“Power
and Authority to Preach and Heal”
Luke 9:1-11 (SBC, Sligo
IE)
12 August 2018
INTRODUCTION:
Power and authority
are related concepts, but they are not equal, not the same thing. A king must
have authority. He must be rightfully enthroned and be recognized and
respected by the people over whom he rules. But to maintain his position he
must also have the power to protect his throne from any usurper who
would try to unseat him and take over his kingdom.
Police officers and soldiers also
understand these two important concepts. In both cases they train and equip
themselves with the skills and tools that enable them to overcome their foes. To
carry out their mission they must have superior power. But they also operate
based on the authority that has been bestowed on them. They do not act
on their own volition or their own authority, but on the authority with which
they have been entrusted. In other words, they exercise their power within the
parameters of conferred authority.
TRANSITION:
In our text for today we find Jesus
moving His chosen Twelve into the next phase of their training. Up until now He
had been with them every step of the way. He had done all the preaching and
instruction. He had been the one to lay His healing hands on the sick. He alone
had cast out demons. All the while the disciples had observed, listened, and
learned. But now it was time for them to enter into the ministry to which Jesus
had called them.
MAIN BODY:
Verse 1: And He [Jesus] called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to
heal diseases.
·
Where
had the disciples been? Apparently after the events in chapter 8 Jesus had
allowed the disciples to return to their homes to take care of their families,
and perhaps just to rest up for a while. But now it was time to head back out
into the battle. But this time would be different because Jesus would not be
going with them.
·
This story is found in all three of the
Synoptic Gospels: in Matthew 10, in Mark 6, and in Luke 9. In Mark 6:7 we learn
that Jesus sent His disciples out in pairs. We are not told the groupings but
I’m sure Jesus made the assignments based on what He knew of each man, pairing
men who would work well together.
·
Verse
1 says He “…gave
them power and authority over all the demons and to heal
diseases.” Here we see those two words in the same sentence. On
their own these men had neither the power nor the authority. But now Jesus was
giving them both things in order to carry out their mission on His behalf.
Jesus had authority over the powers of darkness and the demons trembled in His
presence. Moreover, He had the power to command them and they had no choice but
to obey Him. Now Jesus has conferred this same authority and power to the
Twelve. Jesus also had authority over sickness and death because He was God in
the flesh and was the Lord of Life and Death. Now He gave to these twelve men
the authority over sickness and death and the power to defeat these cruel enemies.
In His name, sickness and disease would be subject to the commands of these,
His appointed servants.
Verse 2: And He sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom
of God and to perform healing.
·
He
sent them out to do the very things that He Himself had been doing from the
beginning: preaching the Good News of the Gospel and healing the sick.
They were to continue the good work that He had started. They were simply an
extension of His arms, His hands, and His voice. We must remember that in those
ancient days there was only one way of spreading a message and that was by word
of mouth. There were no newspapers or radio or magazines. That is why Jesus
sent the Twelve out on this mission. Although He was God, in His earthly body
He was limited by time and space, so these 12 Apostles had to be mouths to
speak for Him, and hands to do His work.
Verse 3: And He said
to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread,
nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.
·
Here
in verses 3-5 Luke gives us a brief synopsis of Jesus’ instructions to the
Twelve. Both Matthew and Mark go into a bit more detail.
·
Jesus
told His men to travel light. That is because the person who travels light can move
farther and faster. Jesus wanted these men to be unshackled from material
things that might bog them down. We have no idea how long this training mission
lasted but I believe it was at least several weeks and possibly as much as 2 or
3 months. But Jesus was very clear: “Don’t take anything with you. Trust Me when
I say that your needs will be met. I’ve got you covered.” When people
traveled in those days they usually carried an extra cloak so that if they had
to sleep rough they had something to use as a blanket to keep them warm. But
Jesus forbade them to do even this. He forced them into the position of being
dependent upon Him and upon the people they would meet for even their basic
necessities. He did not give them any wiggle-room, did not allow them to sock
away something “just in case.” He sent them out with nothing but the clothes on
their backs. How many of us would have the courage to take up such a challenge?
How would our faith fare if we were put into the same sort of testing situation?
·
Jesus
warned them that they were not to go hopping from one host home to another
where they might receive more luxurious accommodations and better food. They
were to honor their host by being gracious and grateful.
Verse 5: And as for those who do not receive you, as
you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against
them.”
·
It
was the custom of Jewish rabbis when returning to Israel after traveling to
Gentile lands to shake off every bit of heathen dust from their garments and
from their feet. Jesus told His men that if a village or town refused to
receive them they were to treat that place as heathen country. The people’s
condemnation would be on their own heads for having rejected these bearers of
Good News.
·
Matthew
10:5-15 gives us a little more thorough account of Jesus’ instructions to the
12: 5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do
not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;
6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7
And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ 8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you
received, freely give. 9 Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper
for your money belts, 10 or a bag for your journey, or even two
coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. 11
And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay
at his house until you leave that city. 12 As you enter the house,
give it your greeting. 13 If the house is worthy, give it your
blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. 14
Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house
or that city, shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I say to you,
it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of
judgment than for that city.”
Verse 6: Departing, they began going throughout the
villages, preaching the Gospel and healing everywhere.
·
The
instruction session at an end, they now had their marching orders and they set
off to obey what Jesus had told them to do. The six pairs divided up and went
in different directions, heading to different towns and villages.
