Jesus Ministry spreads (Luke 9:1–9)

I. Introduction

1. Prayers

2. Catch-

3. Review of Luke

We’re getting the rejection of Jesus

Which doesn’t make much sense right now because Jesus is doing so many miracles, there is no reason to assume Jesus would be rjected.

What are some amazing things Jesus is doing?

-He’s had some amazing miracles- healing the sick, Casting out demons and raising the dead

-Also amazing teaching that wow people

Yet, his teaching was very controversial because it would be blasphemy is Jesus wasn’t who He said he was

Luke 6:46–48 ESV

46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

Jesus is saying those who do not build their lives on his words are in danger of great destruction

Today, we see how he sends some out with those explicit instructions

The ways ministry lives should be about Jesus

1. Disciples are dependent on Jesus’ instructions for how to do ministry (1-2)

i. Explanation

Jesus calls the twelve together

We must not assume they were together at all times during Jesus 3 year ministry

Some had families in the area

Others had work

But Jesus gathers the 12 who Luke has called not just disciples, but Apostles

Luke 6:13 ESV

13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:

In verse 2 the word, send is the same word, Apostle

A disciple means a learner, a follower of a rabbinic teacher

an apostle is a person who has been delegated specific authority to represent the one who sends that person on a mission

He gives them power and authority

it is important to notice that they do not earn the right or take it.

Where does it come from in verse 1?

Jesus gives it it to them.. .the word means to give according with good will

This is grace of God to use men He knew would be all kinds of problems

Christopher Ash in his book zeal without Burnout writes

Christopher Ash in Zeal without Burnout

The remedy is to glory much in grace. It is a privilege to be used in ministry; but it is a much greater privilege to be recipients of grace.

Power and authority refer equally to demons and disease

Jesus cast out demons, right?

Luke 6:18 “18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.”

Now they will

Jesus healed sickness, now they will

he sent them to preach

They have the job of God, as Jesus had repeatedly done

Luke 4:43- but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.

Luke 7:28- I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

We’ve talked many times about that the kingdom would be the same as what the people of Israel would have read in places like this Isaiah scroll

Isaiah 2:2–4 ESV

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

The message of Jesus and His apostles was consistent with the teaching of the Old Testament that God would establish His kingdom on earth. Now that the Messiah had appeared, the nation must prepare itself for the King by repenting of their sin and submitting to God’s righteousness.

They would rightly expected the king to setup His kingdom, not knowing that he would be rejected

Matthew gives a little more detail of what jesus instructed them saying:

Matthew 10:5–7 ESV

5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

This only going to Israel would be consistent with an Old Testament understanding of the kingdom

Later, as they wait for the kigndom to come, those same apostles go to the ends of the world

Tradition says Thomas went to India

James went to Spain

They are sent into the surrounding cities now, doing what Jesus did

ii. Illustration- There is nothing more annoying that being told to do as I say, not as I do

I heard that the only good relationships are ones that both parities give, but how can there be any sort of equality with God? Because Jesus gives

Book quotes (Conclusion)

We need churches that call us finally to God. When we follow the example of Jesus, we get the church we need.

iii. Application

1. If Jesus’ ministry was primarily about proclaiming the kingdom of God, how do we keep church ministry about the teaching?

2. If Jesus cared for people by healing and casting out demons, how can we do good works?

But it is important to remember we are all God’s followers but we are sent to different people

As a pastor I am tempted to think that your maturity is connected to how much time you spend here… that the more godly you are, the more churchy you will be. But that misses the point of the church

The church exists to gather the saints for building us all up Then we scatter to do God’s work as a kingdom of priests (1 peter…) This includes your 40+ work job, or your homes, or wherever God calls you to bear each Our doctrine must be able to mean something for your lives or else we are missing something

& we all have to be living out these truths or else we are missing something. But one of the scariest things I heard in seminary from a elder at my church was that christians are not good hires

He has a christian businessman did not like hiring christians because they did not do a good job… they always made excuses for having to prep a bible study or be somewhere else. They did not see that doing their job well was an act of worship.

We must see our work, our home as being sent by God too

But it’s not the instructions, it is the means we go about it

2. Disciples are dependent on Jesus’ provision for how to live (3-5)

i. Jesus asks for some hard expectations

Take nothing along as you walk those roads

No staff

a long stick carried in the hand for support in walking, but also a means of self-defense against robbers and wild animals.

It was also a characteristic trademark of the “wandering” Cynic preachers of that day.

