The Greatest Missionary
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As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (John 17:18)
John 17 is the majestic prayer of Jesus to God the Father, prayed only a few hours before He was arrested, tried, beaten, and crucified. Jesus prayed for Himself (John 17:1-5), for His disciples (John 17:6-19), and for us – those who would believe through the preaching and testimony of His disciples (John 17:20-26).
Verse 18 tells us one thing Jesus recalled in His prayer, that the Father had sent Him into the world. Jesus then declared that He was sending His disciples in the same way (I also have sent them into the world).
Think of the first aspect: that Jesus Christ is the ultimate “sent one,” whom the Father sent to bring salvation to lost and needy humanity. This makes Jesus the first and greatest missionary the universe has ever seen. A missionary is a “sent one,” and Jesus was sent, and He was sent into the world.
Consider how the Father sent the Son into the world:
– 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 lands unknown to His people.
– Jesus was not sent as a conqueror, though He was mightier than Alexander the Great or Julius 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 lost humanity.
Connect all that with how Jesus sends His disciples. Remember, Jesus said that it was in the same manner: As You sent Me…I also have sent them. It’s certainly true that Christians can be great philosophers, inventors, and even conquerors. But those terms do not fundamentally describe the work of God’s people in a general sense.
As believers, as followers of Jesus Christ, our greatest contribution to the world is to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, to identify with and draw near to lost humanity, to suffer for truth and righteousness as God appoints us, and to be God’s instruments in bringing His salvation to the world. It’s not bad to help humanity in other ways, but being sent as Jesus was sent is our unique calling as God’s people.
Interestingly, earlier in this prayer, Jesus said He was not praying for the world, but for His people (John 17:9). Yet, this prayer has great and true concern for the world. Jesus wanted to reach the world, but He would do it through disciples who would be so transformed that they would go forth even as Jesus was sent.
Jesus told His disciples that He was leaving them and would soon return to His Father (John 16:5). But Jesus wasn’t abandoning them; He was sending them. There’s a big difference between the two.
As the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us.
Click here for David’s commentary on John 17