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Luke 9:1–9
“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” (vv. 4–5).
Each of the four Gospels records Jesus’ performing miracles. It is clear that healing the sick, exorcising demons, and giving other displays of supernatural power were important to our Lord’s mission. Yet Jesus’ earthly ministry focused on His preaching “the good news of the kingdom of God,” because Christ said that God sent Him for that purpose (Luke 4:42–44). Jesus’ preaching mission comes to the forefront in today’s passage, which describes Jesus’ commissioning the twelve disciples “to proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:1–2).
To begin, we will reflect on the incredible fact that the Twelve received the privilege of sharing in our Lord’s work. Jesus never intended that He would be the sole preacher of the gospel of the kingdom, but He delegated some authority and responsibility to others to engage in this task. As God incarnate (John 1:14), Jesus certainly did not need the disciples for this; because of His divine nature, nothing is too difficult for Him (Jer. 32:17). He could have preached to the whole world Himself, for instance. Yet Jesus gave His original disciples the amazing opportunity to take part in the work of announcing salvation to the nations. This privilege is ours today, for Jesus commissioned the church to preach the gospel worldwide (Matt. 28:18–20).
The mission described in today’s passage was particularly urgent, as is evident in Luke 9:3, where the disciples are told not to take various supplies with them on their journey. They had to go out right away and could not take time to gather the items listed but had to trust God to provide for them. Note that in the parallel text of Mark 6:8, Jesus tells the disciples to carry a staff with them, whereas in Luke 9:3, Jesus tells them not to take a staff. The most likely explanation for this difference is that Jesus meant that they were not to carry an extra staff. Mark is correct that they could take one staff with them, and Luke is correct that they were not to go out and acquire another one for their trip but should use only the staff that they already had with them.
During this mission, the disciples were to stay with those who received them and shake the dust off their feet when they left a town that rejected them (Luke 9:4–6). First-century Jews commonly shook the dust off their feet after traveling through pagan areas in order to get rid of any ritual uncleanness they might have acquired in their journey. This symbolically handed over the territory to God’s judgment. By shaking dust off their feet, the disciples conveyed that those who rejected them were unclean and deserved divine wrath.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The church today has no Apostles, but it does have the commission to preach the gospel to all nations (Matt. 28:18–20). All of us are called to be engaged in this task. Some will preach the gospel as ordained ministers of the gospel. Some will go forth as missionaries to other lands. Some will support financially and with prayer those who do go to other places. All of us are to bear witness where God has placed us.
for further study
- Psalm 94:1
- Nahum 1:15
- Matthew 10:5–15
- 2 Timothy 4:1–5
the bible in a year
- 1 Kings 2–3
- Luke 22:39–71