Question
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Luke 9:1-9
Key Verse 9:2
1. Before sending out the Twelve, how did Jesus equip them? (1) What does this provision indicate about the way to serve the Lord's mission successfully (and joyfully)?
2. According to verse 2 Jesus had two purposes in sending them out: 1) to preach the kingdom of God; and 2) to heal the sick. How are the two related?
3. In verses 3-4 Jesus told them to take "nothing" for the journey, but to rely on what their sponsor(s) might provide for them. Compare this instruction with Jesus' words in Luke 22:35-36. Why the difference?
4. Verse 5 describes what the disciples should do to those who do not welcome them. Before shaking the dust off their feet, what should a disciple do first? In what respect would shaking the dust off their feet serve as a "testimony against" those who do not welcome them?
5. Think about God's work described in verse 6. How would you characterize this work of God? What wisdom is there for us to learn in reaching out to many in our generation?
6. Consider the way Herod responded to the great work of God through Jesus and his disciples. Why did Herod respond this way? (9)
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Message
Jesus sent out the twelve
Luke 9:1-9
Key Verse 9:1,2
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
In the passage Jesus gave his disciples field-work training to preach God’s kingdom and to heal the sick. It has been said, “Practice makes perfect.” When you examine the life of Jesus you will quickly realize that Jesus “mastered” the art of preaching and healing. But the disciples of Jesus were still rookies. They were yet to master the art of preaching and healing. In order to master the art they needed training. So here Jesus goes – he put the disciples on a training program. Before sending them out to preach and heal, as the master of training, Jesus issued the instructions for the disciples to follow for successful preaching and healing.
In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus asked us to pray, “Your kingdom come…” So it behooves us to know how to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick. And Jesus trains his disciples to follow instructions.
First, the power and authority to drive out demons and to cure diseases
Every Friday morning the gardeners sent by the Midori Garden come to the center, and do the gardening. Their gardening service includes cutting the grass. How do they cut the grass? They cut the grass with a lawnmower. You “cannot” cut the grass with your bare hands. How come then does a lawnmower cut the grass better than your bare hands? The answer is obvious. The lawnmower has a small motor inside. It is this motor which generates the power to let the blade run and cut the grass.
The same is true in getting anything done efficiently. In order to drive nails to 2 by 4’s you need a hammer. In order to cut the 2 by 4’s you need a saw such as a table saw or a circular saw. The same is true with the task of building God’s kingdom within a man. In order to build God’s kingdom in a man, we need God’s power and God’s authority. Look at verse 1. “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases…”
This passage teaches us the first cardinal rule: You cannot build God’s kingdom in a man with your own abilities alone. God’s kingdom can be built only through God’s power and authority – the power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.
One person I know has great ability to talk. He is a good talker. Is he going to be a good kingdom builder? No. He can make himself a good salesperson, or a good comedian, but not a good kingdom builder. Two weeks ago I visited Sydney. There I met two missionaries. The two were totally different in one area: English. One person’s English was awful. His English is so terrible that his wife said to me, “His English is so broken that it is very difficult to listen to his message all the time.” But the other person’s English was very smooth. He was fluent in speaking English. But because the language skill is not “essential” to building God’s kingdom, I did not make such a big deal out of it.
“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases…” In reading this passage a question may arise in one’s mind: “Do I have this power and authority?” If any one has a doubt like this, he cannot go out and do the kind of work Jesus has in mind. Figuratively speaking he is like a soldier who is given a machine gun, sent out to the enemies’ territory, faces the enemy, and yet is so afraid of the enemy that he suffers a heart attack even before being able to shoot the enemy with his machine gun.
“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases…” God never asks his children to go out and do the work he has in mind without first equipping them with the means to do the task. Practically God equips his soldiers in three ways:
No. 1 – he equips his children with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 reads, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” What does “every one of you” mean? It means “every one of you.” How much is the power and authority of the Holy Spirit? It is equal to the power and authority of God himself, for the Holy Spirit is God himself. Let me ask you a question: who created demons? God created demons. Let me ask you another question: who makes you sick spiritually or physically? Do not be surprised. Deuteronomy 28:28 reads, “The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.” In addition Exodus 15:26 says, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." The expression “I will not bring on you any of the diseases” indicates that the Lord does bring all kinds of diseases on you, if the Lord finds it necessary. But the Lord did not forget to add: “I am the Lord, who heals you.” Practically then who does the healing? Holy Spirit does.
