The Motive, the Method and the Mission

Mark 16 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. ² Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³ They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” ⁴ Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. ⁵ Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. ⁶ And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. ⁷ But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” ⁸ They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

⁹ Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.

¹² After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. ¹³ They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴ Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹ So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.

We’ve probably all heard and perhaps even said the expression, do as I say not as I do. Unfortunately this should not be a phrase that we as Christians should say or model. As followers of Christ our walk and our talk should line up. We should walk in line with Jesus, according to the example of His life here on earth, relating to others in love, compassion, mercy and grace.  We should also, as Jesus did, talk rightly, righteously and speak the truth in love, sharing the good news of the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus mission, the reason He came, is declared by Him in His reading of the prophet Isaiah, recorded in Luke 4:14-20.         And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.  ¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”  ²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus also described His mission saying: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32) From the beginning of His ministry Jesus message was: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)  Jesus mission, His purpose was clear, He came to redeem, reconcile and restore sinners to God. His mission led Him to the cross, where He paid the price for all sin. We can miss the fullness of Jesus mission if we focus only on His love and compassion. Love is the motivation for His coming. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)    But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) The demonstration of His love is Christ’s death on the cross. The result of His love is that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Love is the motivation for the mission of Christ.

To walk like Jesus walked, love must also be the method of the mission. Jesus says: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”  Paul says:  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing…(1 Corinthians 13) To walk as Jesus walked we must walk in love, compassion, mercy and grace, like Jesus that must be our motivation and our method.

Our mission though is like His. In today’s text we read Jesus commission to His disciples.  , “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”     The commission sounds a lot like the mission. We are to be the ones who carry out the mission of Christ until He returns.

We cannot separate the motive, the method and the mission. Jesus did not come to love sin and unrighteousness. His mission was to call sinners to repentance, to redeem them from their sin, to reconcile them to God and restore them to all that they are created to be. We cannot do the work of redemption, reconciliation or restoration, but our commission is to point to the one who did. Like Jesus, love must be our motivation and our method. But our love should always point to the ultimate demonstration of love, the cross of Christ.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, may I never forget the mission, the motive or the method. As I have experience Your love, mercy and grace, may I walk in them. Because of love and through love help me to walk as one fulfilling Your mission, to lead others to the love of the cross of Christ and it’s redemption, reconciliation and restoration. Help me to fulfill the commission with compassion. In the name above all names, the only name by which anyone can be saved, the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.