Scripture

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

Observation

On Sunday evening of the day of the resurrection, the disciples meet behind closed doors because they are afraid.

Suddenly Jesus is with them. He sends them out and gives them the Holy Spirit.

Thomas, who had missed this meting with the Lord, declares that he will not believe it until he can touch Jesus’ wounds. The following week, Jesus again appears to the disciples, this time including Thomas. He now confesses, “My Lord and my God.”

Application

When we really know Jesus, we want to be a part of His mission.

Jesus gives the disciples the Holy Spirit to equip them and empower them. This is immediately after He tells them, “I am sending you.”

This raises two questions- where and what?

Jesus sends His followers out into the world. We are to live as His faithful followers, living in the grace of God’s kingdom. We are not to meet behind closed doors. To be “sent” means to be open to other people all the time.

We are sent into the world. For some that means being a missionary in a distant land. For most of us it means to go to the neighbourhood or the city where we live.

What is important is that we remember we are sent by Jesus.

For what purpose are we sent? To make disciples (Matthew 28:19) of all nations. We are not here for our own benefit but to serve the mission of Christ. He was sent by the Father to bring the Kingdom of God into the world, and we are to be a part of that same mission.

We need to walk each day with that sense of being a part of an apostolic (that is, “sent”) community.

Prayer

Holy Father, please help me to see who I am sent to, and how to share the Good news with them. Amen.