·
These
men must have been fearful of what they would find. They knew nothing of what
they would encounter or how they would be treated. By this time Jesus was
running into opposition wherever He went and I’m quite certain that this was on
the minds of the 12 as they set out. Would they be beaten or jailed? Would they
go hungry? Or would they find kind people who would put them up and be
responsive to their message? At this point they had more questions than
answers.
·
But
what is remarkable is their obedience to Christ even in the face of their
fears. Courage is defined not as a lack of fear, but of doing what needs
to be done despite the fear. And these twelve men demonstrated remarkable
courage and unquestioning obedience to Christ, despite not knowing what lay
ahead of them.
Verses 7-9: Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was
happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John
had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and
by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. 9 Herod
said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such
things?” And he kept trying to see Him [Jesus].
·
The
proof that the Apostles’ ministry was effective can be seen in the fact that
news of what they were doing reached all the way into Herod’s palace. Herod Antipas,
aka Herod the Tetrarch, had his spies in every town and village in Galilee and
they would report to him any bits of news. He was also a superstitious man. He was
the same man who had ordered John the Baptist beheaded, but his guilt in murdering
that holy man had robbed him of sleep ever since. Now he was hearing about this
“Jesus of Galilee” person and it occurred to him that this guy bore a striking
resemblance to John. In fact, some were saying that Jesus was actually John
returned from the dead. Other people said that Jesus was the reincarnation of
Elijah, the prophet. Still others had other theories, but Herod was perplexed
and wanted to see Jesus for himself. The problem was that Jesus was constantly
on the move and it was impossible to know where He would pop up next.
Verse 10: When the apostles returned, they gave an
account to Him of all that they had done. Taking them with Him, He withdrew by
Himself to a city called Bethsaida.
·
Again,
we do not know how long the Apostles were out in the field on this assignment.
I believe that it is likely that Jesus told them to return home by a specific
date, but that is just conjecture on my part because the Bible is silent about
this. They apparently met up with Jesus in or near Capernaum because Mark tells
us in 6:30ff, “The
Apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they
had done and taught. 31 And He said to them, ‘Come away by
yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.’ (For there were many people
coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 They
went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.” Putting
this together with what Luke tells us I conclude that Jesus took them a few
kilometers away to the area north of the village of Bethsaida that was
sometimes called, “Bethsaida Julius,” where there were some lovely secluded
places where they could get away from the crowds.
Verse 11: But the crowds were aware of this and followed
Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and
curing those who had need of healing.
·
This
is quite remarkable. The Twelve had come back from their busy ministry tour and
they were exhausted, needing a break. Never was a time when Jesus needed more
to be alone with them, so He guided them to a place of seclusion for some
much-needed rest and relaxation. But when the people discovered where they had
gone the crowds came running, pushing, shoving, asking, needing. And yet,
Jesus welcomed them! Most people would have been resentful to have their
privacy violated this way. Sometimes, we think we are too busy or too important
to be disturbed, but Jesus was ever kind and gracious, putting the needs of
others above His own needs, or even those of His servants. Seemingly
unperturbed He began sharing with the people the Good News of the Kingdom,
preaching the Gospel message, and healing their diseases, illnesses, and
afflictions.
CONCLUSION:
You may have noticed that the ministry Jesus
laid upon the Apostles had two main elements: preaching and healing.
It joined His concern for men’s bodies and men’s souls. General William Booth,
the founder of the Salvation Army, was once criticized for offering clothing
and meals to poor people instead of just preaching the Gospel to them. The old
warrior quickly responded, “It is impossible to comfort men’s hearts
with the love of God when their feet are perishing with cold.” Over the
centuries the Church has erred in both directions. Some groups have only
preached the Gospel, caring only for men’s souls, giving no thought to the
physical needs of the people. Other groups have erred on the other side,
feeding the hungry and treating the sick without dealing with the lostness of
their souls, neglecting to tell them the Good News that Christ died to save
sinners and that by faith in Him we can inherit eternal life. We must never
forget that Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the Kingdom and to heal, to save men
in body and in soul. The Gospel is incomplete if we neglect either of
these.
Jesus is still calling us, His disciples,
to go out with this two-fold mission. I do not believe we have the same power
and authority He gave to the Twelve to heal the sick and to raise the dead.
Those were exceptional gifts reserved for the Apostles to herald the arrival of
the Messiah and to establish the Early Church. However, we have been commanded
to do good and to perform works of kindness and charity in Jesus’ name. And we
have been authorized to preach the Gospel and to compel men to place their
faith in Jesus for their eternal salvation. Moreover, He has given us His Holy
Spirit to empower us to do the work of the Kingdom, so we do have power and
authority in Jesus’ name as His representatives.
After the Resurrection and just before He
ascended to Heaven He told a group or His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority
has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all
that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” And in Acts 1:8 He told them, “But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the
earth.”
How are we doing in this two-fold mission? Are
we filled with the same compassion and zeal that marked the early Christians?
We are going to end our service this morning by singing an old hymn called,
“Rescue the Perishing.” The first verse goes like this: “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin
and the grave. Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen, tell them of
Jesus, the mighty to save. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying. Jesus is
merciful, Jesus will save.” It is number 441 in your hymnal.
No comments:
Post a Comment