GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
LUKE 9:1-2
9 Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
With this act, Jesus transforms his disciples into apostles. A disciple is a student; a learner. We never stop being disciples of Christ, and the Twelve did not stop being his disciples, either. But Jesus now sent them out on a mission with authority, and that’s the definition of an apostle. An apostle has a mission given to him by his master, and he is given authority or the tools to carry out that mission.
Besides power over all demons and to cure diseases, Jesus gave his disciples the authority to do those things (exousia, ἐξουσία). Jesus had been given authority to do everything by his Father, including forgiving sins (Luke 5:23). Now he gave his apostles the authority to heal, which would draw more people to Jesus.
The Lord sent them out in pairs (Mark 6:7). We can’t say for certain who the pairs would have been, but the disciples are almost always presented more or less in pairs:
Group 1: Peter and Andrew, brothers.
Group 2: James and John, brothers.
Group 3: Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael), friends (John 1:45).
Group 4: Matthew and Thomas (often together; Luke 6:14).
Group 5: The other James and Thaddaeus (the other Judas).
Group 6: Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot (Matthew 10:4).
Besides healing the sick and driving out demons Jesu sent his men out to proclaim the kingdom of God. They didn’t have a lot of experience. Some of them had probably never opened their mouths in a crowd before. Now they were going out to proclaim the message of Jesus. What kind of success did they have? We will hear the answer to that from no less than King Herod.
What kind of success do you have when you share your faith? We can’t always say. The truth goes out, and the word itself does all the work. What you and I say today might take twenty years to sink in. Does that mean we should keep it to ourselves? The word doesn’t work in peoples’ hearts if it’s never planted there. It’s time to do some planting.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota