Agency List

I prepared this list as a reference for other writings I am working on regarding agency.

Since this list is so long, almost 200 entries, I don’t want to have to repeat it in other writings or Facebook posts, etc. So I will just refer to this list.

If you are new to the subject of agency, or are unaware of just how thoroughly biblical this concept is, I do recommend taking the time to read, browse, or at least scan this whole list. It is a foundational doctrine in understanding Jesus Christ’s role between God our Father and us.

AGENCY SCRIPTURE LIST

Old Testament

Genesis 19:13 – Angels speak as God’s agents executing judgment: “For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before Yahweh. Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”

Genesis 24:2-4, 40 – Abraham commissions his servant as an agent to act on his behalf: “Abraham said to his servant… ‘Go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.’… He said to me, ‘Yahweh, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and prosper your way.'”

Genesis 32:3-5 – Jacob sends messengers as his agents to Esau: “Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother… He commanded them, saying, ‘This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: “This is what your servant, Jacob, says…”‘”

Genesis 41:39-44 – Pharaoh appoints Joseph as his agent with full authority over Egypt: “Pharaoh said to Joseph… ‘Since God has shown you all of this… You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.’… Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand… He set him over all the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 3:1-6 – This is one of the strongest examples of agency in the Bible. The angel of Yahweh speaks as God in the first person, illustrating agency where the agent fully represents the principal, so much so that most people still assume that Moses was speaking directly to God: “Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro… Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush… God called to him out of the middle of the bush… He said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.” We have a specific interpretation of this incident in Acts 7:

Acts 7:30-35 – Stephen’s Holy Spirit inspired explanation of the burning bush incident – Angel speaks as God, sending Moses as agent: “When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush… the voice of the Lord came to him, ‘I am the God of your fathers: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’… This Moses whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.”

Exodus 3:10-15 – God commissions Moses as His representative agent: “Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.’ Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?’… God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ He said, ‘You shall tell the children of Israel this: “I AM has sent me to you.”‘”

Exodus 4:14-16 – God appoints Aaron as Moses’ agent (mouthpiece), with Moses acting as “God” to him in authority: “Yahweh’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, ‘What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite?… You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth… He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.'”

Exodus 7:1-2 – God makes Moses “as God” to Pharaoh through agency, with Aaron as sub-agent relaying commands: “Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.'”

Exodus 23:20-23 – God sends an angel as agent with His name and authority, such that obeying the angel is obeying God: “Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him… For my angel shall go before you… and I will cut them off.”

Exodus 33:20 – Emphasizes no one sees God directly, necessitating agents for revelation and interaction: “He said, ‘You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.'”

Numbers 16:28 – Moses affirms his actions are not self-initiated but as God’s sent agent: “Moses said, ‘Hereby you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind.'”

Numbers 20:16 – God uses an angel as agent to deliver Israel: “When we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt…”

Numbers 22:38 – Balaam acknowledges he can only speak God’s words as agent: “Balaam said to Balak, ‘Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak.'”

Numbers 23:12 – Balaam reiterates agency constraint: “He answered and said, ‘Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?'”

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 – This passage is absolutely key to understanding Jesus’s role as Messiah. God promises to raise prophets as agents, putting His words in their mouths to speak on His behalf: “Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him… I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

Joshua 1:16-17 – People recognize Joshua’s agency as Moses’ successor: “They answered Joshua, saying, ‘All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so we will listen to you.'”

Judges 2:1 – The angel speaks in the first person as God, recounting His actions through agency: “Yahweh’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, ‘I made you go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, “I will never break my covenant with you.”‘”

1 Samuel 8:7 – Rejection of Samuel (God’s agent) equates to rejecting God: “Yahweh said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.'”

1 Samuel 16:1 – God sends Samuel to anoint His chosen king: “Yahweh said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided a king for myself among his sons.'”

1 Samuel 25:32-34 – David recognizes Abigail as God’s sent agent to prevent wrongdoing: “David said to Abigail, ‘Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me! Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, who have kept me today from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.'”

2 Samuel 12:1 – God sends Nathan as prophetic agent to David: “Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, ‘There were two men in one city: the one rich, and the other poor.'”

2 Samuel 14:17 – The king is likened to an angel of God in agency, representing divine discernment: “Then your servant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king bring rest; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad. May Yahweh, your God, be with you.'”