No. 2 – he equips his children with the power to pray in the name of Jesus. John 14:12-14 reads, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” What does “anyone” mean? Anyone means anyone (who has faith in Jesus). “In my name” means “in Jesus’ name.” Here “name” refers to the totality of Jesus – his person, his integrity, his power, his authority, his everything. “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” What does “I will do it” mean? “I will do it” means “Jesus [not you] will do it.” What if he does not do it? Ask Jesus. Don’t ask me.
No. 3 – he equips his children with the power and authority of the word of God. God’s word has the power to drive out all demons. It has the authority to heal the sick. One brother I know used to suffer from all kinds of demons: in the prime of his youth, for no obvious reasons, he felt sad, sorrowful, and empty. He found his life totally meaningless. God had mercy on him. One day God sent one of his law school class mates to him, and invited him to a Genesis Bible study. The word of God in the book of Genesis 1:1 and 1:31 hit him hard. Genesis 1:1 reads, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:31 declares,” God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” These two verses worked like one, two straight punches. They knocked out all the sad, sorrowful, empty, meaningless demons working inside of him. Before he read this passage he wanted to become a Buddhist monk. But thanks to this Bible passage, he became a missionary. Plus, thanks to the word of God from the book of Genesis, he remains so healthy that even in his fifties, he eats five meals a day, still not getting sick.
Second, he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
If one wants to get anything done properly, one must first know what he wants to do. When he does not know what he wants to do, how can he expect getting anything done efficiently?
After coming back from the trip to Papua Niugini, I was embarrassed to find that I had so many things to do that I did not know what to do first. Then I sat down and prayed for the situation. Then I heard a gentle whisper: “My son, prepare a to-do list, and learn to do one thing at a time.” “Okay, I said.” Then I prepared a to-do list. Upon completing a to-do list, I was surprised that there was not that much to do. So with joy I took care of the matters one at a time. And I regained the joy of salvation.
My point here is this: clear understanding of what to do is the key to succeeding in what one is required to do. Surprisingly enough a lot of Christians, evangelists, shepherds, pastors, missionaries, are largely confused about what to do. Because they want to please “God”, they try to do this or to do that. But is what they do every day even ever so sacrificially in the will of God? That is a good question. When you do not know what you are required to do, most likely you end up doing what you are not supposed to be doing; or you end up not doing what you are supposed to be doing, still thinking that you have done what you are supposed to be doing.
What then did Jesus ask his disciples to do? For what purpose did Jesus send them out? Look at verse 2 again. “He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”
Let us stop for a moment and think about the things Jesus asked them to do; in my opinion, the tasks Jesus asked them to do come with priorities.
The first priority is to preach the kingdom of God. Kingdom of God means the kingdom where God is a king. A king rules a territory. For example a “Burger King” means “The restaurant where hamburger rules as the “king” so to speak; there all work “for” Mr. Hamburger. The CEO works for the hamburger. In fact he always thinks about it. Manager works for the hamburger. Assistant manager works for the hamburger. Likewise, Kingdom of God is the place where God is the king. He is the Ruler, not you, but God.
For example 1 John 4:16 says that God is love. If the kind of love God has for people and the world rules an individual, a family, a society, a nation, and the world, then there is God’s kingdom. John 4:24 says, “God is spirit.” This passage indicates that God’s spirit rules a man, and then there is the kingdom of God growing inside of the man. Proverbs 30:21 says, “Under three things the earth trembles.” Guess what comes first on the list of the three: “A servant who becomes a king.” (Proverbs 30:22a) Here a servant refers to flesh. God created man according to this order: spirit first, soul second, and body (or flesh) third. Spirit must rule soul; soul in turn must rule body. Then man is happy. But when flesh rules over the spirit, then a constant war goes on in his inner world. His whole world trembles. In other words he goes crazy.
The second priority is to heal the sick. In American society the law does not allow you to heal the sick without you getting proper discipline. For example, you cannot practice medicine without a license. The same is true with dental practice.
But still Jesus commanded the disciples to go out and heal the sick. Why? The answer is obvious, for here “the sick” includes those who are sick spiritually and physically. Medical doctors or dentists can fix illnesses that exist on a physical level, but they cannot necessarily heal those who are sick spiritually. God can heal all kinds of diseases. Again remember what Exodus 15:26 says, “"If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." So we must pray for the wellbeing of those we are sent to.
