Luke

9:1-10

The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50

6. The children of the Messiah, 9:1-50

i] Mission of the twelve

Jesus now sends the twelve on a mission to proclaim the coming kingdom, both in word and sign. Before sending them out, Jesus gives them some basic instructions. The disciples must rely, not on the stuff of this age, but on divine power and authority bestowed on them by Jesus. If they are rejected, then they must move on, leaving those who rejected them with a sign of judgment.

The business of discipleship is the communication of the gospel.

i] Context: See 1:5-25. The six episodes found in the section of Luke's gospel The kingdom dawns in the children of the Messiah, 9:1-50, align with Mark's synoptic tradition and follow his sequence of events, although with some logical shifts, eg., the record of John the Baptist's death. These episodes serve to draw to an end Jesus' Galilean mission. Note though, that Luke ignores all of the material recorded by Mark between the feeding of the five thousand and Peter's confession, Mk.6:45-8:26 - explanations abound! Following the structure of Luke proposed by Ellis, this section of Luke's gospel serves as the last unit of six episodes under the major head The mission / acts of Messiah, 1:5-9:50. Ellis titles these episodes The Confirmation and Rejection of His Mission. Although a cohesive unit, it is difficult to observe a unifying theme in the six episodes, but they do certainly reveal more of Jesus' messiahship and thus serve to expand our understanding of messiah's kingdom, and they reveal something of a disciple's part in the realisation of Messiah's kingdom. To this end our title for these six episodes is The kingdom dawns in the children of the Messiah.

In the first episode, 9:1-10, Messiah's children are set to work for the kingdom, and this inevitably prompts questions as to the identity of Jesus - a resurrected John the Baptist, Elijah revisited, a prophet? The messiah's identity is further revealed in the following episodes. In the feeding of the five thousand, the Messiah's children are gathered and fed, and we are introduced to Jesus' real identity, the prophet like unto Moses, v11-17, while in the confession of Peter, we witness the foundation upon which Messiah's children stand, and are confronted by God's messiah in the terms of Isaiah's suffering servant, v18-27, a fact confirmed in the transfiguration, v28-36. So Jesus, the new Moses, establishes the new Israel; he, the Suffering Servant, establishes the new servant people of God, Messiah's children. In the concluding episodes, we are reminded that membership of the kingdom rests on faith, v37-45, a faith which issues in humble service, v46-50.

ii] Structure: The mission of the twelve:

iii] Interpretation:

iv] Synoptics:

v] Exposition: A simple exposition of this passage may be found in the linked pew-level Sermon Notes.

The mission of the twelve, v1-6: i] The mission: a) The commission, v1-2. Jesus now sets about preparing and authorising his apostles for mission. Their task is to proclaim the news concerning God's coming kingdom. God is about to establish his eternal reign in and through the person of Jesus, so now is the time to repent and believe and become a full member of God's covenant community. To enable the apostles to communicate this news, Jesus equips them with the power and authority to proclaim the words and perform the signs. The words consist of the euaggelion, "important news, message = gospel", concerning the coming kingdom of God, and the signs consist of powerful exhibitions of the kingdom's realisation / inauguration. The prophets foretold that these signs would herald the coming kingdom, so both word and sign proclaim that the kingdom is at hand.

de "-" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the narrative.

sugkalesamenoV (sugkalew) aor. part. "when Jesus had called [the twelve] together" - having called together, summoned. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "to give"; "he called the twelve together and gave them power", ESV. Also often treated as adverbial, temporal, as NIV. So, Jesus calls the disciples together to commission them prior to sending them out on mission.

touV dwdeka "the twelve" - the twelve. Accusative direct object of the participle "having called together." Clearly a number representative of the new Israel. The twelve are given the title apostles, "sent ones", sent under the authority of Jesus.

edwken (didwmi) aor. "He gave" - he gave. The disciples received the power to cast out demons and heal disease and the authority / right under God to exercise that power. Mark has "authority" only, but obviously such authority comes with the power to exercise the authority.

autoiV dat. pro. "them" - to them [power and authority]. Dative of indirect object.

epi + acc. "to drive out" - upon = over [all demons]. Spatial, here expressing influence over. The power to exorcise demons and heal the sick is not a power in its own right, but serves as a visible (sign) proclamation of the coming kingdom, cf., v2. When the sick are healed and the possessed set free, as foretold by the prophets, then may the remnant of Israel know that the promised kingdom is upon them. Such signs do not proclaim a coming kingdom to Gentiles and so were not central to the Gentile mission. "To deal with every kind of demon", Rieu.

qerapeuein (qerapeuw) pres. inf. "to cure" - and the power and authority to heal [diseases]. The infinitive is epexegetic, further explaining the nature of the substantives "power and authority". "He gave them power and authority over all demons as well as to heal diseases", Moffatt.

