Luke | Chapter 9

Luke 9:1-6

 “Discovering the Master through ministry”

 

  • Introduction
  • 1-3 No special equipment
  • 4-5 Not going to get but to give
  • 6 No Statistics

 

Introduction

Looking back over all the gospel records to piece together the events of the 9th chapter of Luke it seems as though Luke is closing out of what was Jesus’ Galilean ministry which by and large was where His ministry experienced the greatest amount of public favor and popularity. Jesus over the next 6 months will go to Galilee but He will not stay there. While we aren’t given what immediately preceded the first sending out of the 12 in Luke’s account, we are in Mark’s as he records in 6:1-6 Jesus’ return to Nazareth to which the 5th verse says, “He could do no mighty works because of their unbelief”. Jesus pointed out in Mark 6:4 the reason for this as the villagers held a prejudicial evaluation because of their own fallen nature. Here where people unable and unwilling to recognize Jesus even when they were the most familiar and acquainted with Him. With all three of these accounts:

  • Jairus
  • The woman with the issue of blood
  • And Jesus interaction with His hometown of Nazareth

Each had to get beyond their limited view of the person and work of Jesus. The need is to recognize not only who He is with regard to His abilities but we also who He is with regard to His character and willingness! Had Nazareth just come to Him broken, humbled, recognizing that even though they had defamed Him and His family, He would do mighty works among them! It is this context that sets up the sending out of the 12 who became the first missionaries sent out to represent Jesus and for this reason alone should hold our interest as it appears in 3 out of the 4 gospels:

  • Matthew 9:35 – 11:1
  • Mark 6:6-13
  • Luke 9:1-6

The story in its fullest  understanding can be seen in three parts that continue to verse 17:

  • 1-5 The disciples sending out
  • 6-9 The work they did and what the world did
  • 10-17 Their return and the things that happened in connection to that return

From their appointment to be His disciples until now they have been with Jesus. During this time, they knew that they were being prepared to be sent away from Jesus to do His work. They had observed Him; His methods, His words, His authority and power. They had taken note of not only His ability over every human affliction but the compassion with which He handled each and every person as if they were the single most important person He had ever met. They had witnessed how he dealt with crowds, and opposition.

They were present during the two visits to Jesus’ home village of Nazareth where His work was paralyzed by unbelief. The time had now come for them to be His apostles sent away, His ambassadors, saying the things He had been saying, doing the things He had been doing. Skip ahead to any of the accounts such as Mark 6:30-32 where Mark records how the first mission experience went and it’s very revealing by what we DON’T FIND:

  • No specifics given in the report
  • No details of where they had gone, what people they had encountered or specific victories won in His name.

In fact, none of the gospels, including Mark, say anything other than what we are told in Mark 6:30 that they, “told Him ALL THINGS, both what they had done and what they had taught.” What seems to have caught the attention of Peter who communicated this to Mark was NOT what they had done and said while they were out but rather the care of Christ for them on their return! This may be the single most important point of their time away from the Master doing ministry:

  • As wonderful as it is to fulfill our calling in service, it pales in comparison to being in His presence and experiencing His personal love and care for us! I suggest to you that this may very well be the purpose and goal of our service. Only a few days earlier after their experience on the Sea of Galilee they had asked “Who can this be?” The passage before us is driven by the disciple’s continual exploration of that question.

 

Vs. 1-3 No special equipment

 

Vs. 1 Mark 6:7 is a bit clearer and gives us four principals of ministry:

  • 1a Luke 9:1 just records for us that Jesus called the disciples together. Whereas Mark 6:7 says that “He called the twelve to Himself”. The first principal is that Ministry is first and foremost about discovering Who Jesus is! Notice that Jesus’ first move in sending them out was to “call them to Himself”. What we learn by Jesus sending the 12 out is that you can best find the answer of who Jesus is in SERVING rather than in the common method in most churches, SITTING. There is a place for observation in discovery but to truly learn you will need to lace up your sandals and get to work. Jesus was a strong proponent of, “On the job training”. Jesus demonstrated this by action that through service they would encounter Him in a way that merely sitting and watching with Him would never be able to reveal. We followers of Christ were never designed to be spectators, instead we were called to be participants. Saints if you are not “Growing”, the antidote is you will need to get up and get “GOING!”

