Ups and Downs

Luke 9:1-6

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary C. Preparing the Twelve (9:1–50)

Jesus instructed them to take no provisions on their journey (9:3); rather, they were to accept hospitality from whoever would welcome them (9:4). Those who welcomed Jesus’s kingdom message would welcome his ambassadors, but those who rejected Jesus’s disciples were spurning him and placing themselves in a position of judgment. To shake off the dust of a town from your feet was to separate oneself from those who separated themselves from God (9:5).

The disciples went and did ‘the stuff’ and they were successful (even Judas)

When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”