Scripture

“Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.”

Observation

Jesus is praying prior to His arrest and crucifixion.

He asks the Father to glorify Him so He can give glory back to the Father. Jesus has been given authority to give eternal life to all who come to Him.

Jesus revealed the Father to everyone who believed His message. He asks his Father to protect the disciples who remain in the world.

The world hates Jesus’ followers. Therefore Jesus asks the Father to protect them. They are not to be taken from the world but protected in it.

Application

Jesus was sent into the world. The word “sent” is apostello from which we get the word apostle. It has the sense of being sent by a king for a particular mission, representing the king in another country. The word “world” here is cosmos which refers to the spiritual and cultural forces which resist God’s sovereignty.

Jesus was sent by our heavenly Father into the world which has rejected His reign. Jesus was sent to establish a kingdom of disciples or followers who would do His will in the world.

In exactly the same way, Jesus now sends His disciples into the world to continue His mission.

We are apostles, missionaries, ambassadors of a kingdom that is not of this world. We have been sent here for a purpose to further God’s kingdom by confronting the powers and principalities that hold people in bondage.

We are to serve a kingdom that is higher and greater than our limited ambitions. We serve the King of Kings, the Lord who established His kingdom by dying for His subjects.

What is God calling you to do today?

In what way will you be His sent one?

Prayer

Lord you have sent me into this place. Hep me to see what your mission is for me today. Grant me the grace to fulfil all that you entrust to me. Amen.