God the Father sent Jesus the son “to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on a cross” (Col 1:20).
A Cross? Put yourself in the disciple’s shoes. The events Jesus’ death must of provoked the darkest thoughts? Are our lives also in danger? Imagine when Jesus was laid in the tomb. All hope had died in the hearts of Jesus’ most loyal friends. After the frightful crucifixion, the fog of disappointment and misunderstanding had crept in on the friends of Jesus. Jesus is dead was all they knew. Even the reports of Jesus’ resurrection did little to calm their fears.
So we find them huddled in an upper room in John 20 behind locked doors when suddenly Jesus stood in their midst and put their fears to rest with these words:
“Peace be with you.”
Although startled at first, they soon awakened to the full realization of Jesus’ victory over death. In a joyous response to his invitation they begin to examine the marks of his crucifixion—“his hands and his side.” The atmosphere seemed to relax.
Then as if Jesus anticipated a change in their demeanor, he repeated: “Peace be with you.” And followed with the staggering commission:
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
We can imagine that the disciples were taken by surprise and by sudden apprehension: “Do you mean that we too are the be crucified?” Jesus gives them no explanation. Rather he breathed on them in a fashion reminiscent of the climax of God’s creative action and said:
“Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus issued a renewed call to cross-bearing discipleship. He was saying that such discipleship is impossible without the aid of the Holy Spirit. You who have chosen to follow Jesus have received the Holy Spirit and have been sent with a task that this consecration demands.
The presiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is integral to the mission of the church. And since the Holy Spirit dwells in the people of God this sending is not confined to the professional missionaries, or preachers, or church planters, but has been given to the church – the missional people of God.
