The Message and Its Miracles

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.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him (Luke 9:1–9).[1]

Luke tells us that Jesus sent out the twelve, referring to the disciples he named apostles.[2] To say he sent out his apostles is an inconspicuous redundancy, because the word we translate “apostle,” means “one who is sent forth.”[3] Of course, in the case of an apostle of Christ, the title became an office as well as a description of messengers given “power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases” and sent out “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal” (Luke 9:1-2).

This is the first record we have of the apostles ministering as Jesus did, which tells us less about the apostles and more about the bestowing of Jesus’s power and authority, which is all the more intriguing considering one of the twelve was Judas Iscariot. But called, commissioned, and sent they were, for the purpose of carrying a message, the good news of the kingdom of God. And while the substance of their message and its miracles were specific to their context, we (though not apostles) may glean from God’s work in and through them, starting first with the message they carried.

The Message Carried

Given the power and authority granted, we may be sure that the message the apostles were commissioned to proclaim was of the utmost importance. They were to “proclaim the kingdom of God” and were “preaching the gospel” (9:2, 6), Luke tells us. The two expressions are used interchangeably here, as they are elsewhere in Scripture, often combined into one. For example, when Jesus began ministering throughout Judea, he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43a).

To “preach the good news” is actually one Greek verb (euangelizō), which means “to preach or proclaim the good news or the gospel,” or summarily “to evangelize.” The verb originally meant “to bring or announce good news,”[4] typically in the context of a military victory, but early in the New Testament it is used in connection with “the kingdom of God,” or what Matthew calls “the kingdom of heaven.” But, what does it mean?  And why is it good news worth proclaiming? In general, “the kingdom of God,” refers to God’s eternal and sovereign rule over all. However, when John the Baptist began preaching in the wilderness, he cried out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). Jesus used similar language, describing the kingdom of God as coming “near” (Luke 10:11) and coming “upon you” (Luke 11:20). But if the kingdom of God in his rule is over all, how could it be referred to as something “at hand,” “near,” or coming “upon you”?

To help us understand this, there are at least two things we need to know. First, during Jesus’ earthly life, there was a heightened awareness and anticipation of the fulfillment of the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, his ascendancy to David’s throne in Jerusalem, and the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. So powerful was this cultural motif that even after Jesus’ resurrection and shortly before his ascendancy, his apostles asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Can you imagine? After everything he taught and told them, after everything they experienced, just minutes before his heavenly ascension, they were still holding to their culturally-informed expectations. Rather than exasperated at their lack of understanding, Jesus patiently explained, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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” (Acts 1:7-8). Note that Jesus did not contradict their expectation of a literal, physical kingdom to come but the timing of when it would come and how it would come, through the witness (or message) they would carry to their neighbors and the nations, even to “the end of the earth.”

This then leads to the second thing we need to know. We must distinguish between the kingdom’s inauguration and its consummation. While we will one day literally, physically inhabit the kingdom of God in the new heavens and earth, that day has not yet come and will not come until Christ’s second advent. And while we await that day with anticipation, the kingdom of God has already been inaugurated through Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The kingdom of God then has already come but has not yet come in its final fulfillment. All who savingly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ become citizens of the kingdom of God already, but the consummation of the kingdom yet awaits us.  

So, when Jesus sent out his apostles with “power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,” it served as a physical depiction of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Through the gospel, the devil is defeated, and servants of Satan become citizens of the kingdom of God. Think about it: Every demon the apostles cast out, by Christ’s power and authority, was a picture of the victory of the gospel in the hearts and minds of all who believe. Likewise, every disease that the apostles cured, by Christ’s power and authority, was a picture of the life-giving power of the gospel and the freedom from sin and disease we will all know one day in the eternal kingdom. And these miracles reinforced the kingdom message they carried to the children of Israel, of a kingdom to come without sorrow, without sickness, without Satan, where Christ the King reigns forever.

The Message Received

In mobilizing his apostles, Jesus gave simple packing instructions: “Take nothing.” Nothing! No extra tunic or staff, or a bag, or food, or money. It would have been a very short trip for most of us. But it would be only momentary minimalism, as Jesus would later tell his disciples, “[L]et the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:36). The explanation of their packing in this case was based on where they were going, to the villages and into the homes of the children of Israel, where the apostles were instructed to enter, stay, and depart. It was a mission of utter dependence upon God’s provision through the hospitality of those to whom they were sent.

