Jesus Turned Yesterday into Tomorrow

"As the Father sent Me, so I send you." (Jn 20.21)

As the Father sent Me
Jn 20.21

Fear clung to them
like smoke after a fire.
The doors were shut.
The room felt small.
The fatigue of sleepless nights.
And into that exhaustion-
Jesus stood among them.
Alive.
Strong.
Rested.

He steadied them
with the word of peace
He had spoken before-
on a storm-torn sea,
and cleared the way
for what He would say next.

Because His next statement
would shift their focus
from yesterday
to tomorrow.
With a single sentence
He turned their attention
the way a mother moves
from the pain of childbirth
to the joy of holding a new life-

a child that would
define her future.
And the risen Lord
would define theirs.

"As the Father sent Me,
so I send you."
(Jn 20.21)

It's easy to skip past
the tiny word
that opens the sentence-
"As."

Yet that word,
two words in the Greek-
"just as"-
does something essential.

It doesn't describe a method.
or a model.
It forces the disciples-
and us-
to recall how
the Father sent Jesus.

This question is answered
throughout the Gospels.

John shows the Father sending Him
to glorify the Father,
to do the Father's will,
and to speak as the Father speaks.
(Jn 7.18; 6.38; 12.49-50)

Matthew shows the Father sending Him
with compassion for the hurting. (Mt 9.36)

Mark shows the Father sending Him
to serve and put others first. (Mk 10.45)

Luke shows the Father sending Him
to proclaim good news,
to free those in bondage,
to open blind eyes,
and to announce God's kingdom.
(Lk 4.18-19; 4.43)

So when Jesus says,
"As the Father sent Me,"
He isn't saying,
"Copy My work."
But "reveal My Father"-
as sons and daughters
of the One who sent Him.

You may not know this about Jesus:
when He sends you,
He sends you to reveal His Father,
as the Father sent Him.

Where is Jesus sending me today
to reveal the Father as He did?

My mission begins
with the Father's heart.

Father,
Let my words carry Your voice,
and my actions Your heart.
In Jesus' name, Amen.