Mission of disciples is to carry on work of Church
JOE MILLER JR.

John 20:19-31

Matthew, Luke, and John all contain some exciting post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. One of the most elegant and beautiful is this appearance given in the Fourth Gospel. However, I think we have missed the importance of this story by mislabeling it. It has been called the "Doubting Thomas" story for many years; yet, the word "doubt" does not appear in the original Greek, and I propose that is not about Thomas at all.

This story is about the risen Lord, his promises that are fulfilled, and the mission that he gives to his disciples.

The promises that are kept are at least four in number. He told his disciples that he would be raised from the dead, and in spite of their disbelief, he was raised, and came to show them. That particular promise is pretty obvious. Three other promises were that he would not desert them, that he would give them his peace, and send the Holy Spirit to lead them. He fulfills all of those promises in these two appearances.

Jesus also adds something to the promises. He gives the disciples the following mission to carry out: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

This "sending out" is often missed because it is short and overpowered by the long discourse about Thomas; yet this is the crux of Jesus' appearance. Now that they know that Jesus has risen from the dead, the first thing that they would probably ask themselves is… "What do we do now?"

Newsboy photo/ Charles Kerr

Will things be like they were in the good old days? Will we all follow Jesus back to Galilee, listening to him preach and teach, and observe his miracles? Jesus answers this question before they have time to even think about it. His resurrection marks a new era… the era of the church. It is now the disciples turn to be sent out, and the Holy Spirit will be with them to empower their mission. But what is the mission?

They are being sent out in the same manner that the Father sent Jesus. Since Jesus was sent as the manifestation of God incarnate, then we are sent out to represent Jesus to all peoples in a similar way. We are sent out as a family of priests to those who have not found Christ, as Christ's own representatives.

It became the mission of the first disciples to carry on the work of Christ, and it is now our responsibility. That is a heavy and humbling responsibility. In fact it would be impossible were it not for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the person of the Triune God who heals, sanctifies, and lifts us up, but He also empowers us to fulfill the mission of the church.

Do you consider yourself a Christian? Are you fulfilling the mission assigned by Jesus? The best place to begin fulfilling that mission is at church. If you have a church, worship passionately. If you do not have a church, find one. East Texas is full of good churches. Email me at newtonumc@valornet.com with your thoughts.

Joe Miller Jr. is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Newton.