May 29 I Wednesday

2 Chronicles 7-9

John 11:1-29

“As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”  —John 17:18

In a game of broken telephone, one person has a message that they quietly whisper in another person’s ear. This person then attempts to whisper that same message to the next person and so on and so on until it reaches the last person, who repeats the message out loud. This game is humorous because more often than not, the final message differs quite a bit from the original.

When we look into the accounts of Jesus’s final commands to His disciples before He ascended into heaven, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts, all have different versions of the marching orders Jesus gave to His church. Matthew tells us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit… And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Mark records, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Luke says, “He told them, ‘This is what is written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are the witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:46-48). John reports, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). And in the Book of Acts, Jesus declares, “But 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).

We might be tempted to think, like in broken telephone, that Jesus passed His message to one disciple, who passed a distorted version of this message to another disciple, who then passed it onto the next. What makes each account different is not faulty memories but that Jesus likely said the same things again and again and each disciple picked out something different.

But unlike broken telephone, Jesus’s message to His disciples is very clear and unambiguous. We are to preach the Gospel to the whole world. We are to make disciples of all nations. We are to start exactly where we are and keep expanding outward until we reach the ends of the earth. As hearers of His message, may we also be bold, courageous and obedient to Jesus’s command and share His Truth with all the world.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have sent me on mission to reach the world with Your Good News. Thank You that You will grant me the boldness and courage to do this.