1 Kings 22:19-23 – God sends a spirit as agent to act through prophets: “Micaiah said, ‘Therefore hear Yahweh’s word. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him… Yahweh said, “Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?”… A spirit came out and stood before Yahweh, and said, “I will entice him.”… He said, “I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.”… “You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.” Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you.'”

2 Kings 17:13 – God warns through prophetic agents: “Yet Yahweh testified to Israel and to Judah, by every prophet and every seer, saying, ‘Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.'”

2 Chronicles 36:15-16 – God persistently sends messengers as agents: “Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.”

Nehemiah 6:12 – Discerning false claims of being sent by God: “I discerned, and behold, God had not sent him, but he pronounced this prophecy against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.”

Psalm 105:26 – God sends Moses and Aaron as His agents: “He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.”

Isaiah 6:8-10 – God commissions Isaiah as His agent to speak His words: “I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am. Send me!’ He said, ‘Go, and tell this people, “You hear indeed, but don’t understand. You see indeed, but don’t perceive.” Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.'”

Isaiah 42:1-4 – God’s servant (Messiah) is upheld and sent as agent to establish justice: “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations… He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”

Isaiah 48:16 – The speaker (prophet/Messiah) is sent by God with His Spirit as agent: “Come near to me and hear this: ‘I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it happened, I was there.’ Now the Lord Yahweh has sent me with his Spirit.”

Isaiah 61:1 – The Messiah anointed and sent to proclaim: “The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound.”

Jeremiah 1:4-10 – God appoints Jeremiah as agent, putting His words in his mouth: “Now Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, ‘…I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.’… ‘for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you… Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. Then Yahweh said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.'”

Jeremiah 7:25 – God persistently sends prophetic agents: “Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.”

Jeremiah 23:21 – False prophets run without being sent: “I didn’t send these prophets, yet they ran. I didn’t speak to them, yet they prophesied.”

Jeremiah 25:4 – God’s repeated sending of prophets: “Yahweh has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear).”

Jeremiah 26:5 – Prophets as sent servants with God’s words: “to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them—but you have not listened—”

Jeremiah 29:19 – Judgment for not heeding sent prophets: “because they have not listened to my words, says Yahweh, with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, says Yahweh.”

Jeremiah 35:15 – God’s pattern of sending prophets as agents: “I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Everyone of you must return now from his evil way, amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them.'”

Jeremiah 44:4 – Persistent sending of prophetic agents: “However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate.'”

Ezekiel 2:3-5 – God sends Ezekiel as agent to speak “This is what the Lord Yahweh says”: “He said to me, ‘Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me… The children are impudent and stiff-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you shall tell them, “This is what the Lord Yahweh says.”‘”

Ezekiel 3:4-6 – Ezekiel sent to speak God’s words: “He said to me, ‘Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them… For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel.'”

Ezekiel 13:6 – False prophets claim to be sent but are not: “They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, ‘Yahweh says;’ but Yahweh has not sent them. They have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.”

Hosea 12:10 – God speaks through prophetic agents: “I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.”

Amos 3:7 – God reveals through His prophetic agents: “Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.”

Jonah 1:1-2 – Jonah commissioned as prophetic agent: “Now Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.'”

Micah 6:4 – God sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam as agents: “For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage. I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.”

Haggai 1:12-13 – The people obey Haggai as God’s sent agent, equating his words to Yahweh’s: “Then Zerubbabel… and Joshua… with all the remnant of the people, obeyed Yahweh their God’s voice, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Yahweh their God had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh. Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, ‘I am with you,’ says Yahweh.”

Zechariah 2:8-9, 11 – Agent speaks as God, demonstrating sent status: “For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me… Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you.'”

Zechariah 4:9 – Zerubbabel’s work will prove Yahweh sent the prophet: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you.”

Zechariah 6:15 – Completion of the temple proves the prophetic sending: “Those who are far off shall come and build in Yahweh’s temple; and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey Yahweh your God’s voice.”

Zechariah 7:12 – Law and words sent through prophetic agents: “Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.”

Zechariah 12:8 – The house of David (Jesus) is like God and like the angel of Yahweh in representational agency: “In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like Yahweh’s angel before them.”

Malachi 2:7 – Priests as messengers/agents of Yahweh: “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.”

Malachi 3:1 – God sends a messenger (John the Baptist) as agent to prepare His way: “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me! The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Behold, the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, is coming!’ says Yahweh of Armies.”

