DAY 20 // JOHN 20: // "REACH TEACH MEND SEND" // SUSIE GAMEZ

John 20:19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, 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 their sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

REACH. TEACH. MEND. SEND.
If you’ve been around Light and Life for very long, you may have heard us use the phrase “reach, teach, mend and send” a few times. These are some of the key words we use in our mission statement that begins like this: “as a Church we exist to REACH unchurched people for Christ, TEACH believers to fully love Jesus, MEND broken lives and SEND disciples into ministry.”

In this short passage we see Jesus do all of these things. After his resurrection, he miraculously appears among the disciples who were hiding away in fear behind locked doors. Jesus went to where they were, literally entering into their place of fear and uncertainty, and he reached them.

After he reached the disciples, Jesus taught them and healed them. He showed up with truth and authority, teaching them that He was in fact who He said he was. Jesus taught them about His triune nature – telling them that the Father had sent him, and then He in turn gave them the Holy Spirit.

He mended them by taking their fear and giving them peace instead. After his miraculous appearance, his first words were, “Peace be with you!” And like Pastor Joel said in his sermon last week, “Jesus’ presence brings peace.”

As we talk about mending here, I want to revisit another point that pastor Joel mentioned in his sermon – that sometimes God can use our scars to bring healing to others. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus showed the disciples the scars in his hands and side? Jesus rose from the dead. Surely he could’ve resurrected with no hint of injury to his body, but his scars had purpose. Jesus’ scars proved to the disciples that he was really there (and not a vision or a hallucination), but also that he was fully God and fully man.

His scars also indicated that he had been through something really painful. His body showed the memory of something really violent and awful; but he overcame even death, and it was because of these scars that the disciples believed him, and could take heart. Jesus was bearing witness to himself! Sometimes our scars can bear witness to the work of healing and redemption that God has done in our lives.
After Jesus said again, “Peace be with you,” he gave them a mandate. When Jesus reaches us, teaches us and mends us, there is purpose in all of it… to send us.

After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to numerous people, and with each appearance, the purpose was to reach, teach, mend and SEND. Jesus was about to return to the Father, and he was on a mission to send US on mission with the help of the Holy Spirit.

So Church, as we end this fast, I pray that you’ve been reached, taught and mended, and that you go into this next season with a renewed sense of mission to go into the world and make disciples, even if it has to be over zoom or from a distance for now.

Be blessed, Church.

Prayer Focus: Pray for our ONLINE MINISTRIES that people be reached for Christ, near and far.