Jesus Sends the Twelve to Preach the Kingdom of God

Luke 9:1-9, Key Verse: 9:2

"...and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."

In today’s passage, we see Jesus send out the Twelve to share the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Disciples of Jesus watched very closely Jesus preach the kingdom of God and heal many sick people and even raise the dead. They saw many wonders and miracles done by Jesus and were amazed by the power and authority of Jesus. It was like watching Avatar in 3D. Wow! Now the show was over. Now what? For the Twelve Disciples it was time to put what they had learned from Jesus into practice, not just go back home and take a rest as if they finished having fun of watching some kinds of magic shows. Jesus was about to send them out to the world to preach the gospel. Through today’s passage, we can learn what Jesus wants his servants to do: preach the kingdom of God. May God bless us with his grace and mercy through today’s message!

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.” Jesus called the Twelve together. It seems that Jesus made a team. Through team activity they could grow in spirit and body.

When I was a college student in UBF, I was one of team members. The name of the team was Team John since we studied John’s gospel when my team was organized.  We lived together, ate together, and shared our testimonies every Saturday afternoon. Sometimes we took a short trip together. By the way, we were all different in characteristic, appearance and background. Because of this, we could not understand each other, so we misunderstood each other. One of the team members was a gay. One day he said to me, “Be comforted because you are not my type.” The other was so eager in sharing the gospel, but he was likely to run away and torture himself in heart when he committed the same sin he had committed before. As for me, I was a stutterer. It seems all losers from the society gathered together under the name of Jesus. But I was really happy and comforted because many were stammering like me. It seemed God organized the Team John for me to be comforted among other stutterers. Through thick and thin, we encouraged each other in faith, learned how to serve others and co-work in God’s ministry and grew in the image of Jesus. I could learn Jesus very practically through the team activities. Jesus also called all JBF members together here regardless of the motives with which they came to NJ UBF. And they are like a team that carries out God’s mission for his glory. Sometimes they fight against each other, but most of times they love and build up each other and grow as a servant of God. I pray that JBF members here make a good team to learn Jesus and grow in spirit and body by encouraging each other in the team with one mind and heart of team spirit.

Look at verse 1 again. “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.” When Jesus called his disciples together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. Why did Jesus give them power and authority instead of money or donkey or enough food to preach the gospel? It is because preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God is a spiritual battle against the forces of evil. It is not a hobby or a job. It is a mission. Jesus gives us power and authority over evil spirits. Jesus already defeated Satan. Therefore, all we have to do is to pray for Jesus’ power and authority before doing anything. Prayer is the foundation for effective gospel work.

For JBF members it is a mission to study hard for the glory of God. Sometimes it is very hard to focus on school work because so many demons and evil spirits from the inside and the outside attack us. They hinder us from doing what we have to do because that’s their mission-making all JBF members losers or mediocre with low achievement in school work. 

Perhaps someone might ask me, “M. Joseph, do you mean I have to get all A’s on all subjects to be a good disciples of Jesus?”  What I am saying is that we have to do our best in what we do with prayers that enable us to receive power and authority to drive out all temptations out your hearts such as parties, boy or girl friends and so on. What’s more, it is better for us to focus on our mission, not on the temptations themselves. If we are sure about our mission and driven by it, we are not likely to fall into the pit of temptations. As we know well about King David in the old testaments, he was doing well when he prayed hard and pursued his mission as a matter of life or death with God’s spirit. But when he was just relaxed and lost the mission spirit and stopped pursuing his mission, he was driven out of God’s blessing by the evil spirit instead of driving it out. I pray that all JBF members here pray hard to receive power and authority from Jesus so that JBF members carry out their mission successfully by driving out all the evil spirits in the name of Jesus.

Look at verse 2. “and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”

Jesus’ mission for the Twelve was simple and clear. It is to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick. Preaching is to proclaim. In other words, it is to deliver some kind of important messages in public places. There are many other ways of preaching.  As for me, I am now delivering my message about the kingdom of God to you in public. This is one way of preaching. Many missionaries go fishing on campus and share the gospel of the kingdom of God and even invite them to one-to-one Bible study. We can also share Bible stories with others. We can share personal testimonies of Jesus' grace with others. We can prepare and share a gospel key verse. This can be done in five minutes, during a break between classes, or at the lunch table at work. We can share the kingdom through above mentioned ways. Especially we can reveal the kingdom of God through Christ-like living.

And also the kingdom of God can be proclaimed through books, movies, music, and other arts. Our JBF members can preach the message of the kingdom of God through the orchestra concert. Everyone can be involved in some way. Jesus wants us to preach the kingdom as of first importance. Let's pray to make our lives useful to preaching the kingdom of God.  

Look at verse 2 again. “and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Jesus sent his disciples not only to preach the kingdom of God but also to heal the sick. Sharing the kingdom of God is not just about telling a message. It is also about sharing the love of God in practical ways. We must be concerned about the practical problems people have with their health, school study, friend and family relationship and so on. We must help people experience the love of God practically, by faith. This time I urge you to pray by faith for Ruth Kim suffering from fear to be healthy in body and spirit through Jesus’ power and authority. May God help us to express the love of God to Ruth Kim in our prayers!

