Daily Devotions
John
John 20:19-31 "AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, I ALSO SEND YOU"
Day 340 – John 20
“AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, I ALSO SEND YOU”
How often Jesus spoke to His Disciples about how His Father had sent Him. How deep and profound those words had sounded when He first uttered them.
“My food is to do the will of Him who SENT Me,
and to finish His work.”
John 4:34
How astounded the Disciples had been when Jesus refused to take a break for lunch. He ministered to the woman of Samaria with the powerful intensity that characterized His life and ministry!
Similar words were uttered on another occasion. Again there was that deep sense of commitment that accompanied His deep words.
“I must work the works of Him who SENT Me
while it is day; the night is coming when no one
can work.”
John 9:4
The disciples had not fully grasped what Jesus had sought to teach them by precept and by example! They had not been conscious enough of what it meant to be sent by the Father! This contributed to their failure!
But wait! Jesus was going to give them another chance! He was going to send them forth again! As the Father had sent Him, so He was going to send forth these Disciples – despite their having failed! How touched their hearts must have been! To be trusted again – what a solemn, soul-stirring experience this visit was from their beloved Risen Teacher!
TWO HYMNS INSPIRED BY THESE WORDS OF JESUS
Margaret Clarkson was a missionary-teacher who was so inspired by these words that she wrote two poems that have become favourites at Missionary Conferences. These two poems convey deep and thought-provoking words that provide much food for thought.
SO SEND I YOU
“So send I you to labour unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing,
So send I you, to toil for Me alone.
So send I you to bind the bruised and broken,
O’er wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake.
To bear the burdens of a world aweary,
So send I you, to suffer for My sake.
So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred,
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend, though it be blood, to spend and spare not,
So send I you, to taste of Calvary.
Coda: “As the Father has sent Me, so send I you”
There was a second hymn that complemented the first one. It had the same theme, but this time, the focus was on the enabling grace of the Lord.
SO SEND I YOU- BY GRACE MADE STRONG
So send I you by grace made strong to triumph
O’er hosts of hell. O’er darkness, death and sin,
My Name to bear and in that name to conquer
So send I you, My victory to win.
So send I you, My strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, My perfect peace in pain,
To prove My power, My grace, My promised Presence
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain
So send I you to bear My cross with patience,
And then one day with joy to lay it down.
To hear My voice, ‘Well done, My faithful servant
Come share My throne, My kingdom and My crown”
Coda: As the Father has sent Me, so send I you.
PREPARING THE DISCIPLES FOR THE TASKS AHEAD
How industrious Jesus was! John noted that immediately after He rose from the dead, He appeared to the group of women Disciples, to Mary Magdalene, and now to this group of men Disciples!
There was a special reason why Jesus worked as He did! Of course, this was a characteristic of Him. He had completed what His Father had sent Him to do. There was just one more thing He wanted to do before He fully returned to be by His Father’s side. He must spend time to teach His Disciples about the work that He was sending them to do!
There wasn’t much time! And besides the Disciples had much to learn! They must succeed the next time round. He must begin His lessons immediately. The first lesson was that of full assurance that He was alive. He had risen from the dead. The second lesson was that they were going to be sent as His Apostles, just as He had been sent!