Proclaim the kingdom of God
Luke 9:1-9
Key verse 9:1-2
In chapter 9, Jesus shifted gears for his disciples. So far
he had let them just observe what he was doing. But now he let them participate
in his work, by having them preach and feed a large number of the crowd. In
today’s passage, Jesus sends out his disciples for the first time to preach the
good news. What is the good news they should preach? Why does Jesus send them
out to preach? I pray that through this message we may know what the good news we
should preach is and also may be convinced more about Jesus by preaching it.
”1 When Jesus had called the Twelve
together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to
cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the
kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”
Jesus was about to send them out to proclaim the kingdom of
God and to heal the sick. The kingdom of God was at the center of Jesus’
ministry from the outset of his public ministry.
·
4:43 – “But he said, “I
must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also,
because that is why I was sent.”
·
8:1 – “After this, Jesus traveled about from one
town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.”
Sending out the Twelve to proclaim the kingdom of God, Jesus
gave them power and authority to drive out demons and heal the sick. What does the
kingdom of God has to do with driving out demons and healing the sick then?
In the Garden of Eden where God was present with man as king,
humans were happy. But when they sinned against God and refused God’s ruling, immediately
Satan ruled over them. Since then, man had suffered from the power of demons
and sickness, which eventually led them to death. We humans had no hope but
suffered from sickness and death.
Recently, I have heard about a 29 year-old woman, who
married a couple of years ago. She and her husband moved from San Francisco to
Oregon. But it was not for their newly married life there but for her dying
life. In January 2014, she was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive
malignant cancer, in her brain. She was given six months to live. She learned
that her brain cancer would bring unbearable suffering to her and her family
members. Then, after spending agonizing time, she decided to terminate her life
in dignity by some other’s assistance, which is legal in Oregon. She is
planning to end her life in her own bed on November 1, a day after her
husband’s birthday. Just knowing such a tragedy is heart breaking. How much more
she and her family members have gone through suffering? I feel that the power
of death and disease. Many people suffer from all kinds of diseases and we all
eventually die. This is the reality of human and of the world ruled by Satan.
But this has been changed because of Jesus. He drove out demons
and healed the sick. Particularly, in chapter 8, Jesus demonstrated his power over
demons and diseases in the most dramatic ways. He rebuked and calmed down a
sudden storm, which was also the act of demon. He subdued a large number of
demons and drove them out from a man at once. He healed a woman who had
suffered from blood bleeding for twelve years. Then, Jesus even brought a dead
girl back to life! Demons and sickness could not stand against Jesus. What did
all these tell us about? God’s power and his presence with them! He came back
to claim us from demons and diseases.
Driving out demons and healing the sick with power and
authority, Jesus demonstrated that God had come to them and he was with them. Jesus
was telling people, “God has come to be with you, and to claim you back from
Satan and rule over you as king again. His kingdom has come.” So in Mark
1:14-15, at the beginning of his publish ministry, Jesus said,
14 … Jesus went into
Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The
time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the
good news!”
What news can be greater and more joyful and victorious than
the coming of the kingdom of God? Finally, as he promised, God has come to save
us from Satan and death and to be our king again. So, it is called the gospel,
meaning the good news!
So, Zachariah prophesized, filled with the Holy Spirit, “Praise
be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and
redeemed them…to rescue us from the hand of our enemies.” (1:68,74a)
We, however, should know another important thing here. How
then has the kingdom of God come? Through whom did God demonstrate his power
and his presence? Jesus!
The angel Gabriel said to Mary about Jesus, “The Lord God
will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and
he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never
end.” (1:32b-33)
God has come through Jesus to save people, displaying his
power and authority over demons. “The
kingdom of God has come through Jesus!” This was the message the Twelve
must proclaim.
How could they proclaim the kingdom of God then? Look at
verse 1 one more time.
“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them
power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.“
Jesus gave them God’s power and authority so that they could
also do the same things Jesus had done, driving out demons and healing people.