Third, take nothing for the journey
In getting anything done successfully, there are always things one must do, and things one must avoid doing. For example, our life is a complex venture. So in order for us to remain healthy and strong, we need to go by certain rules and regulations. And these rules and regulations consist of both what is positive and what is negative. And what is negative is as important as what is positive. For example, it has been said that there are seven cardinal sins that destroy man’s life: “pride, envy, anger, laziness, greed, gluttony, and lust”. In order to live a fruitful life, the life that is strong and healthy, we must avoid these sins at all costs.
The same is true in doing the task of building God’s kingdom in a man. One of the negative injunctions to follow in building God’s kingdom is found in verse 3, “He told them: "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.” Each time we see Jesus repeating something, we can rest assured of its absolute significance. Here Jesus used the word “no” five times – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, and no extra tunic. Why? What is Jesus trying to say? The answer is obvious: Jesus wants them not to get tangled up with the concerns for material needs.
"Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.” This instruction is not a call for the disciples to starve to death. It is not the demand for the disciples to live in absolute poverty either. It is rather to help the disciples to live by faith in God. It is to help them to operate not with “worries” but with “faith” in God who provides them with what is needed for the mission. Jesus gave this instruction to train them to know what it is to first seek his kingdom and his righteousness. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Again practice makes perfect. If you go to the YMCA there is a swim instructor teaching you how to swim. And the swim class consists of instructions taught in both a class room and a swimming pool. A good swim instructor always ensures that his students would get into the swimming pool with a swim suit alone! Have you seen any swim instructors allowing you to get into the pool with your wallet, hand bag, or a mouthful of food? Like a good swim instructor Jesus threw the disciples into the swimming pool wearing nothing but a swim suit.
Fourth, whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.
When you think about it, throughout all generations, people are concerned about two things: what to eat (as well as what to wear) and where to live.
These two are necessary for man’s survival. But they can work as powerful impediments to man serving God’s kingdom purpose. So before sending them out Jesus had to deal with these impediments. Thus, in verse 3 Jesus dealt with the first impediment – the worry of what to eat and what to wear, for the instruction of “no bag, no money…no extra tunic” goes to the issue of what to eat and what to wear.
Now, in verse 4 Jesus addresses the issue of where to live (or simply stay). Look at verse 4. “Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.” Here two words are critical: “whatever” and “until.” Whatever means whatever – a sofa bed, a bunk bed, a studio apartment, a bungalow house, a one bedroom house, a mansion, or whatever. “Until” refers to the mission completed. What is absolute is the mission, and what is relative is where to live.
In modern society as well the things people are concerned about never changed. Just as the disciples in Jesus’ day were concerned about what to eat, what to wear, and where to live, so also people of our own day are concerned about these things.
We all know that the minute one solves the problem of what to eat, he is concerned about what to wear and where to stay. But again a man called to build God’s kingdom must keep what is absolute and what is relative as relative. What to eat, what to wear, and certainly where to live must remain relative, whereas the mission must remain absolute. And one must let what is relative fit what is absolute. What is relative must remain subservient to what is absolute. So, here is the question for every Christian: “What is the most important concern for you: serving the mission or making a living?”
Fifth, if people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town.
Last instruction but not least one is the instruction to handle rejections. Look at verse 5. “If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them.” The expression, “If people do not welcome you” assumes the situation where people would not welcome them. In other words, the disciples should know that people would not always be enthusiastic about their visits. A lot of people “will” reject them. The question then is how to handle rejections.
This is a very important point, because our day to day experience says that nothing makes a servant of God more frustrated than the rejections coming from the people he is so eager to serve! When you go out for fishing, how would you feel if you never caught any fish, even after trying hundred difficult times? If you went out to meet Bible students and asked students for Bible study 99 times and got rejected 99 times, how would you feel? Would you feel exhilarated? If you do get excited you are already a saint of saints!
Jesus knows that the disciples were not machines but human beings. Like all other human beings, they had desires and feelings, especially the desire to be welcomed, and when people reject them, they will get hurt. But when people do not welcome you, a disciple carrying the good tidings of salvation, here is the point for you to remember: do not feel bad. After all, it is not you whom people reject. It is Jesus people reject. The wisdom then is to keep the purpose straight, that is, to carry out the mission Jesus sent us to fulfill, that is, to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick. Then, when people reject the message you carry, with confidence you can say that they forfeited the grace of salvation.
In conclusion, let us all read verses 6-9. This passage says that the disciples’ mission journey was a great success. As they obeyed Jesus’ instructions fully, even the King Herod’s heart sank. Their services made a huge dent to Satan’s kingdom.
One word: Jesus sent out the twelve
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