Luke 9:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the way Christ spread his gospel and made its light known and powerful. He had already gone about preaching and healing, but he could be in only one place at a time. So he now sent out his twelve disciples, who had by then been taught well enough to teach others and pass on what they had received from the Lord.

He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God, meaning the reign of the Messiah, now about to be established. They were to explain its spiritual nature and purpose, and to call people to join themselves to it. Since this message was new and surprising, and very different from what the scribes and Pharisees had taught, Christ also gave them power to work miracles (Luke 9:1, 2). He gave them authority over all demons, even the many, the crafty, the violent, and the stubborn. He intended a full overthrow of the kingdom of darkness, so he gave them power over every devil. He also gave them power to cure diseases and heal the sick, which would make their message welcome and help persuade both the mind and the heart.

Christ also directed them how to carry out this mission while they were away for only a short time. First, they were not to worry about impressing people with their outward appearance. Now that they were beginning to work on their own, they were to keep the same plain dress they had worn while following him. They were to go as they were, without changing clothes or even taking an extra pair of shoes.

Second, they were to trust God’s providence and the kindness of their friends for what they needed. They were not to carry bread or money with them, but believe they would not lack anything. Christ did not want his disciples to be too shy about receiving help from those who welcomed them. Still, Paul later saw fit to act differently at times, working with his own hands rather than become a burden.

Third, they were not to keep changing their lodging as if they thought their hosts were tired of them. They had no reason to think that way, because the ark, that is, the symbol of God’s presence, was a guest that always repaid its hosts well. They were to stay in whatever house first received them until they left that city. In this way people would know where to find them, friends would know they were ready to serve, and enemies would know they were neither ashamed nor afraid.

Fourth, they were to speak with authority both to those who received them and to those who rejected them (Luke 9:5). If any place refused to welcome them, and the magistrates would not let them stay, they were to leave. They were not to force themselves on such people or put themselves in danger. At the same time, they were to leave them under God’s judgment by shaking off the dust from their feet as a witness against them. This would stand as evidence that the messengers of the gospel had come among them and offered them grace and peace. If those people later perished in unbelief, their own rejection would leave the blame on their heads.

The disciples did what Christ commanded them. They went out from his presence, though they still had his spiritual presence with them, and his eye and power went with them. They traveled through the towns, each going through the appointed area, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. Their work was the same as their Master’s, doing good to both souls and bodies.

We also see Herod’s confusion and unrest because of this. The fact that Christ could give his power to others, who then acted in his name and by his authority, was a strong proof that he was the Messiah. It showed that he could not only work miracles himself, but could also empower others to do the same. This spread his fame even more, and it made the light of the Sun of righteousness shine more clearly through the reflection of it, even from lowly, untrained men like the apostles, who had nothing to recommend them except that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

When the people saw such men healing the sick in Jesus’ name, it stirred them deeply. They began to make various guesses, and though their thoughts were not right, they still spoke of Jesus with some honor. Some thought he was John the Baptist, who had recently suffered and been killed for God’s cause, brought back to life and rewarded for his suffering. Others thought one of the old prophets, who had suffered long ago in that same cause, had risen again. Others said Elijah had appeared, the prophet taken alive into heaven in a fiery chariot (Luke 9:7, 8).

This also troubled Herod greatly. When he heard all that Christ was doing, his guilty conscience struck him, and he was ready to agree with the crowd that John had risen from the dead. He had thought he was done with John and would never be troubled by him again, but he was wrong. Either John had come back to life, or someone else had come in John’s spirit and power, for God will never leave himself without a witness. Herod asked, “What should I do now? I beheaded John, but who is this? Is he carrying on John’s work, or has he come to avenge John’s death? John baptized, but he does not. John worked no miracles, but this one does, and that makes him seem even more dangerous than John.”

Those who oppose God only become more and more confused. Herod still wanted to see Jesus, whether or not he was like John. Yet he could have easily ended his uncertainty if he had learned what many others knew, that Jesus had been preaching and working miracles long before John was beheaded, so he could not have been John raised from the dead. He wanted to see him, but why did he not go to him? Most likely because he thought it beneath him to go or even send for him. He had had enough of John the Baptist and did not want to deal with any more men who rebuked sin. He wanted to see Jesus, but we do not read that he ever did, until he saw him at his trial, and then he and his soldiers mocked him (Luke 23:11).

If he had followed through on his own convictions and gone to see him then, perhaps a good change might have been worked in him. But by delaying it, his heart grew harder. So when he finally did see him, he was just as biased against him as anyone else.