Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)
For all of us who have attended Good Friday services, this passage creates a seeming contradiction.
On Good Friday Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” Right after his resurrection Jesus says to his disciples, “As the Father sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Which was it? Was Jesus’ work finished? Or was it just beginning?
The answer is “both.”
On the cross Jesus once for all paid the price for the sins of the world. The work of earning the forgiveness of sins for the world was finished.
We’re told in Ephesians chapter 2 that we are personally saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ. That’s why Jesus sent out his apostles to share the Gospel wherever they traveled. As God has brings people to faith in Jesus, our Lord continues to send them out to share the Gospel.
(A Second Look devotions are written for the congregations of the Ohio District LCMS.)
Kevin Wilson 360 