In that way, people would see and feel God’s power and his presence with them
and then come to know the coming of the kingdom of God. Where the kingdom of
God comes, darkness is driven away and people come back to life.
The kingdom of God is the power of God and his ruling. It is
not a kind of idea, knowledge, or some kind of paradise where people go after
they die as many people think or expect. But it is the power of God that heals
the sick, drives out demons, raises the dead, saves sinners and brings them
back to God. So, Paul said in 1 Cor 4:20 “For the kingdom of God does not
consist in talk but in power.”
We talk a lot about the kingdom of God. However, what
matters is whether God is present in us with power or not. Sadly, there are
many churches that are dead or dying. They have good buildings, good
facilities, and many people, but they are lifeless because God is not there and
so there is no power and no life in them. However, some churches, though they
are small, are alive and filled with joy and life because the kingdom of God is
right there.
The other day, I went to a church in Alexandria, VA for the
wedding of our old Bible student. The church building was big and it could
accommodate at least several hundreds of people. What surprised me was that the
number of the church members was only about 130, meaning that only a small
portion of the seats would be filled but the rest of them are empty at the
Sunday worship service. My initial response was “That’s it?” But soon I found
out that there were only about 30 members until three years ago and so the
church was almost closed. But since a young and new pastor came, things had
been changed. He was a black person and very gentle and caring. In three years,
the number of the church increased from 30 to 130 with a good mix of people in
terms of race and age. Actually I saw many white people though the pastor was
black. That kind of church is actually rare in USA. The church members were happy,
thankful and zealous for God. Recently, three couples married from the church
members. The church came back to life and more people are coming. I felt that
there was something in the church that made them different. I felt God’s
presence and his power there. It was dead but now is alive because the power
and life of God is present there.
What do you pray for our ministry? We may have many other
things to pray for. We want to have 30 1:1 Bible studies weekly and fill this
room with 20 people. Yes, we should pray for that. The first thing I pray for
this ministry though is that the kingdom of God may be here in power. If God is
with us, we can overcome all our difficulties and more Bible students will come
here by themselves. Don’t you think so? Let’s pray that God’s presence and his power
may be here. Let’s pray that God’s kingdom may come here and fill this room
with Bible students. Believe that only the kingdom of God can save students who
are under the power of demons. Let’s proclaim to them, “The kingdom of God has
come through Jesus for you. His salvation is here.“ Amen!
”3 He told them: “Take nothing
for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever
house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.”
Strangely, while sending them out, Jesus told them to take anything
for their journey. He also told them not to move from house to house to stay. Why?
It was because Jesus already gave them power and authority,
which came from God. So, they were going out as God’s messengers, which meant
God would protect and provide for them to proclaim the kingdom of God. If they
were worried about what to eat and wear, and where to stay, they would be
distracted and thus could not proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus wanted them to
believe God’s power and his presence with them so that they would proclaim the
kingdom of God, driving out demons and healing the sick.
“5 If people do not welcome you,
leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against
them.”
Jesus warned them that some people would reject them. But they
should not shrink back. Once they proclaimed the kingdom of God, the
accountability would be upon those who heard it. The Twelve should preach the
gospel with God’s authority and the hearers must make a choice. If they
accepted the gospel, they would receive the kingdom of God. If not, they would have
nothing to do with the kingdom of God. So the disciples should not be
discouraged by people’s rejection.
We are not soliciting people for the gospel. We are not
attracting them in human ways. We are God’s messengers. We should proclaim the
kingdom of God with the authority of God. When we do not have much and when we
are persecuted, we can actually have more of God’s power. The only thing we
really need is the power of God and his authority.
Now the Twelve went out and proclaimed the good news and
healed people everywhere they went. What was the outcome?
6 So they set out and went from
village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.7 Now
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed
because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others
that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of
long ago had come back to life. 9 But Herod said,
“I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to
see him.
