FOCUS Day Forty-Eight | John 19:17-19 & 20:11-23
DAY FORTY-EIGHT | John 19:17-19 & 20:11-23
And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
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But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Sent Ones
Following Jesus is really an impossible lifestyle. It cannot be done by our own strength, even on our best day. Yet, the invitation is clear: Come, follow me.
As we fix our eyes on the life of Jesus, praying that our glancing would turn into a steady gaze, we are drawn to His beauty, struck by His holiness, and surrounded by His perfect, abiding love. From the humility of the Creator King’s entrance into this world, being born of a virgin in a stable, to the unprecedented glory of the Mount of Transfiguration, there is simply no one like Him. Yet again, He calls us to become like Him.
This is the mystery of setting our hearts on the one and only Christ. In saying YES to Him, we willingly step out to walk on the water. In His life, He invites us to follow the example that He left for us. But it is the invitation that He left for us in His death that may be the most transformative.
One constant theme that we see in the life of Christ is His commitment to His Father. This One, who was present before there was a beginning, came and modeled surrender for us with every step, every breath, and every word. And there was something about the surrender in His life that caused the love of the Father to be seen so beautifully in His life.
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:17-18)
Surrender.
It can be such a scary word. Images flash into mind of battle, death, destruction, leaving no other choice but to give up. This type of surrender may in certain cases be unconditional and absolute, yet without victory.
Jesus modeled a very different type of surrendered life as He walked the earth, and as He walked the way of sorrows to His death. His surrender was one fueled by trust and motivated by love. Rather than the last possible option, our Humble King willingly yielded His life to the will (desires) of the One that He knew loved Him perfectly.
John 20:21 has long been one of my favorite Scriptures. I remember hearing at Missions Conferences when I was a child. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.
I remember hearing this verse and having visions of becoming a missionary to some far away place. I wanted to be one of those special people who were sent out to go take the good news of Jesus to people who had never heard.
So I send you! It sounds like such a beautiful commission from our Lord. It truly is a beautiful commission, but it would be dangerous to simply quote this verse without understanding where it fits in History.
The agony of Christ’s prayer in the garden, where He sweat drops of blood as He met with the Father, was just the beginning of His selfless demonstration of love and passion for us. He was mocked, whipped, beaten for us before Pilate and the people. Then, strapped with the burden of carrying His cross as well as the sin of the whole world, He continued to courageously step towards Calvary, where He laid down His life for us.
After His crucifixion, Paul tells us that Jesus descended, taking captivity captive, and securing our eternal life. After three days, He destroyed death through His resurrection, leaving an empty tomb behind. All of this He did surrendered to the will of the Father, yielding His very life for love.
Incredibly, that beautiful sending commission comes in this context. On resurrection Sunday, seemingly moments after He appears to His disciples in the upper room, Jesus speaks to them:
“Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
It was in this moment, that the recently crucified and resurrected Christ speaks those beautiful words, declaring that His followers would live as He had lived. They would live a life of surrender, yielded to the Father. They would live as sent ones.
I can imagine that the joy that they experienced when Jesus first walked into that room was mingled with a sober awareness of the weight of His words. Here is the One that had just given His life, calling His friends to be willing to do the same. As far as we know, every one of the eleven were put to death for the gospel except for John, who died in exile on the Isle of Patmos.
All along, Jesus had spoken to them, that the way for them to find true life would come by losing it. I believe that same call, to be willing to lose our lives and live surrendered to the Father’s desires, is extended to us today. It is unlikely that we will be crucified upside down like Peter, or be sawn in two like Hebrews 11 describes, but will we be willing to lose our life in yielded surrender to Love.
This is one of the keys to embracing the impossible lifestyle of following Jesus. Don’t worry, this losing of our lives is not a bad thing. Our surrender to His desires will lead us to the abundant life that Jesus came to give to us.
I pray that your heart would be comforted as you hear Him speak His peace over you, commissioning you to live as a sent one. I pray that you would have courage to daily seek His face, leaning into His desires as you surrender your being to Him. And I pray that you would be confident that you can live this impossible life, as Jesus releases the power of the Holy Spirit over you, empowering you to live like Him.
