I’m a sucker for alliterative outlines, and it’s hard to miss this one from John 20 after the resurrection:

¹⁹  On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
²⁰  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
²¹  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
²²  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
²³  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20.19 – 23, ESV)

• Peace (19, 21) “Peace be with you.”
• Proof (20) “He showed them his hands and his side.”
• Process (21) “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
• Power (22) “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
• Pardon (23) “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” (Compare Luke 24.45 – 48)

Let’s focus today and tomorrow on “So send I you.” How did the Father send Jesus? Into the world…to invest in people. There’s a song about that, called by many “The greatest missionary hymn of the 20th century.” If you’re unfamiliar with it, you can hear it sung here. Speaking of alliteration, the lyrics are filled with it – it’s a beautiful hymn, written by Edith Margaret Clarkson in 1938.

So send I you to labor unrewarded
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing
So send I you to toil for Me alone

So send I you to bind the bruised and broken
Over wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake
To bear the burdens of a world a-weary
So send I you to suffer for My sake

So send I you to loneliness and longing
With heart a-hungering for the loved and known
Forsaking kin and kindred, friend and dear one
So send I you to know My love alone

So send I you to leave your life’s ambition
To die to dear desire, self-will resign
To labor long, and love where men revile you
So send I you to lose you life in Mine

So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred
To eyes made blind because they will not see
To spend, though it be blood to spend and spare not
So send I you to taste of Calvary

A great “missionary” hymn, yes? But wait! There’s more…stay tuned.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20.21, ESV)