So far we have learned that Jesus’ disciples are to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. By the way, what is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God means the "reign of the God." Simply put, it is where God's anointed king reigns. Jesus is that king. So where Jesus is, there is the kingdom of God. According to Jesus, the Kingdom of God is within (or among) people, (Lk 17:20-21) is approached through understanding (Mk 12:34) and entered through acceptance like a child,(Mk 10:15) spiritual rebirth,(Jn 3:5) and doing the will of God.(Mt 7:21) It is a kingdom that will be inherited by the righteous(1Cor 6:9) and is not the only kingdom.(Lk. 11:18)  When anyone accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, the kingdom of God comes to their hearts. King Jesus drives out all darkness, and rules over them with God's holy love. The kingdom of God comes after death as well as after the judgment of God. Therefore, the kingdom of God is spiritual and it is forever. The kingdom of God is invisible. Yet the kingdom of God is perceived by those who believe in God who is spirit.

What do you think about the kingdom of God? People usually misunderstand the kingdom of God. It is not primarily about living a better life in this world. However, the kingdom of God is not of this world. Primarily it is the spiritual reign of Christ in the lives of people. Jesus taught that sin was our real problem. Jesus came to solve our problem of sin and death. To do so Jesus had to go to Jerusalem and die on the cross. His body was pierced, and he shed his blood. Jesus died for our sins. On the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead and made him the first fruits of eternal life. Jesus came to forgive our sins, heal us, cleanse us and restore the image of God in us. Jesus came to fit us for eternal life with him. The focus of the kingdom is on the world to come. While in this world, we enjoy peace and love in Jesus. At the same time, Jesus allows us to go through hardships and to suffer together with the people of the world to refine our faith and to make us compassionate. He does not want us to get too comfortable in this world, but to long for the world to come.

Therefore, when we suffer in many ways, it is God’s will that makes us lose all worldly hopes and long for his kingdom.   

Ultimately, the message of the kingdom is a message of hope. Jesus promised that he will come again to this world. He will come as the glorious King and Judge of all creation and render a final judgment. He will destroy all evil and unrighteousness. He will throw the devil and his followers into the fiery lake of burning sulfur where they are tormented day and night, and can never again bother God's children. Sin will be totally eradicated. Death will be swallowed up in victory. Those who accepted Jesus as their King will live with him forever in peace and love. Revelation 21:4 says, "There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain." There will be life and love and peace and everlasting rejoicing and praising God. The glory of God will shine forth in all creation without blemish. This is what God wants to do and this is our true hope.

No one knows everything about the kingdom. The most important thing is not how much we know, but stepping out in faith to share what we do know. We must do our best to grow in the knowledge of God and his kingdom. We must not wait until we know everything to begin preaching it. Jesus uses those who share what they know about the kingdom of God by faith. Then we can please God and be a blessing to perishing people in this sin-sick world.

Look at verses 3-5. “He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them.”” In these verses we learn some principles for the mission journey of preaching the kingdom of God.

First, Jesus wants them not to take staff, bag, bread, money, and extra tunic for their mission journey. When we usually go to international conferences, we take a lot of clothes, shoes, and some amount of money and even camera packed in a big luggage and a back pack.  In the course of doing so we can become engrossed in worries and anxiety. We can think too much about our personal comfort and lose spiritual direction. So, Jesus wants us to trust God for everything, depending on God alone, so that we can go on to the mission journey or field on by faith.

Second, Jesus wants them to make a deep relationship with some people. Look at verse 4. “Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.” Even though Jesus’ disciples are supposed to preach the gospel to many people, they are to have a deep fellowship with one family in order that they may become mission coworkers.

Third, Jesus wants them to be strong in faith. 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.” When we are rejected in testifying to the kingdom of God, we are likely to draw back and to lose heart or get upset and fight back. “Oh, man, I should have not talked about Jesus.”  

Then, we might lose our focus and just want to please people, not our Almighty God. Therefore, when we are rejected, we should not be shaken in heart and faith, but shake the dust off our feet as a testimony and stand firm before Jesus our Lord. Our mission is to deliver the message of the kingdom of God with our best, not to change every single one’s heart to turn to God.  

In verses 6-9 we see that the Twelve obeyed what Jesus ordered them to do. They preach the kingdom of God and healed the sick in power and authority. I pray that we may also obey Jesus’ will absolutely so that many people around us may hear the message of the kingdom of God and experience the power of Jesus through our salvation testimony. Look at verses 7-9. “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, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. But Herod said, "I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?" And he tried to see him.”  When Jesus’ disciples worked hard in obedience to the will of Jesus, King Herod, who was full of guilt over his sins of beheading John the Baptist, was shaken and wanted to figure out who Jesus was. When we work hard for the glory of God, God the Almighty God uses us for his salvation work even though we are weak.

In today’s passage, we learn that Jesus wants us to preach the kingdom of God. Jesus wants us to do so not by our own strength but by faith in his power and authority. I pray that all JBF members here may be used in preaching the gospel of Jesus to advance God’s kingdom on earth.