New Testament

Matthew 9:38 – Jesus instructs to pray for sent laborers: “Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.”

Matthew 10:40 – Disciples as agents of Jesus, who is God’s agent, creating a chain of reception: “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.” This is a key definition of an agent showing that just because the word “agent” doesn’t appear, the teaching most certainly does, explicitly.

Matthew 15:24 – Jesus sent only to lost sheep of Israel: “But he answered, ‘I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'”

Matthew 21:34-37 – Parable of agents sent by the landowner: “When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they treated them the same way. But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.'”

Matthew 23:34 – Jesus sends prophets, wise men, and scribes: “Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.”

Matthew 23:37 – God sends agents to Jerusalem repeatedly: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”

Matthew 25:34-40 – Acts toward Jesus’ agents (brothers) are treated as done to Jesus himself: “Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat… Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you…?’ The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'”

Matthew 28:18-20 – Jesus, with delegated authority, sends disciples as sub-agents to act on his behalf: “Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

Mark 1:2 – Messenger sent before God’s face: “As it is written in the prophets, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'”

Mark 6:7 – Jesus sends the twelve with delegated authority: “He called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”

Mark 9:37 – Receiving agents (even children in Jesus’ name) equates to receiving Jesus and God: “Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, doesn’t receive me, but him who sent me.”

Mark 12:2-6 – Parable of sent servants and beloved son: “When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard. They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty… He had yet one, a beloved son. He sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.'”

Luke 1:19 – Gabriel identifies as sent from God’s presence: “The angel answered him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.'”

Luke 1:26 – Gabriel sent by God to Mary: “Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.”

Luke 4:18-19 – Jesus identifies himself as anointed and sent by God as agent: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Luke 7:27 – John the Baptist as the sent messenger: “This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'”

Luke 9:2 – Jesus sends disciples to preach the kingdom: “He sent them out to preach God’s Kingdom and to heal the sick.”

Luke 9:48 – Emphasizing agency through reception of the least: “He said to them, ‘Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For whoever is least among you all, this one will be great.'”

Luke 10:1 – Jesus sends seventy with representative authority: “Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he was about to come.”

Luke 10:3 – Jesus sends disciples as lambs among wolves: “Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.”

Luke 10:16 – Hearing or rejecting disciples (agents) affects Jesus and God: “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Luke 11:49 – Wisdom of God sends prophets and apostles: “Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute.'”

Luke 13:34 – Jerusalem kills the sent ones: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!”

Luke 20:10-13 – Parable of vineyard servants sent by owner: “At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty… He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him and threw him out. The lord of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.'”

Luke 24:49 – Jesus promises to send the Spirit as agent: “Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”

John 1:6 – John sent from God: “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.”

John 1:18 – The Son as agent reveals the unseen Father: “No one has seen God at any time. The only born Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.”

John 1:33 – He who sent John gave him the sign: “I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'”

John 3:17 – God sent the Son not to condemn but to save: “For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.”

John 3:28 – John testifies he is not the Christ but sent before him: “You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.'”

John 3:34-36 – Jesus as sent agent speaks God’s words with delegated authority: “For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

John 4:34 – Jesus’ purpose is fulfilling the sender’s will as agent: “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.'”

John 5:19-20 – The Son acts only as agent, mirroring the Father’s actions: “Jesus therefore answered them, ‘Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does.'”

John 5:23 – Honoring the Son equals honoring the Father who sent him: “that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.”

John 5:24 – Belief in the sent one equals belief in the sender: “Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

John 5:30 – Jesus denies self-initiative, emphasizing agency: “I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.”

John 5:36-37 – Works delegated by the Father testify to Jesus’ sent status: “But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me. The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.”

John 5:38 – Not believing the sent one shows lack of God’s word: “You don’t have his word living in you, because you don’t believe him whom he sent.”

John 6:29 – Belief in the sent agent (Jesus) is God’s work: “Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.'”

John 6:38-39 – Jesus submits to the sender’s will: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:44 – The Father who sent draws people to Jesus: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up in the last day.”

John 6:46 – Only the agent from God has seen the Father to reveal Him: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.”

John 6:57 – Jesus lives because of the Father who sent him: “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will also live because of me.”

John 7:16-18 – Jesus’ teaching belongs to the sender, not himself: “Jesus therefore answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or if I am speaking from myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.'”

John 7:33 – Jesus going to him who sent him: “Then Jesus said, ‘I will be with you a little while longer, then I go to him who sent me.'”

