John 20:21

‘Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me even so I send you.”

To whom was Jesus speaking? As mentioned above others than the eleven were present, including the women. But John makes clear that the commission here is to ‘the disciples' and in the context of chapter 13 onwards that is the eleven. The others join in it in a general sense, but the specific actions are for ‘the disciples' (compare John 17:18; John 17:20). This is confirmed by the words with reference to Thomas as ‘one of the twelve' (John 20:24).

They had endured great sorrow and despair. Now He reminded them what it had all been about. They must now take over His task of being the light of the world. He was sending them just as the Father had sent Him. From now on they would be His representatives, His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). They were ‘the foundation of the twelve Apostles' (Revelation 21:14 compare Ephesians 2:20 where the foundation is widened to include ‘prophets', but those may have been the Old Testament prophets)