As a result, there was a great work of God and Jesus was
known widely as a great man of God.
·
Some said that John had been raised from the
dead.
·
Others said that Elijah had appeared.
·
And still others said that one of the prophets
of long ago had come back to life.
Through the disciples, they saw the kingdom of God coming
with power and authority. “We have never seen or heard about things like this!
See their power and authority. Whose disciples are they? He must be a great man
of God!” The impact was so enormous that even Herod the tetrarch heard all this
and was perplexed, especially with the rumor that John had been raised from the
dead. He thought, “I certainly killed John. Who is the guy I am hearing about
now?” So he tried to see Jesus, most likely for political reasons. All this
showed how much the mission journey greatly impacted the entire nation and thus
revealed the power and authority of Jesus.
What about the Twelve then? What might they come to know
from these unprecedented events in their life? They had observed what Jesus did
and marveled at his power. Particularly when they saw Jesus’ healing in chapter
8, they experienced Jesus’ divine power and put their faith in Jesus. While
proclaiming and healing by their mouths and hands, they experienced more of
Jesus’ power and authority.
When they called out, “Demons, I command you in the name of
Jesus, come out of the man!” the demon came out. When they touched the sick in
the name of Jesus, they were healed. The Twelve were astonished at what they
did. And they were mesmerized by the power and authority Jesus had given to
them.
In chapter 10, Jesus also sent out seventy-two others to preach.
That was after Peter’s confession and it was mainly intended to advance the
kingdom of God. However, here in chapter 9, Jesus sent out the Twelve not only
preach the good news but also to help them experience his power and authority by
themselves so that they would come to know who he really was and strengthen
their faith in him. Their firsthand experience convinced them more about Jesus;
that is, “He is the Messiah God sent!” (9:20)
It was one day when I was a freshman in college. That day I
was nervous because I was going to the campus to preach for the first time in
my life. I began to study the Bible in March and then several months later I
began to preach by myself. Obviously, I did not know the Bible well. I did not even
know who Jesus is. I was still confused between Jesus and God. What I knew was
that God was the Creator and the Bible study was good. Regardless, I preached
and often to my friends. Some studied with me and more people rejected the
gospel. But what amazed me was that my faith in Jesus grew a lot through
preaching and teaching. Thanks to my preaching, I myself got confident in
Jesus. The next year I was deeply convicted by the word of God and came to know
that Jesus is my savior.
Some people think that they should preach after they know
Jesus deeply. Yes, I agree with them. However, God does not always work that
way. As Jesus sent out his immature disciples, God may want to send out you now
to preach and teach the Bible even if you do not know Jesus and the Bible well.
It is because while preaching, as I experienced, you can truly know that Jesus is
the Savior God sent.
A while ago MY went to Kurdistan to teach English and also
to preach. But he went through all kinds of problems. When he was sick, he was
rejected in the hospital because they thought he was an Arab. Then he lost all his
documents and all his money. He could not even return home. But he felt that
God was with him and prayed continually. Then, God miraculously prepared everything
for him to come back home safely. He learned that God is in Kurdistan too and
he wants to save the Kurdistan. His mission journey is an invaluable experience
for him to grow in faith. He is now more eager to preach and enjoys Jesus.
As such, preaching helps you a lot to experience the presence
of God and his power with you and to know Jesus personally. Do not be afraid of
preaching. As Jesus gave the Twelve power and authority, he will empower you
through the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8)
In conclusion, Jesus sent out the Twelve to proclaim by his
power and authority that the kingdom of God had come through him. Through their
mission journey the Twelve were deeply convinced that Jesus is the Messiah God
sent. The kingdom of God is the power of God and his power is displayed through
Jesus Christ. I pray that we all may experience the power of God and his
presence with us through studying his word deeply and proclaiming the kingdom
of God. May God use our Bible study and preaching to save many college students
from Satan.
By David Yun
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