Read John 20:19-23. Circle the word(s) that stand out to you. What is the Lord saying to you?
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.”
Reflections on the Word.
Playing it safe! Avoiding risk. We want to maximize safety and minimize loss, unless we are in hurry on the road!
The text states that the disciples were fearful. What were they afraid of? Could it be that the Jewish leaders had a search warrant on the disciples for stealing Jesus’ body. Perhaps the disciples were worried that the Jewish leaders would interrogate them for being associated with Jesus or some other charge like desecration of a body.
The disciples were playing safe. That evening, they huddle quietly and secretly together. They locked the door and they probably had someone on the look-out to see if anyone was coming to the house. As they sat and reflected on the day’s events, they must have wondered if Jesus was truly alive or dead. Not everyone was convinced that Jesus was alive.
Suddenly, Jesus appeared in their midst in the locked house. After greeting them in peace, he said to them “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John doesn’t record the whole conversation the disciples had with Jesus. But one of Jesus last words to them that resurrection evening was, “I am sending you.”
When the disciples heard those words, I wonder if they thought, “You want us to go and share about you when the Jewish leaders are looking to interrogate and condemn us! We will be endangered. We will be in the open. We could be arrested and killed!” If they were afraid before, were they even more frightened or did they have greater courage at those words of Jesus? I don’t know about you, but I would have had a lump in my throat if Jesus told me, “I am sending you.”
What’s our excuse for not going and making disciples (Mathew 28: 18-20)? Is it that we are too busy with family and work? Do we deem church attendance and church ministry as a waste of our weeknights and weekends? Is the excuse that we don’t have the gift of evangelism or that I am not skilled to speak? We tell God, “Please send someone else. I am not eloquent, nor do I know enough of the Bible to defend and explain truth.”
In view of all the above excuses, Jesus is sending you. There is no excuse that is good enough to dismiss the sharing of your story of His life in you when He directs you. Do not omit the salvation story from your lives and the lives of others. Will it be the Great Commission in our lives or will it be the Great Omission in our lives?
-Kingston