The Sending Son

Introduction

John 20:21 RSV

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”

Main Text

Luke 9:1–6 ESV

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. And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Whom Jesus Sends, He Empowers

Whom he calls, he empowers - God doesn’t send us out powerless. We are clothed in his power. We are empowered by His Spirit. This tells us a few things in this passage:

Our power is not our own. We do not accomplish anything for God on our own strength. We are powerless until we are empowered by Him. If I try to do it in my own strength…

He doesn’t send us out without empowering us first. God has already given you a spiritual gift to use for his service. He anoints those whom serve Him with His Holy Spirit. That always comes before the sending. Have you been anointed by the Holy Spirit?

Why Are We Empowered? I think he empowers us to call us to do things we cannot do in the flesh. If you can do it naturally, if you can do it on your own accord, you can claim glory for it. So God calls us to do things that we are not able to do on our own, so that HE can get the glory.

How Are we empowered?

Prayer - Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He modeled a rhythm of prayer that included silence and solitude before ministering to the multitudes. Jesus showed them how to pray and taught them to trust God for their empowerment.

The Holy Spirit - In prayer, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers the disciples. In fact we see the disciples empowered again very vividly in the Book of Acts. Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

So as the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we are empowered by Him. We are empowered as witnesses, just as the disciples were. We are empowered to share the good news to the world.

We must be careful not to quench or grieve the Spirit. We do that by

Whom He Sends Has Purpose

A message and healing

Whom Jesus Sends, He Gives Authority

Jesus calls us and gives us His Authority. The idea Jesus is presenting here is that when you are sent out by the Son, you are sent with the Son’s authority.

Jesus had authority over demons and diseases and then he transfers that authority to the Twelve. When he sends them out, they are given the same authority He has.

This is called being an ambassador. When Jesus sends us out, we are ambassadors for Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

An ambassador is the representative of the kingdom who sent him. In other words, when people see you, they are looking at the kingdom of God. You represent Jesus and his kingdom to the world.

There is an authority in being an ambassador, but the authority is not based on who you are, but based on WHO HE IS!

Whom Jesus Sends, He Supplies

Jesus Tells His Disciples Not To Supply Their Own Needs. When we say this is a walk of faith, we mean it’s a walk of faith. Jesus expects us to GO by example. We must have faith in Him and His ability to supply our needs.

We cannot do what looks right on the outside. We must do as he tells us. It would have been smart for the disciples to bring a staff or bread or money, but Jesus tells them not to. Who will they trust, Jesus or their own intuition.

Walking with Jesus requires trust.

Jesus knows our needs. He lists out all of the possible needs his followers might have, a place to sleep, food, money for expenditures. He knows what we need. He is not surprised by our needs. If you are going to GO for Him, you must realize he knows what you need better than you do.

Jesus

Whom Jesus Sends, Will Be Rejected

Decision