Today’s Reading: John 20:16-23
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you…As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending 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 withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.’”
* * * * *
Jesus suddenly appeared to his disciples. They were hiding behind locked doors—fearful that they might be arrested and crucified as he had been.
He said to them, “Peace be with you.” In fact, he said it twice. He wanted them to know that those who really believed that he had risen from the dead had no reason to fear anything. He wanted to give his followers a peace that conquers all fear. It’s a peace that surpasses all understanding.28
Jesus also gave them a commission to go into the world. In doing so, he used the example of his own incarnation. In the same way the Father had sent him into the world, he was now sending his followers into the world.
Jesus does not want us to be removed from the world, being so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good. Nor are we to be standing against the world, harshly judging all its sin from a distance.
Rather, we are to be in the world, lovingly influencing people so they can be transformed for God’s glory. We are to be lights on a hill, loving the world with many good works. These good works will give the world reason to praise the heavenly Father.29
Jesus then breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Because the cross and the resurrection were now complete, the disciples could receive the gift of forgiveness. That was the reason Jesus had been sent from heaven to earth: for the forgiveness of sins.
Unless sins are forgiven, no human can see the face of God and live. The Father’s highest priority was a personal relationship with his creation. But this relationship could not occur without the forgiveness of sins. If you want to spend eternity with the Father, you must first receive the forgiveness of your sins.
Jesus then gave all his followers this commission: Preach the gospel of forgiveness to the world. As the gospel is proclaimed and people believe it, they will be forgiven. But if the gospel is withheld, people will not hear about the opportunity to be forgiven.
As you share the gospel, keep these things in mind:
First, you have Jesus’ presence with you, which also gives you his peace. This peace is not as the world gives it. The world’s peace is merely the absence of conflict. Jesus gives you his personal presence, which grants you his perfect peace no matter what you are facing.
Second, Jesus sends you into the world. You are to live among the lost and do good works. Make the world a different and better place because you are living for Jesus in its midst.
Third, Jesus wants you to share the message about the forgiveness of sins with whomever you can. If you don’t, how can people know about it? This commission is of eternal significance.
As the Father sent the Son into the world, now Jesus sends you into the world.
Your words and deeds will help transform it for his glory.
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]