 

  • Luke 9:1 doesn’t record what we are told in Mark 6:7b as there we are told that He “began to send them out two by two”: The word “send” here is the same word where we get our English word “apostle” from. It means a person sent out on a special commission to represent another, accomplishing His work and purpose on His behalf. Solomon wrote in Ecc.4:9 “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.”  What this reveals is that ministry is done in unity with others not in isolation. Our further discovery of Jesus is a group activity and Jesus paired up the 12. Although we are not told who Jesus paired together in Mark’s account you will find it in Matthew’s account of 10:1-42. There we read that:
    • Peter and his brother Andrew were placed together
    • John and his brother James were together
    • Philip and Bartholomew
    • Thomas and Matthew
    • James and Thaddaeus
    • lastly we have the odd pairing of Simon the Zealot with Judas Iscariot.

What’s amazing in the last pairing is they also received power and authority in the name of Jesus to do His work. This fact reveals that just because a work is done in the name of Jesus, under His authority and even accomplishes what it is supposed to doesn’t necessarily legitimize the instrument that has been used.

  • 1c “gave them power”:This also recorded for us in Mark 6:7 and what we note is that ministry is primarily about connection with Jesus and His power. The words “gave them power” in the Greek is in the imperfect tense which means that He “kept on giving them power” throughout the mission He sent them on. The word for “power” is a word that means “delegated authority”. These 12 possessed the authority to command demons to leave and lives to be restored in God’s power who had commissioned them. I am not saying that these 12 didn’t have attributes and talents to go along with education and life experiences, what I am saying is that their effectiveness was about connection to Jesus’ power and all the above traits. The quicker we understand this and the more reliant upon this the more effective we become in what He has called us to.

 

  • 1d “over demons” or as Mark 6:7 calls them “unclean spirits”. Based upon Mark 6:13 we know that this ministry wasn’t exclusively geared to power and authority over “unclean spirits”, but Mark specifically mentions this one element in the 7th verse. This was something that caused the 70 disciples that were sent out in Judea particular amazement upon their return in Luke 10:17 as they mention that “even the demons are subject to us in Your name”. Another great principal about ministry is: When we are doing what Jesus has called us to do, in His power NOTHING is difficult.

There is polarity in ministry as it relates to Jesus: John 15:5, “Apart from Jesus we can do nothing,” and Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. As long as we are on the Philippians 4:13 side of the equation we have nothing to fear! They learned that “This Jesus” had no equal and there was nothing they could ever encounter outside of His power and authority. This power and authority is provisional because it is a given as opposed to Jesus’ universal power and authority. What confidence we can have over any and every entrenched evil or stronghold when we are acting upon His given authority.

  • 3 as well as Mark 6:8-9 “He said to them, take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor a bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics..” Mark records essentially the same thing with the exception of Mark says, “except a staff” which seems to me is that they didn’t forbid it but didn’t require it either. What we learn from this is that Jesus told them that they already had everything they needed for the job and they wouldn’t need “special equipment”. They didn’t need “extra baggage” that would slow them down and cause unwanted delays. Jesus wanted them to operate in the balance of having what they needed for the task, but still having to trust Him for their needs! It seems to me that the principle Jesus is teaching His disciples is that their greatest provision is total dependency upon Him. Total dependency is not opposed to planning and provisions and in fact they can be a sign that you are totally dependent. What we need the most in ministry is simple, JESUS! Lack of preparation is never a sign of inspiration, but it very well may be a sign of insubordination!

 

Vs. 4-5 Not going to get but to give

 

Hospitality was a sacred duty in Eastern culture. It was never the responsibility of the stranger to seek it out but the duty of the village to offer it. So Jesus told them that if any village should refuse hospitality towards them then they should treat them as if they were a gentile house and not have fellowship with them.

  • Vs. 4-5 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from their depart….” Any stranger could expect to be taken care of and entertained when they came into a town or village, there were no hotels in those days, so Jesus tells them that they were to utilize cultural hospitality as a means as a place to stay but the difference was that they were going to give more than they were to receive. Clothed in His power and authority they were to stay and be a blessing for the time they were in the village. They were not to be beggars, or solicitors seeking funds for their mission. They were going out to GIVE, not to GET!

The principle they were to learn is that if they are out in Jesus’ power and authority, ministry is about giving and not getting and only then is it worthy of support! They were instructed when leaving a village, where they didn’t receive it they were to leave in a way that expressed sorrow by shaking the dust off their feet, indicating that this village would not receive the blessings that they had been sent to give. Rabbinical law required that when a man entered the temple courts, he must take off staff, sandals and money belt and it appears that Jesus was suggesting that their entrance into the simple homes of villagers should be treated with such reverence as they would approach the temple.