John 8:16 – Jesus’ judgment is valid because the Father sent him: “Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me.”

John 8:18 – The Father who sent bears witness: “I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”

John 8:26 – Jesus declares only what he hears from the sender: “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However, he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.”

John 8:28 – Speaks only as taught by the Father: “Jesus therefore said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things.'”

John 8:29 – The Father who sent is with Jesus: “He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

John 8:42 – Jesus came not on his own but sent: “Therefore Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me.'”

John 9:4 – Performs the sender’s works: “I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.”

John 10:24-26 – Works in the Father’s name testify to agency: “The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, ‘How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.'”

John 10:37-38 – Father’s works through Jesus show mutual indwelling via agency: “If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

John 11:22-23, 40-42 – Jesus prays to demonstrate his sent status as agent: “Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’… Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you listened to me. I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude standing around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.'”

John 12:26 – Service to Jesus (agent) is honored by the Father: “If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

John 12:44 – Believing in Jesus is believing in the sender: “Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me.'”

John 12:45 – Seeing Jesus is seeing the sender: “He who sees me sees him who sent me.”

John 12:49-50 – Speaks only the Father’s commanded words: “For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak.”

John 13:16 – No servant/apostle greater than sender: “Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither is one who is sent greater than he who sent him.”

John 13:20 – Chain of agency in reception: “Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me.”

John 14:7-10 – Seeing Jesus is seeing the Father through agency, not identity; words not from himself: “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, “Show us the Father”? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.'”

John 14:24 – Words belong to the sender: “He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.”

John 14:26 – Father sends the Helper in Jesus’ name: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.”

John 15:9-10 – Parallel obedience in agency relationships: “Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

John 15:15 – Jesus relays what he hears from the Father: “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.”

John 15:21 – Persecution because they don’t know the sender: “But they will do all these things to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.”

John 15:23-24 – Hatred of agent extends to principal: “He who hates me, hates my Father also. If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father.”

John 15:26 – Jesus sends the Spirit from the Father: “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.”

John 16:5 – Jesus going to the sender: “But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?'”

John 16:7 – Jesus sends the Helper: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

John 16:15 – Delegated possessions from Father to Son: “All things that the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes of mine and will declare it to you.”

John 17:2 – Authority delegated to the Son: “Even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.”

John 17:3-5 – Knowing the sender and sent; Jesus accomplishes assigned work: “This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.”

John 17:6-8 – Jesus reveals the Father’s name and words as agent: “I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word. Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you, for the words which you have given me I have given to them; and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.”

John 17:11 – Shared name/authority through agency: “I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.”

John 17:14-16 – Parallel separation from the world: “I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

John 17:18 – Jesus sends disciples as he was sent: “As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.”

John 17:21 – Unity through indwelling, proving sent status: “That they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.”

John 17:22 – Delegated glory for unity: “The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one,”

John 17:23 – Chain of indwelling demonstrates agency: “I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.”

John 17:25-26 – Jesus makes the Father’s name known as agent: “Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me. I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 18:37 – Born to testify as sent witness: “Pilate therefore said to him, ‘Are you a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.'”

John 20:21 – Parallel sending of disciples: “Jesus therefore said to them again, ‘Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.'”

Acts 2:22 – God performs works through Jesus as agent: “Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know,”

Acts 2:28 – God reveals to the Messiah (agent) as prophesied: “You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.”

Acts 2:36 – God appoints Jesus as Lord and Christ: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Acts 3:20 – God will send Jesus Christ appointed for you: “and that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before.”

Acts 3:22-23 – God raises a prophet-agent to be obeyed as Himself: “For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.'”

Acts 3:26 – God raises and sends Jesus as servant-agent: “God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”

Acts 5:21 – Apostles sent and found teaching: “When they heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and taught. But the high priest and those who were with him came and called the council together, with all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.”

Acts 7:30-35 – [See cross-reference under Exodus 3:1-6 above]

Acts 7:37 – Reiterates prophetic agency: “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.'”

Acts 9:3-5 – Persecuting disciples (agents) is persecuting Jesus: “As he traveled, he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.'”

Acts 10:20 – Spirit sends Peter to Cornelius: “But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”

Acts 10:36-38 – God anoints and sends Jesus with power: “The word which he sent to the children of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all— you yourselves know what happened, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

Acts 11:11 – Three men sent to Peter: “Behold, immediately three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent from Caesarea to me.”

