John 20: 21-22.... Sent and Sustained

John 20:21.....Sent and Sustained

Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

Introduction...

part of this thing call life is education, and or getting trained for a specific task that you may chosen to be called your career...

case in point, mortuary school...TALK......

then you get your dream job and your working prayfully for a good organization..

what i mean by that… is that they are willing to work you and make sure are a success at what you do...

that is what a good leader should do...

so you get trained and get a job...you are being sent

and then hopefully there is a leader, a supervisor, a mentor that helps you along your journey.....you are being sustained....

that is just a brief example of being sent and sustained..

but we can roll that over into our spiritual lives...

in our walk with Jesus....

with us going out and being disciple makers...

look how the scripture explains everything that i just stated...

2 Timothy 2:15 “Be study to show thy yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Hebrews 10:25 “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

getting trained

Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

being sent...

Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

John 14:18 “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you

Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

being sustained....

church as Jesus has told us the Harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few....Matthew 9:37

Matthew 9:37 NKJV

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

New Hope, we need to be those laborers and go as Jesus has commanded and know that He will sustain on this journey..

i think about that old 100...when i’m on my mission Lord, will you guide me...TALK, PREACH.......

Let’s look at the text...

Story...

Here in this 20th chapter of John, we see that Christ was crucified, buried and rose.....(that’s a shout all by itself)..the gospel

he has appeared to Mary Magdalene

then we see He appears to the disciples that are gathered together...

but look what v19 says… John 20:19 “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.””

they were hiding in fear, when they should of being shouting some cheer....TALK, PREACH.......(don’t let fear or anything else stop you)

and then Jesus shows up, Mark 16:14 says He appeared, Luke and John says He stood in the midst...

We aren’t told how Jesus entered the room, but the sense is that it was not in any normal way and that He seemed to simply appear.

The doors were shut and locked so they wouldn’t get hurt. Those shut and locked doors also shut out Jesus. Thankfully, Jesus was greater than the shut and locked doors, and made His way in despite them. Still, it’s better to unlock and open the door for Jesus....TALK, PREACH.......

then Jesus offers a warm greeting....Peace be with you...

“‘Peace to you,’ is an assurance that there is no cause to fear, and that all is well: for they were alarmed by His manifestation.” (Trench)

what this should show us is The basis for all our peace is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He died for us, He arose from the dead in victory, and now He lives for us...TALK, PREACH.......

next Jesus shows himself to them and what do the see....

the holes in His hands, the holes in His feet and where they pierced in His side and the blood came streaming down....TALK, PREACH........

what we can learn from this first part of the text is that Jesus can not use a fearful person..

He needs us not to be fearful so we can be about His business

he calms the disciples and then He gets down to business with them...

John 20:21–22 “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.”

He offers peace again...The repetition of this promise makes this gift of peace much larger and more significant. The resurrected Jesus brings peace.

then He begins to give them their assignment, Jesus gave His disciples a mission, to continue His work on this earth. 

he reminds them why He was sent and then sends them..

but to make sure they know that they will not be alone, He does somethings so remarkable...

He breathes on them...Jesus gave His disciples the Holy Spirit, bringing new life and the ability to carry out their mission.

the disciples were now ready to be sent and they knew they were gonna be sustained on their missions...

as we prepare to go deeper and apply this text to us, we too need to understand that as confessed believers, Jesus has commissioned us to be sent and He has promised to sustain us as well...

let’s go deeper...

Points...

John 20:21–22 “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.”

in this text I want to help us see 3 things here...

a foundation,

the assignment

the sustainment...

Let’s walk...

The Foundation...

As the Father has sent Me,

The Father sent Jesus with a purpose...

Jesus was not sent as a philosopher like Plato or Aristotle, though He knew higher philosophy than them all.

Jesus was not sent as an inventor or a discoverer, though He could have invented new things and discovered new lands.

Jesus was not sent as a conqueror, though He was mightier than Alexander or Caesar.

Jesus was sent to teach.

Jesus was sent to live among us.

Jesus was sent to suffer for truth and righteousness.

Jesus was sent to rescue men.

Jesus was sent empowered by the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the message of salvation...

today we should truly know and understand why Jesus was sent, that was the foundation upon which the universal was to be built upon...TALK, PREACH.......

but just in case here is some refreshers...

John 3:16–17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

John 12:47 “And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.”

God has a specific mission for Jesus.

He was laying the foundation, forming the covenant of the New Testament.

so that the disciples then and now could build upon it ...

the assignment......

I also send you.

Once again, Jesus gave His disciples a mission, to continue His work on this earth. 

This means that both then and now, disciples are sent after the pattern of the Father’s sending of the Son

if  we think of how Jesus was sent and connect it with the truth, I also send you then We are sent the same way Jesus was.

to teach....to help someone come to Him....TALK, PREACH......

Exalting Jesus in John We Will Live on Mission for Jesus

He sends his disciples in the same way in which he was sent (vv. 21–23): in obedience to the Father, empowered by the Spirit, to proclaim the message of salvation.

i love how people get excited for all of the wordly things....things that will pass away one day and mean anything...

but church There is no greater joy than to serve the Father

Exalting Jesus in John We Will Live on Mission for Jesus

We have the privilege of proclaiming the wonders of God’s salvation to those who are desperately in need of it. Don’t miss out on the great honor God has given you as his ambassador, and don’t minimize the role of the church in God’s great plan...

to think that these same men, had just fled and left Jesus, They had forsaken Him and fled, but now He was sending them out to represent Him...but don’t be to hard on them....TALK, PREACH......

we know the foundation, we know our assignment..

we also know that our assignment can be tedious on our own but Jesus made a way for us to be sustained...

the sustainment..

John 20:22 “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

let me go back to my introduction....

lo, i am with you always...

i will not leave you comfortless, i will come to you...

Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

They received the same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus; the same Spirit that empowered and enabled all His words and works. “The breathing upon them was meant to convey the impression that His very own Spirit was imparted to them.” (Dods)

this act of breathing is meant to display a new life...

This was a work of re-creation, even as God breathed life into the first man. This is where the disciples were born again...TALK, PREACH.......

the same Spirit that is part of the Holy Trinity is the one that will sustain you on your journey, as help with kingdom building...

If He sends you, He will sustain you...all fear is gone...

go and be about His business..

Conclusion...

As confessed believers this text let’s us know that we will live in a relationship with Jesus, we will live on mission for Jesus and finally we will in the blessing of Jesus...

because of our relationship, we accept the mission and know that He is with us always...

Church, we are to be sent to spread the good news and help someone come to Him

and while we are on our mission He has made a way for us to be sustained...

and Jesus had the hardest mission of us all...

yes he came to save us but to do it He had to become sin and die in sin so that we may live..

oh but when He was in the garden I heard him say, Luke 22:42–43 “saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.”

He knew who would sustain Him to finish the mission...

what mission was that...

TALK, PREACH, CLOSE....