 

Vs. 6 No Statistics

 

The meaning of these words in the Greek doesn’t mean that they proclaimed or told people to repent but rather that they preached in such a way that it produced repentance.

Vs. 6 “So they went out and preached that people should repent.” Jesus told them that as they went from village to village they would encounter two different groups: Those that would offer hospitality and those that would offer hostility, those that they would consider friends and those that would consider them as enemies and they were to minister and be a blessing to both! They were to stay at the house that offered them hospitality and be their servants and not expect to be the household’s pampered guests. The last principal they learned about Jesus was that His message and method was about truth and transformation.

They had been sent in His power and authority to bless the village, and the blessing was that they can only experience the blessings of God by turning away from the things that hindered them receiving the blessings. It is the “Goodness of God that leads to repentance”. People will never let go of the life they have until they become convinced that it is keeping them from enjoying something far better. That was the message Jesus wanted them to convey to the villages they were sent to. That is always the problem with sin, it keeps us from experiencing and enjoying the gifts God so desires to lavish upon us!

I again notice that no stats were taken, no numbers were recorded on how many were saved, how many were delivered from demons or how many healed from various diseases. Success was not to be measured by numbers but rather in obedience to which was seen in that Jesus received all glory and honor.

 

Luke 9:7-9

 “The terror of goodness”

 

  • Introduction
  • Luke 9:7-8, Mark 6:14-15 Three views of Jesus
  • Luke 9:9 Mark 6:16-18 The terror of goodness
  • Mark 6:19-29 A sinner’s conscious

 

Introduction

We left off in Luke 9:6 with the 12 disciples leaving to minister to unmentioned towns and people. As far as Luke’s record is concerned he only mentions the primary aspects of their ministry which was proclaiming the gospel and healing, while purposefully neglecting the specifics of this twofold ministry until the 10th verse where we are informed that, “when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.” Mark is a bit more specific in 6:30 where he records, “The apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.” The word “preaching” in verse 6 is where we get our word herald from and it is a verb. It is always used of a representative of a king who delivers a message with the authority of the king.

The business of a herald is NOT to share their opinions, difficulties or ideas. There are two generalities that we need to look at first:

  • First I think it is important to note, as I mentioned last week, that there were no statistics taken. We know this first by the fact that there are none reported in any of the gospel accounts. Second, we are told that the report of both what they had done and said was only given to Jesus. There was no report published, they didn’t have an engraved sign that offered how many conversions, baptisms or healings that had taken place. They didn’t send reports to the deacon board or mission agency. I cannot underscore the importance of this enough, as this insured that the instruments received no recognition nor glory and instead they were only seen as servants carrying out the King’s purposes in His power and authority.
  • The second thing I notice is how that truth affects the magnitude of our understanding when we move to the text today. You see when we examine Matthew’s account in 11:1 we read that, “When Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.” In essence the gospel record issues the proof of this in the reaction of Herod the tetrarch. The work was visible to the degree that it was even discussed at the highest levels of government, yet the general effect was that Jesus’ ministry through the 12 disciples that were paired made it seem as though He was everywhere at once all because the emphasis was upon what Jesus said and did and not the servants that He had sent out! The context is brought out in Matthew 14:1-2 were we are given the tie-in, “At that time…” At what time? At the time when Nazareth was refusing to obey what they heard and saw, Herod the tetrarch was missing applying what he heard and saw.

This section starts out with Herod’s reaction to what was being said about Jesus and then moves to a flashback in time to explain why he reacted so. That “flashback” isn’t to be found in Luke’s record instead we only note Herod’s confession in verse 9. I believe that it is best that we cover this more fully and will do so be looking at Mark 6:14-29 as he records the flashback. As we shall note, Herod’s response is a superstitious confession in regard to Jesus’ ministry and fails to realize that “You cannot murder truth; you can only temporarily silence the voice that utters it.”

 

  Luke 9:7-8, Mark 6:14-15 Three views of Jesus

 

These first two verses reveal two separate and important truths:

  • First though not immediately apparent in the text is the fact that John the Baptist’s beheading took place right at the same time Jesus sent His disciples out. I believe Mark and the other gospel writers deliberately place it after the sending out of the 12 and prior to their return in verse 30-34 to indicate two things about their time away from Jesus:

 

  • That the timingof their departure coincided with John the Baptist’s death and as such indicates the concern Jesus had for His disciples. It seems that He wanted to get them away from Himself and the boldness of the opposition created by the execution of John.