Acts 13:4 – Paul and Barnabas sent by the Holy Spirit: “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus.”

Acts 14:11-12 – Pagans mistake agents for incarnate gods, contrasting true agency: “When the multitude saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the language of Lycaonia, ‘The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!’ They called Barnabas ‘Jupiter,’ and Paul ‘Mercury,’ because he was the chief speaker.”

Acts 15:27 – Judas and Silas sent as representatives: “We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth.”

Acts 22:21 – Jesus sends Paul as agent to Gentiles: “He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.'”

Acts 26:17 – Jesus sends Paul to the Gentiles: “delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you.”

Romans 1:1 – Paul as called servant/agent for God’s gospel: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,”

Romans 8:3 – God sent His Son in likeness of sinful flesh: “For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, and condemned sin in the flesh.”

Romans 10:15 – Preachers must be sent as agents: “And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!'”

1 Corinthians 1:17 – Paul sent not to baptize but to preach: “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.”

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 – Apostles as servants/agents through whom God works: “Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him? I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.”

1 Corinthians 12:27 – Believers as collective agents (body) of Christ, retaining individuality: “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”

2 Corinthians 5:20 – Apostles as ambassadors/agents through whom God appeals: “We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

2 Corinthians 8:18 – Brother sent with Titus: “We have sent together with him the brother whose praise in the Good News is known through all the assemblies.”

2 Corinthians 8:22 – Another brother sent as agent: “We have sent with them our brother whom we have many times proved earnest in many things, but now much more earnest, by reason of the great confidence which he has in you.”

2 Corinthians 9:3 – Brothers sent ahead as agents: “But I have sent the brothers so that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared.”

2 Corinthians 12:17 – Paul’s agents represent him: “Did I take advantage of you by anyone of them whom I have sent to you?”

Galatians 1:1 – Paul an apostle not from men but through Jesus Christ and God: “Paul, an apostle—not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.”

Galatians 4:4 – God sent forth His Son: “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law.”

Galatians 4:6 – God sent the Spirit of His Son: “And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!'”

Galatians 4:14 – Receiving Paul as angel or Christ himself via agency: “That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn’t despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 6:20 – Paul as chained ambassador representing Christ/God: “For which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Ephesians 6:22 – Tychicus sent to make known Paul’s affairs: “I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know our state and that he may comfort your hearts.”

Philippians 2:19 – Timothy sent as Paul’s agent: “But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing.”

Philippians 2:23 – Paul will send Timothy: “Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me.”

Philippians 2:25 – Epaphroditus as sent messenger/agent: “But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need,”

Philippians 2:28 – Epaphroditus sent: “I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.”

Philippians 4:18 – Epaphroditus brought gifts as agent: “But I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.”

Colossians 1:15 – Christ as representative image of the invisible God: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

Colossians 4:8 – Tychicus sent to make known Paul’s circumstances: “I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts.”

1 Thessalonians 3:2 – Timothy sent as God’s servant and fellow worker: “and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the Good News of Christ, to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith.”

1 Thessalonians 3:5 – Paul sent Timothy to know their faith: “For this cause I also, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain.”

1 Timothy 6:16 – God’s invisibility requires agents for interaction: “He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.”

Titus 3:12 – Artemas or Tychicus to be sent: “When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me to Nicopolis, for I have determined to winter there.”

Hebrews 1:1-2 – God speaks through prophets and Son as agents: “God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.”

Hebrews 1:14 – Angels as sent agents to serve: “Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

Hebrews 3:1-6 – Jesus as appointed apostle (sent one), faithful as Moses was as servant-agent: “Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession: Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in all his house. For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God. Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken, but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house. We are his house, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.”

1 Peter 1:12 – Prophets and preachers as agents, with Holy Spirit sent: “To them it was revealed that they served not themselves, but you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.”

1 John 4:9 – God sent His only born Son: “By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only born Son into the world that we might live through him.”

1 John 4:10 – God sent His Son as atoning sacrifice: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

1 John 4:12 – Invisibility of God underscores need for agents: “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.”

1 John 4:14 – Father sent the Son as Savior: “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.”

3 John 1:6 – Send brothers forward worthily of God: “They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a way worthy of God.”

Revelation 1:1 – Chain of agency: God to Jesus to angel to John: “This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,”