by Rita Johnson, Associate Director
Near the end of the book of John, Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus—risen and alive—and delivered a message from Him to the disciples. That same day, while they were all safely locked up together in a house, still fearful from the events surrounding His death, Jesus suddenly appeared among them and declared peace to them. He showed them His wounds, and the disciples joyfully recognized Him as their beloved teacher. “Peace be with you,” Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21).
There are two Greek “sending” words used here in John’s account. Apostelló, the first occurrence, refers to the way God sent Jesus into the world. It’s related to apostolos, the Greek word for apostle, or “one sent on a mission.” The second occurrence is the word pembó. This word is more closely related to the way a king might dispatch a servant to deliver a message on his behalf.
Jesus is communicating to His followers that the Good News of God’s Kingdom—a message He brought from the Father to earth—is now ours to share on His behalf. As Robert Kysar notes in his commentary on John, “The nature of the mission of the Church can only be understood in light of the mission of Christ. The same self-giving love is asked of the believers in their mission as is evidenced in Jesus’ fulfillment of his” (Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament–John, 1986).
Frontier Fellowship’s mission is to highlight this calling to followers of Jesus and to support and encourage our global partners as they proclaim His Good News. We believe God doesn’t just call a few select “mission specialists” to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19–20). Each of us is sent by God to participate in His mission of drawing people back to Himself.
Frontier areas of the world—where the Good News of Jesus isn’t yet known—need the presence of His followers: people grounded in faith, hope and love. The Holy Spirit knows where people of peace (Luke 10:2–6) are waiting to hear about and believe in “the Messiah, the Son of God…that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). He will guide our going and sending—are we listening?
Jesus may send you in person. (I prayed about going for one year and served for 15!) Or He may ask you to “go” virtually as a supporter for someone from the US or a sister or brother from the growing global Church. Let’s pray that our eyes, hearts and minds would be open to being sent by Christ into His world. Our petition can be that when our Lord and Redeemer asks us to go, may we have courage to be faithful!
Comments are closed.