 

  • Secondly, as I pointed out above, I believe that this indicates the successful priority of the disciple’s ministry while they were out. Verse 14 says that King Herod, with a guilty conscience, had “Heard of Jesus for His name had become well known.” Prior to these disciples being sent out Jesus’ ministry had been localized to wherever He was, but when paired up Jesus was suddenly everywhere. I think this accounts for Herod’s paranoia as he was hearing about Jesus being everywhere in dozens of places simultaneously. What stands out is that Herod had not been hearing about the disciples, he had been hearing about Jesus! Successful ministry begins and ends with everybody talking about Jesus and nobody talking about the church! 
  • There is another thing that caught my attention as it relates to King Herod and that is that he attributed the miracles of Jesus to John and made the assessment that Jesus was John who had risen from the dead. That statement is remarkable for two reasons:
  • Herod was an Edomite (a descendant of Esau) and aligned himself with the Sadducees who we know didn’t believe in the resurrection or any supernatural work for that matter. Yet because of His guilt conscious at being complicit in John’s death his theology has changed.
  • It is also remarkable as according to John’s gospel chapter 10:41, “John performed no SIGN!” Again I believe that it indicates the level of guilt and paranoia that King Herod had.

Vs. 8 The second thing this section points out is that with all the work and words that Jesus had done for well over a year people still had a hard time equating the work specifically to Jesus which would have been essential in making the distinction that this must be God. Instead they concluded that Jesus was doing this as: “The risen John the Baptist, Elijah, The prophet, or like one of the prophets.” While the news of Jesus’ year-long ministry had penetrated the Galilean palace in Tiberias and the ears of Herod Antipas, it is of note that this is one of the few cities that Jesus had never set foot in that region. There were three opinions about Jesus voiced here and each of them reveal the heart of the people that held the view:

  • John the Baptistrose from the dead: This is the verdict of a guilty conscience as Herod had allowed an innocent man to be executed and was now haunted by what he had done. The truth this reveals is that no person can avoid the greatest horror we will ever face, living with ourselves!
  • It is Elijah: This was the verdict of the hopeful nationalist waiting for a man who would have the power and authority to overthrow the Roman occupation. Oddly enough the disciples and even John the Baptist fell into this category at times. It was a commonly held belief that before the Messiah would come Elijah the greatest of the miracle working prophets would come and pave the way. To this day the Jews leave a chair open with a glass of wine at Passover then they go and open the door that Elijah may come through announcing the Messiah has come to take His place at the table. This nationalist view is of a person who wants the Messiah to come and make things right (nationally or personally) but NOT a person who they will have to obey and submit to.
  • It is the prophet, or like one of the prophets: This is the verdict of the person longing to hear from God. For three hundred years there had not been one word from God through the prophets and there were some who thought that Jesus was that voice. The people had grown tired of the vain arguments of the Rabbis, they longed for the “Thus says the Lord”, of authority and when Jesus spoke they heard it. But Jesus was far more than “A” word from God, He was “THE” word “OF” God! And with His words was the power and authority that would cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that He is God.

Elijah was good, the prophets were good and John the Baptist was good; but none of them was good enough to account for Jesus. He is not just the best among men but better than all men combined. What a tragedy it is when people try to explain Jesus away! In many a person’s view Jesus can be a good man, a teacher, a prophet and even savior but He must not be Lord God who died for my sins. The best among men is but dim lights and can only be powered by His glory when compared to the Light Of The World.

 

Luke 9:9 Mark 6:16-18 The terror of goodness

 

Here we are introduced to the three primary characters in our story:

  • Herod was a walking contradiction:Herod the Great (who following the birth of Jesus ordered the deaths of all males 2 years old and under in Bethlehem) had married 5 different wives and had children with each of them, he was known for putting to death anyone whom he thought would threaten his throne, including his own wives and children. It was said that it was safer to be a pig than one of his children. After his death his children married each other or their cousins. When he died he divided his kingdom among his three surviving sons and Antipas was given the region of Perea and Galilee where most of Jesus’ ministry was happening. The Herod in this story (Herod Antipas) married his niece, Herodias, who had been the wife of his ½ brother, Philip who also had a half-brother named Philip. As a practicing Jew it was unlawful for him to do so according to the law of Moses in Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21.

Herod was a source of national embarrassment. Mark calls Herod Antipas a king as that is what his Roman readers would have recognized him as but in reality he was only a tetrarch which was a ruler of a quarter part of a nation. An odd mixture of a man who at the same time could love sin and desire virtue, could long to hear truth but dread the words he heard and could imprison and condemn a man to die who he longed to set free and listen to. He was a slave to impulse as he acted without reason and forethought. A reckless man, a danger to himself and others!