We have a slight challenge here because Mark writes,

Mark 6:8 ESV

8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—

What is different about this passage?

he says have the staff should go, but not other things.. Luke says no staff

Some commentators write

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Faithful Ministers Live Dependently (6:8–9)

Though these passages may initially appear contradictory, they are not. Luke (as well as Matthew) emphasized Jesus’ insistence that the disciples not take anything extra for their journey—whether it be an additional staff or an extra pair of sandals (cf. Matt. 10:10). They were to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, without making any preparations or gathering additional provisions. All they could take with them was what they already had in their possession, including the staff in their hands, the clothes on their backs, and the sandals on their feet. Nothing more was to be taken on the journey.

Others say there is no clear answer.. so I’m not sure

No bag to to hold extra supplies and bedding.

So they would run out soon and have nothing to extra on their back

No bread for eating, so they needed to arrive quicly

No money to pay top get what they need

And no extra tunic to wear if the other got dirty, wet, or if the men needed to use it as a extra blanket

Instead, v 4 tells them to become dependent on others for their daily shelter and food

v4 says to enter into a home and trust in the hospitality of others

Jews commonly opened their homes to travelers, but it seems the disciples do not even have letters of recommendation. They can depend on the hospitality and good-will that is part and parcel of society at the time.

They only are to stay in that one home the entire time they were in that town and then leave it

But when people do not accept them and host them,

Receive means to willing allow the person in

Some people would refuse to hear their message or then host them

This is actually what Jon commands

2 John 10–11 ESV

10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

They did not like the teaching, so they didn’t want anything to do with the teacher

TO host them is to help them spread the message to your neighbors

(I’ve heard some people say they will purposely try to engage with cultists on the street because they’d rather have them talk to them instead of their neigbhors

but this is more like introducing everyone to the door to door salesmen so they can

Thus the response to to shake dust off, which means what according to the verse?

Shaking the dust from their feet seems to be a way of disassociating from the town and rejecting the town as the town has rejected them and their message

Jews to shake dust off their feet was a sign that Gentile territory was unclean

Testimony like giving testimony in court, saying we saw their rejection.

Why would this have made the men depend on God? What are they risking?

They cannot care about anyone will say but if they offend someone, where will they stay, what will they eat?

It is interesting that even in our jobs we are told to serve the lord

Colossians 3:22–24 ESV

22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Notice, who do we expect the reward from?

God

This also implies that rejection is going to be a part of our lives as believ-ers. Not everybody is going to like us, or our message, which flies in the face of most of the pragmatic church models that have been around since the early 1980s, in which being liked (and thus, being attended) is the highest value.

ii. Illustration

How different is this dependence than the corporatized version of missions we may see today, where some missionaries are prepped in boardroom suit-and-tie fundraising techniques.

iii. Application

So, tricky question, but based on the application chart. Do we need to only stay in people’s houses on missions trips today? Why or Why not?

1. What did the text meant to the biblical audience?

2. What are the differences between the biblical audience and us?

3. What is the theological principle in this text?

4. How do these principles you derived from this passage really fit with the rest of Scripture.

5. How should individual christiasn today apply the theological principle in their lives?

Then, after the risk everything and follow by faith… who gets the credit?!

3. Disciples are dependent on Jesus’ name for the credit (6-7)

i. Explanation

This Herod was the son of Herod the great, also known as Antipas

His father died in 4bc and originally had Antipas as the soul heir, but split the kingdom between three of his sons (Archelaus, Philip, and Antipas) and his sister (Salome

Caesar Augustus upheld Herod the Great’s last wishes, and Antipas was made tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea

one more way Luke was the great historian

Remember, this is the guy who killed John the baptist

He divorced his wife and married the wife of his brother

John called it out, saying that was unrighteous, and he had him killed more because Herodias felt insulted than Herod

He recieved reports about the apostles preaching about this Jesus

He already had people close to him who knew and followed Jesus

Luke 8:3 “3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.”

But now he is utterly confused because this movement is growing

So, he asks around and hears different things

He is John back from the dead

He is Elijah the prophet returned

Or prophet like the OT

He knows John is dead

So he asks a question everyone else is

Who is Jesus?

Luke 5:21 “21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?””

Luke 7:20 “20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ””

Luke 7:49 “49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?””

ii. Illustration

Isn’t it interesting that he hears of the disciples, but wants to see Jesus

Too often in a world of celebrity preachers, we want to meet our heroes

But can you imagine seeing a husband seeing a picture of his wife and saying, oh, that is is enough?

We should want to see Jesus get the credit

2 Corinthians 4:5 “5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

iii. Application

What are ways christians can distract people from Jesus to focus on us instead?

How can we make it so that we will “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven?” (Matthew 5:16).

III. Conclusion

IV. Closing prayer