Different from our modern age, in first century Israel, temporary lodging was culturally customary. After a long day preaching and working miracles, the apostles would retire to the homes of the previously unknown, in which, I would imagine, meaningful dialogue would develop from surface-level to substance. And in those moments, each apostle could share why they had come and by whom they were sent. They would tell them about Jesus.

Of course, I want to be careful not to interpret too much of this into our own context, and certainly description is not always prescription. But we don’t have to live this out literally to glean the principle of engaging with others in utter dependence upon the Lord’s provision. Sadly, we have so successfully insulated ourselves from intimate interaction with other people that it would be difficult for us to imagine what this would be like today. But we must eclose ourselves from the cocoons of our modern making if our neighbors are to hear the gospel. And we must unplug the devices of our distraction and respectfully engage, not behind a screen or through a keyboard but with real, local people, many of whom we may not know yet, others we may know well, like our own children. “It’s time for adults to grow up,” Rebecca Skabelund advises, “It’s time to give the kids a better life script, to give them something more to aspire to than slumping over a screen for the rest of their lives.”[5] Let that “something more” be the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Think about it: Many of you sitting here today came to faith by way of someone else personally telling you about Jesus. Perhaps it was a parent or a grandparent, or maybe through conversations with a friend. Whatever the case, someone cared enough about you to personally tell you the good news. You and I are called to do the same, remembering that some of us will plant like Paul and other water like Apollos, but God gives the growth.[6]

The Message Rejected

Not everyone was, however, receptive to the message the apostles carried. Maybe watching the demons depart was too freaky.Maybe they were skeptical of the sicknesses cured. Or, maybe the good news of the kingdom of God wasn’t good enough. We don’t know, but this we do: Jesus sent his apostles out prepared for rejection, saying, “wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them” (Luke 9:5).

Rejecting the messenger and his message was more than bad manners; it was a rejection of the good news of the kingdom of God given to his covenant people, a message sent by the Messiah himself. To reject Christ’s apostle was to reject the one who sent him out. In response, the apostles were to provide a public rebuke for their rejection, shaking off the dust from their feet (which sounds less like a rebuke and more like hygiene). But one commentator explains that this was a practice likely derived from “a rabbinic idea that the dust of Gentile lands carried defilement, and strict Jews are said to have removed it from their shoes whenever they returned to Palestine from abroad. The disciples’ shaking off the dust of their feet . . . declared in symbol that Israelites who rejected the kingdom were no better than Gentiles. They did not belong to the people of God.”[7] Shaking the dust from their feet said to the heir of the kingdom of Israel that they were not citizens of the kingdom of God. It was a powerful sign indeed.

It was also contextual, sending a message to ethnic Israel. In seeking to share the gospel, we do not shake the dust off our feet and walk away, but we must realize that while we may be faithful to share the gospel, not everyone will believe it. The gospel then is not only the means to the miracle of spiritual life in Christ, but also a clarification of whose we are, as children of God. Those predestined unto life hear the gospel and rejoice in the goodness of God’s salvation. Others hear it and are indifferent; some become indignant; and a few become intrigued. Herod the tetrarch was among the latter.

While he had seemingly silenced the preaching of John the Baptist by cutting off his head, he was now hearing of another, Jesus of Nazareth. Rumors included Jesus was the resurrected John the Baptist, or the reincarnation of Elijah or another prophet of old. What Herod actually believed we don’t know, but he’d heard enough; he wanted to see Jesus. But as we will learn later in Luke, Herod’s interest waned once he met Jesus. He who was once intrigued became unamused. Herod is not alone. Some are intrigued by Jesus and may even admire him. But that is not the same as faith. The apostle John tells us, “[Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (1 John 1:10-12). Rather than reject, we receive Jesus by faith, and through this faith he grants us the right to be his child. Have you received him and believed in his name? If not, believe this very moment. If so, then rejoice, as a child of God, “for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16).

[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).

[2] Luke 6:13

[3] https://biblehub.com/greek/652.htm

[4] https://biblehub.com/greek/2097.htm

[5] https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2025/04/an-inside-job/

[6] 1 Cor. 3:6

[7] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to St. Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, quoted in Philip Graham Ryken, Luke, Vol. 1 (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2009), 428-429.