The Sender and the Sent

As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. – John 17:18

Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” – John 20:22

Today, a brief article which appeared on Fred Sanders’ website, The Scriptorium Daily on May 1st. Click the title below to read this there, and then navigate around the site to look at other articles.

So Send I You

At the end of John’s Gospel, the risen Christ says to the disciples: “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

It’s such a stark statement that, when I get to preach on this text, I usually spend about half the sermon explaining what Jesus didn’t mean by it. Our sending-out from Jesus can’t be like the Son’s sending-out from the Father in every way, can it? Or at least we shouldn’t presume that every wild thought that rushes into our heads automatically corresponds to the thought Jesus was thinking when he spoke these words. It’s an incomparable sending that Jesus compares our sending to.

But eventually you have to get around saying what Jesus did mean by these clear and simple words. My favorite way to answer that is to cast the net wide to see what John’s Gospel tells us about the relation of the sent Son and the sending Father:

Jesus didn’t do his own will, but the will of his Sender (4:34; 5:30; 6:38).

Jesus didn’t please Himself, but his Sender (8:29).

Jesus didn’t seek His own glory, but the glory of His Sender (7:18).

Jesus was the visible representation of the invisible Sender (5:37; cf. 1:18).

Jesus lived by his Sender (6:57).

Jesus taught the words of his Sender. (3:34; 7:16; 12:49-50).

Jesus could do nothing apart from his Sender (5:30).

Jesus was not alone; his Sender was with Him (8:16,29).

Jesus was busy doing the work of his Sender (4:34; 9:4) and when his work was done, He went home to be with his Sender (7:33; 16:5).

All of these, I think, describe not only the relation of the sent Son to his sending Father, and also our relationship to our sending savior.

And if it’s not Trinitarian enough for you: With his next breath, Jesus said “receive the Holy Spirit.”