  Two helpful quotes from Dallas Willard’s book, The Spirit Of The Disciplines, follow:  1) “… the resurrection had the meaning it did to those early believers just because it proved that the new life that had already been present among them in the person of Jesus could not be quenched by killing the body.”; and 2) “The church’s understanding of salvation then slowly narrowed down to a mere forgiveness of sins, leading to heaven beyond this life. And Christ’s death came to be regarded as only the merit-supplying means to that forgiveness, not as the point where his life was most fully displayed and triumphant, forever breaking the power of sin over concrete human existence.”  Try to spend some time today comparing this information with your personal understanding of the meaning of Christ’s resurrection.      

A commentary by Warren Wiersbe points out that after Jesus had reassured the disciples and had given them the task of world evangelism, He enabled them (us) to accomplish this assignment through the Holy Spirit.  Dr. Wiersbe states “John 20:22 reminds us of Genesis 2:7, when God breathed life into the first man.  The breath of God in the first creation meant physical life, and the breath of Jesus Christ in the new creation meant spiritual life.” 

Jesus’ next recorded statement regarding forgiveness of sins, in verse 23 can, as translated, be perplexing.  Dr. Wiersbe provides the following clarification: “A correct understanding of the Greek text helps here.  The correct translation both here and in Matthew 16:19 should be: “Whosoever sins you forgive shall have already been forgiven them and whosoever sins you retain shall have already not been forgiven them.”  In other words, the disciples did not provide forgiveness; they proclaimed forgiveness on the basis of the message of the gospel.”

While it seems that this resurrection party was just getting started, John ends his report of this exciting evening with Jesus by simply reporting (v. 24) that Thomas was not present.  Furthermore, Thomas apparently would not later believe ANY of the eye-witnesses and told them (v.25) he would not believe until he saw and touched the risen Jesus for himself.  My question is, what did Thomas have to do that evening that was more important than meeting with the other disciples to discuss the day’s events?  We aren’t told why Thomas was ‘missing in action’, but John tells us Thomas managed to clear his schedule to meet with the others the next Sunday evening.  Perhaps Thomas had a divinely-inspired wardrobe malfunction the previous week in order to give Christ the opportunity to say to us,   “. . . blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (verse 29).  Thanks Thomas!

I love John’s ending!  Basically, there is much more to report, but this is enough for you to believe. 

PRAYER:

Dearest Jesus, thank You for breathing Your Spirit into us, enabling us moment by moment, to do Your perfect will as You have sent us to do.  Thank You for patiently encouraging us, through Your Holy Spirit to simply hear and obey.

WHO AM I?

I am Linda Stewart and I am amazingly blessed!!