Tuesday
Tuesday
The Upper Room
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “… Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
John 20:19, 21
This is John’s version of the Great Commission. It is surrounded by four short, sharp sentences, which he addressed to his disciples. Firstly, Jesus gave them an assurance of peace. It was the evening of the first Easter Day, and the apostles had assembled behind locked doors, full of fear. Then Jesus came and stood in their midst and spoke peace to their troubled minds and consciences. Of course, shalom was the conventional greeting, but there is more than convention here. Then he showed them his hands and his side, confirming his word with a sign, as in the Lord’s Supper.
Secondly, Jesus gave them a model of mission: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (v. 21). Jesus’s mission involved the incarnation, which has been described as “the most spectacular example of cross-cultural identification in the history of the world.” It was total identification, though without any loss of identity, for in becoming one of us, he did not cease to be himself. And now he sends us into the world as the Father had sent him. All authentic mission is incarnational mission. That is, it entails entering other people’s worlds.
Thirdly, Jesus gave them a promise of the Holy Spirit. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22). They were not to go out on their own. Mission without the Holy Spirit is impossible. It is he who equips and empowers us for evangelism. Elsewhere Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit to come. His breathing on them was an acted parable confirming the promise that they would later receive.
Fourthly, Jesus gave them a gospel of salvation: “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (v. 23). It is another controversial sentence, and on it the Roman Catholic Church has based the claim that its priests have judicial authority to hear confessions and grant absolution. But on no single occasion did the apostles either require confession or grant absolution. Instead, they preached the gospel of salvation with authority, promising forgiveness to those who believed and warning of judgment to those who refused.
For further reading: John 20:19–23