Herodias wanted to eliminate the one man who had the courage and care to confront her about her sin: She wanted to do as she liked without anyone reminding her that we are all slaves and our only differences lie in who the master is. She concocted a plan to murder John so that she may live in peace instead of listening to John and obey that she may truly be at peace. She believed that in killing John she could silence the voice but failed to realize that she still would have to meet the One whom John spoke about! John the Baptist’s death was not the end of his ministry to Herod and Herodias as his voice continued to speak even after they killed him.

There is no way Herodias or anyone can silence the truth because you can never cut us off from our head, Jesus! Those who martyr the witness do far more harm to themselves than they do to the saint. All they do to us is send us home to our Lord, they remain ruined on earth. The persecution of Christians is the least productive activity the world can ever be engaged in as it only blesses the believer and causes more to come forward.

  • John the Baptist was a man of great courage and care: He was a miracle child, and from the lips of Jesus in Matthew 11:11, “Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist”.  John had made the cardinal sin as far as Herodias was concerned of publicly rebuking such behavior. You can always tell when a society has declined to the point of being reprobate: When they conclude that criticism about abominable behavior is a greater crime than the behavior. To John the imprisonment in a dungeon must have been like a room in the palace as he had lived life in the wild Judean desert with locust as his meat. He lived for truth and died for truth and no man was his master! And while John the Baptist took issue with Herod’s sin the religious leaders said nothing.

 

Mark 6:19-29 A sinner’s conscious

 

Mark 6:19-29 Chronologically verses 17-29 precedes verses 14-16. The ghastly crime of Herodias’ hate filled murder of a just man is recorded. John the Baptist had exposed her sin and her husband or uncles’ weakness. Mark tells us that Herod didn’t share the same hatred of John and in fact he seems to at least have an interest in what John had to say. The location of this event took place in Herod’s place in Machaerus 15 miles on the east side of the Dead Sea in modern day Jordan. Herodias had been waiting for an opportunity to exploit her husband’s weakness to execute John the Baptist, and the time came at a party. All the dignitaries had come for his birthday bash and Herodias sent out her teenage daughter Salome to do a seductive dance that aroused Herod to the point where he made an oath to her in front of his invited guests promising her whatever she wanted up to half his kingdom.

The Jews would never have permitted a woman to dance seductively before a group of men and even most gentile mothers would have forbidden a daughter to do this but to Herodias her daughter Salome was part of her wicked plan to seduce her husband to do what she wanted and murder John. Herod was faced with breaking many oaths as he had apparently repeatedly declared his desire to reward the girl for her seductive dance. Salome went and asked her mother who told her the head of John the Baptist and half of his kingdom was not his to give. It belonged to the Roman government who put him in charge and had no value when offered by a drunken despot.

But the savage hate of the inbred Herodias knew no bounds as she would sacrifice her husband and her daughter to accomplish her murder. She valued John’s head as half the kingdom, but it was worth far more than that. The sad truth is Herod respected John, feared his words, recognized the righteousness of God displayed in his life but in the end was a slave to his own vile passions, imprisoned by his own immorality. No person can regulate their own sin to fit their convenience; sin is never the servant and always the master! On the slippery slope of evil and sin there always comes a time when the brakes will no longer work, and Herod had hit that time. How strange is a sinner’s conscience: The last of the Hebrew prophets was murdered because He spoke the truth.

 

And Herod felt obligated to exercise his morality:

  • Not in obeying the laws with regard to marrying his niece, the wife of his half brother
  • Not in never being a part of murdering a righteous man
  • But ONLY in keeping his drunken depraved oath to a teenage girl who danced sexually pleasing his flesh

Doing what is wrong even when we promise to do so is never morally binding, it was wrong for him to make it, and it was far worse when he chose to keep it. Actions make kings not crowns, parliaments or subjects and in this case the true king was executed by the prisoner! It is better to be true than to be consistent, it was Herod’s consistency that trapped him and enslaved him. In Luke 23:6-12 we will again meet up with Herod Antipas when he tries Jesus with the hope to see a miracle. But Jesus would not even speak to this murderer and adulterer and in Luke 13:31-35 calls him a fox, a description of a swindler. In A.D. 39 Herod Agrippa, his nephew denounced his uncle to the Roman emperor and Antipas was deposed and sent into exile.