“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” Luke 9:1-2 ESV
Reflection: what is the connection between preaching and healing?
We find in this little section of scripture the very beginning of missions, of spreading the good news – the gospel of Jesus Christ. During his ministry, Jesus sent his disciples out to preach the gospel everywhere they went. And you and I are recipients of faithful men and women throughout the ages, that have carried this message forward.
But let’s stop for a moment today, to look at how it all started. There are a couple of things that might challenge our current way of thinking about missions, and preaching in general. The first thing we see Jesus do is to give the disciples “power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases”. Very interesting. Why would he do that? Why not just tell them to go out and preach the good news? Notice what the instruction from him was,
“to proclaim the kingdom of God,
and to heal.” Proclamation and proof. His kingdom is not just words, it comes in power and with authority. Jesus equipped them ALL with power and authority over demons and to cure diseases. And this wasn’t an isolated incident. We read later as the number of followers grew, “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.” Luke 10:1 ESV. And while it doesn’t explicitly say here that he equipped them, we know he did because of their testimony when they returned,
“The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”” Luke 10:17 ESV
One other point often overlooked is the second part of Jesus instruction, where he said “And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.” Luke 9:3 ESV. Can you imagine the faith this required of the early disciples?
A kingdom that exists in power and authority. If we think for a moment how many of today’s churches have bowed to the authority of governments and rules of this world, even some having become very wealthy from it, it seems to me that there is something fundamentally wrong. Are they truly proclaiming the kingdom of God, a kingdom that exists in power and authority? Or is it another kingdom?
If our argument is that it was different back then, we do read that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 ESV. He has not changed.
Paul writes to the church “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV.
This is the kingdom we proclaim.