Post Resurrection Archives - Renewed Heart Ministries

So Send I You

Posted on April 24, 2025 by Herb Montgomery

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So Send I You

Herb Montgomery; April 25, 2025

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

Our reading this second week of Easter is from the gospel of John:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31)

The post crucifixion/resurrection appearance stories of the Jesus tradition were very important to the early church, and they serve a purpose. The story in our reading this week is about the bestowal of the Holy Spirit on the initial group of disciples, and it carefully includes Thomas. Each time an early church leader is named in the gospels, they are named for the purpose of legitimizing their leadership. This is true whether it be James, Peter, John the beloved, Mary Magdalene, or, as in this case, Thomas.

Each gospel has its own version of these stories. In Luke’s version, the disciples don’t receive the Holy Spirit until Pentecost, while here in John’s version, the disciples receive the Holy Spirit on Resurrection Day. It’s important to let each version of the Jesus story stand on its own rather than trying to force them all to say the same thing. This allows the authors to present the points they were attempting to promote and gives us a more honest picture of the diverse, many-voiced nature of the Jesus community at that time.

Matthew’s gospel places the disciples’ commission in its last scene:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Luke’s gospel tells its version of the disciples’ commission in Luke 24 and Acts 1:

“You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. (Luke 24:48-51)

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Again, in the Luke/Acts narrative story, this takes place on the day of Pentecost in the upper Room.

In John’s version, Jesus commissions the disciples earlier and closer to Jesus’ crucifixion when the disciples are locked behind doors for fear of the same elites who crucified their leader.

In John, the commissioning of the disciples includes their authority to bind and release, to forgive or not forgive. Consider what John’s gospel actually says:

Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. . . . If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

This is a tremendous amount of authority that we have no other evidence of than simply the word of the very disciples who claim to have this level of authority. These disciples of Jesus would now be “Jesus” in the world, being sent just by Jesus, just as the Father had sent Jesus himself.

I love how Luke defines the purpose for which the spirit was poured out on Jesus:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

But we are not in Luke’s gospel in this week’s reading. We are in John’s, and John’s gospel has its own take on why Jesus was sent:

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

For John, Jesus’ focus was not to condemn, but to save. Yet I can’t ignore the strong words in John’s commission that if the disciples forgave anyone’s sins, they would be forgiven. And if they chose not to forgive, that person’s sins would not be forgiven.

The power of condemnation and forgiveness has both blessed people and also been a source of abuse from Christian leaders. I can’t help but think of how many times tortured souls have received peace from hearing from a church leader that where sin abounds grace does much more abound. I also can’t help but think of all those who have been hurt and think God hates them because of the way they were shunned, censored, abused, or excommunicated by the church. And I’m thinking of those who have deeply betrayed, defrauded, or abused others in the church and then stood by church leaders who prioritized oppressors and abusers rather than victims and survivors. Would that these words in John did not exist. But they do.

The reality is that those who bear Jesus’ name in the world often represent him to those around them whether they want this burden or not. Over the last four decades, so many evangelicals have embraced a politics of harm rather than one of diversity and inclusion and a politics of retribution rather than a politics of compassion in the public sphere. (I know it goes back much much further but I’ve only been cognizant of it for that long.) Today some people can’t stomach even hearing the name Jesus, and it’s not because of the Jesus in the story was so horrible. The Jesus in the story was awesome. He was all about diversity, equity, and inclusion in his time and culture. He was about justice and standing up for the marginalized, outcast, and oppressed. People recoil even at the sound of Jesus because of the meanings Christians have associated with Jesus today.

As Jesus was sent into our world, so we Christians have been sent too. But our sending hasn’t born the same fruit. Rather than standing up to the injustices of the elite and powerful in solidarity with the marginalized, we have too often allowed our religion, like others, to be coopted by those standing behind the wheels of injustice and abuse of rights. How any Christian could support the things we are witnessing transpiring every day around us here in the U.S., I will never understand. And yet, this is our reality.

This Easter season, let’s take a moment to reflect, to take some personal inventory. As the Father has sent Jesus, Jesus said, “So send I you.” What is the fruit our presence bears in our world? Is our presence life giving or death dealing? Are we part of the movement in our time toward a safer, more compassionate, just society or away from it? Are we working to ensure our world is a safe home for everyone, or just those who are like ourselves?

We may have been sent by Jesus as he was sent. But it’s up to us to make sure we are following Jesus’ example in the kind of impact we have in our world.

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. What does being a source of life, justice, and healing in your own sphere of influence look like for you? Share and discuss with your group.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.

My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.

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You can watch our YouTube show each week called “Just Talking”. Each week, Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking.

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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Lectionary Readings in the context of Love, Inclusion, & Social Justice

New Episodes each week!

Each week, we’ll discuss the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend in the context of love, inclusion, and justice. We hope that our talking will be “just” talking (as in justice) and that we’ll be inspired to do more than “just talking” during our brief conversations each week.

If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking

New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.

This week:

Season 2 Episode 17: So Send I You

John 20:19-31

“The reality is that those who bear Jesus’ name in the world often represent him to those around them whether they want this burden or not. Over the last four decades so many evangelicals have embraced a politic of harm rather than one of diversity and inclusion and a politic of retribution rather than a politic of compassion in the public sphere. (I know it goes back much much further but I’ve only been cognizant of it for that long.) Today some people can’t stomach even hearing the name Jesus, and it’s not because of the Jesus in the story was so horrible. The Jesus in the story was awesome. He was all about diversity, equity, and inclusion in his time and culture. He was about justice and standing up for the marginalized, outcast, and oppressed. People recoil even at the sound of Jesus because of the meanings Christians have associated with Jesus, today. As Jesus was sent into our world, so we Christians have been sent too. But our sending hasn’t born the same fruit. Rather than standing up to the injustices of the elite and powerful in solidarity with the marginalized, we have too often allowed our religion, like others, to be coopted by those standing behind the wheels of injustice and abuse of rights. How any Christian could support the things we are witnessing transpiring every day around us here in the U.S., I will never understand. And yet, this is our reality. This Easter season, let’s take a moment to reflect, to take some personal inventory. As the Father has sent Jesus, Jesus said, “So send I you.” What is the fruit our presence bears in our world? Is our presence life giving or death dealing? Are we part of the movement in our time toward a safer, more compassionate, just society or away from it? Are we working to ensure our world is a safe home for everyone, or just those who are like ourselves? We may have been sent by Jesus as he was sent. But it’s up to us to make sure we are following Jesus’ example in the kind of impact we have in our world.”

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/so-send-i-you

Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

by Herb Montgomery

Available now on Amazon!

In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.

Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.

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