Sent As He Was Sent

How did God send Jesus?

I don't mean, "In what form?" or "What were the circumstances?" Those details get plenty of press this time of year.

I mean, "What was the nature of His assignment?"

It's important for us to know this, because of one often-overlooked statement of our Lord.

"As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
(John 20:21)

How did the Father send Him? How does the Son send us?

It would be hard to say it any better than it was said in this wonderful hymn by E. Margaret Clarkson (1954). (On an interesting note, the first three verses don't appear in some hymn books.)

So Send I You

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 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 your 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.

So send I you, by grace made strong to triumph
O'er hosts of hell, o'er darkness, death and sin
My name to bear, and in that name to conquer,
So send I you, my victory to win.

So send I you, to take to souls in bondage
The word of truth that sets the captive free
To break the bonds of sin, to loose death's fetters
So send I you, to bring the lost to Me.

So send I you, my strength to know in weakness
My joy in grief, my perfect peace in pain
To prove my pow'r, my grace, my promised presence
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.

So send I you, to bear my cross with patience
And then one day with joy to lay it down
To hear my voice, "Well done, my faithful servant
Come share my throne, my kingdom and my crown!"

As the Father hath sent me, so send I you.

When you and I look at the manger scene today, when we contemplate the miracles, the angelic singing, the wonder, the joy...
Image via Wikipedia

May we also remember the rest of the "how" of His coming...the purpose which He has graciously allowed us to make our own.

Image via Wikipedia

Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. (Heb 13:13)

Image by Remara Photography via Flickr

...we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Rom 8:17)

This is a faithful saying:
For if we died with Him,
We shall also live with Him.
(2Ti 2:11)

As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you...
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Garden Tomb photo taken by Betsy Markman at "The Holy Land Experience," Orlando, FL