The Good News: The Kingdom of God!

This morning I felt like reading from Luke. I love reading from the Gospels, as I can't ever get enough of the life of Jesus. The verses for this morning are Luke 9:1-6, 10-11 NIV:

[1] "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.

[10] 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."

I was struck by a couple of things when reading these passages. First, the theme of their proclamation was the Kingdom of God. This was their message, first and foremost. The rest of the charge given to the twelve was related to proving that the Kingdom of God was actually present through the healing of diseases and driving out all demons. This is a classic proclamation and demonstration model, and one we would be well counseled to follow. If you can't prove what you are saying by demonstration, the acceptance rate by your audience is very low.

Second, it was because Jesus gave them the power and authority to proclaim and prove what they were saying that the twelve were successful. As I read that, I thought about how Jesus would a have given them the power and authority. Based on John 20:22 where Jesus breathed on them and Luke 4:40 where Jesus laid His hands on the people and healed them, I believe that the transference of authority and power was accomplished in this same way. The twelve went out and ministered effectively, and thus were both convinced by the impartation they had received and by the results of their ministry.

I come back to this often, as one would expect that if we are called to continue to represent Jesus' ministry on the earth, called to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the whole world (Mark 16:15-18) then the accompanying signs and proofs would also need to be available to us, as Jesus said they would. If we look at His early ministry, that is exactly what Jesus did - proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, then demonstrate the reality of His proclamation by casting out demons and healing every disease. Here is a description of His early ministry - Matthew 4:17, 23-24 NIV: "From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” [23] Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. [24] News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them."

My prayer is that I, and all the church, would be equipped and empowered to continue this ministry of Jesus, proclaiming the Good News of the present reality of the Kingdom of God, and then demonstrating this reality with the authority and power of The Holy Spirit. Lord, help us to be strengthened and empowered to fulfill Your plan for us. We cannot possibly accomplish this on our own, under our own power. We pray that You would breath on us and give us authority and power and the maturity to represent You correctly. We want to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, and back up that proclamation with proofs.

Amen!