John 17:18 NASB You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
Sent – The Jewish law of agency, known as shaliah, is crucial for understanding the idea of an apostle. In fact, the verb itself, apostéllō, used here to speak of the mission of Yeshua and the mission of his disciples, cannot be correctly interpreted without a full appreciation of this law. TDNT recognizes how critical this is:
“apostéllō is a strengthening compound of stéllō and is common in Greek for ‘to send forth,’ differing from pémpō, which stresses the fact of sending, by its relating of sender and sent and its consequent implication of a commission, especially in Hellenistic Greek. It thus carries the further thought of authorization, e.g., in the case of official envoys, but also divinely sent teachers.”[1]
The translation of the Hebrew terms in the LXX indicate “the sending of a special messenger with emphasis on the sender (cf. Isaiah 6:8), so that the messenger is a kind of plenipotentiary. The message and the one sent are of interest only as they embody the sender, no matter who the sender or the sent may be. Even those who are sent realize that the stress is on the sender (cf. Genesis 24:1ff.).”[2]
If we apply this correct view to Yeshua’s remark in John’s gospel, we discover two very important facts. The first is that Yeshua is the fully-authorized emissary of YHVH under this law of agency. Therefore, anything and everything he does is as if YHVH had done it. Yeshua confirms this over and over. What this means is that Yeshua acts as if he were God. His decisions, his actions, his teaching, and his character are to be viewed as if they were the decisions, actions, teaching, and character of God Himself. In other words, under shaliah Yeshua is “God” without being God. If we miss this point, we will draw a different conclusion from the text. We will conclude that Yeshua cannot act as he does without being God. But shaliah makes this conclusion unnecessary.
“The result is that the agent can not only carry out divine functions but also be depicted in divine language . . .”[4]
The second, a perhaps more important point is that we also operate under shaliah. Notice that John’s text says that Yeshua empowers us as his fully authorized representatives, in the same way that he acted as the fully authorized representative of the Father. Under shaliah this means that we do not present ourselves as individuals distinct from the sender. We are the sender. We are in the world as if he is in the world. Shaliah creates a chain of command so that Yeshua is the manifestation of YHVH and we are the manifestation of Yeshua. None of this requires either that Yeshua be YHVH or for us to be Yeshua. All that is required in a true understanding of shaliah.
Try reading the gospel accounts in this way. See what you find. Notice in particular Yeshua’s interaction with the Centurion. Shaliah is everywhere a common understanding of the culture. Apparently we missed that somewhere along the way. Then ask yourself, “Am I living shaliah today? Will others see him or see me?”
Notes
[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (67–68). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid., p.324.
Living as a Christian in this World 