The apostles are the sent-ones, which role defines the central function of the church in relation to the world - the church gathers for worship, but in relation to the world, it goes out to proclaim. Luke provides a shorthand version of the message the disciples are to preach. They are to preach that "the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God / heaven is at hand, repent and believe the gospel". Note how Mark and Matthew add "has drawn near." "The kingdom" entails the dynamic reign of God in Christ, which entity a person may enter into for salvation by means of faith in the faithfulness of Jesus.

khrussein (khrussw) pres. inf. "to preach" - [and he sent out them] to preach. The infinitive is adverbial, final, expressing purpose; "in order to peach."

tou qeou (oV) gen. "of God" - [the kingdom] of god. The genitive may be treated as adjectival, possessive, or verbal, subjective; see tou qeou, 4:43.

iasqai (iaomai) pres. inf. "to heal" - [and] to heal [the sick]. The infinitive as for "to preach"; "in order to preach ... and to heal". The kingdom is proclaimed in word and sign, see above, although Fitzmyer is somewhat puzzled by the repeated mention of healing, p753. The variant touV asqeneiV "the sick", probably should be read since it is Lucan in style, so Marshall, cf., Metzger, 146f.

b) Mission instructions, v3-5. The apostles are to follow Jewish missionary customs. They are to look to each village community for provisions and hospitality, and when offered, they must not even think about moving to better accommodation. By these actions they show that they carry an authorised word from God. If a village community rejects the gospel, then the apostles must symbolically demonstrate that this community now stands under the judgment of God.

When it comes to dress code, the disciples are to carry no staff for the journey, nor travelling bag / knapsack, no provisions, and no money. Mark allows a staff and suggests sandals!!! By this action Jesus reinforces the divine nature of the message carried by the apostles to the Israelite community. The dress-code probably represents missionary custom of the day. A staff and going two by two, as noted in Mark, would actually reinforce the wandering-prophet image. Later, when carrying the gospel to the Gentiles, disciples may better be equipped with a sword, 22:36!!!! Other suggestions have been forthcoming for the dress-code of the missionaries:

proV + acc. "-" - [and he said] toward [them]. Luke often uses this preposition to introduce a direct object in place of a dative of direct object.

airete (airw) pres. imp. "take" - take up [nothing into the way]. "take up" as in "take / carry along". "Take nothing for the road", Barclay.

mhte .... mhte "no .... no ......" - neither [walking stick] nor [bag for provisions] nor [bread] nor [silver]. A negated coordinate construction. No staff for the journey, nor travelling bag / knapsack, no provisions, and no money.

ecein (ecw) pres. inf. "-" - [nor] to have [each two shirts]. Possibly "undergarments"; "No extra tunic", NIV. The variant ana is distributive, "each", to each disciple. The infinitive here is rather unusual:

h}n a]n + subj. "whatever" - [and] whichever [house you may enter into]. This construction introduces an indefinite relative clause which is picked up again by the adverb of place ekei, "there"; "whichever house you enter, there remain." An example of short-talk, so "when you enter a village / town, if the first home offers you hospitality, then stay there with the members of that household until it is time to leave the village / town." Possibly the point is "don't move from house to house seeking better lodgings", Marshall.

menete (menw) pres. imp. "stay [there]" - remain, abide, continue [there]. "Stay in the house you first go into", Barclay.

exercesqe (exercomai) pres. imp. "until you leave" - [and from there] go out. "Leave it only when you leave the town", Rieu.

Where the missioners are not received, they are to perform "a witness against / about" the inhabitants of the town. Witness of what? Probably not "good riddance", but certainly "exclusion from what God is now doing", Nolland. Most commentators take the view that the gesture replicates the action of a pious Jew who shakes the dust off his feet when leaving Gentile territory. To repeat this action outside a Jewish town implies "that they (the town population) were not part of the true Israel; they had refused the message of the kingdom of God", Marshall, and thus the gesture "warns of impending judgment", Bock.

o{soi an + subj. "if people" - [and] as many as ever = whoever [do not receive you]. Introducing an indefinite relative clause which is somewhat conditional; "when leaving from their town, whoever does not receive you, then shake off the dust from your feet". There is no real antecedent for the relative pronoun o{soi (a headless clause), so it is unclear whether towns / villages, populations, or individuals are in mind. It is likely that being plural it refers in a general way to ekeinhV "[the town] of theirs", ie. the autouV, "them", the population of the town that the disciples are to perform a testimony against / about. Luke has in mind "a whole town making a corporate response to the missioners", Nolland. So, not so much "if any city refuses to welcome you", Junkins, or the individualistic "as for those who do not welcome you", REB, but probably "where they (the local community) do not welcome you", Berkeley.

apotinassete (apotinassw) pres. imp. "shake off" - shake off [the dusty from the feet of you]. Clearly a symbolic gesture serving as a marturion ep autouV "a witness against / about them", ie. against / about the inhabitants of the town.

exercomenoi (exercomai) pres. part. "when you leave / leave their town" - coming out, going out. The participle is adverbial, temporal, as NIV, or attendant circumstance expressing action accompanying the imperative "shake off", "leave their town and shake off ...", as TNIV.

apo + gen. "-" - from [that / their town]. Expressing separation; "away from."

eiV + acc. "as" - to, into = for. Here adverbial, expressing purpose.

ep (epi) + acc. "against" - [a testimony] upon [them]. Here expressing opposition, "against them", or reference / respect, "about, concerning them"; "to make them see the seriousness of what they have done", Barclay.

b) The mission's brief - preaching the good news and healing (preaching in signs), v6. So, the apostles set off on their mission throughout Galilee. They went in word and sign, they went communicating the gospel both by their preaching and by their healing ministry. Both word and sign display the divine revelation now made known in Christ, namely that "the kingdom of God is at hand." Although the "healings" / signs are often viewed as a confirmation of the euaggelion, "important news" = "gospel", it is more likely that they are the gospel for those with eyes to see, those who approach the miracle with faith, cf., 7:22, 11:20.

exercomenoi (exercomomai) "so they set out" - [but/and] coming out, going out. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "they were passing though"; "they departed and went through", TH.

dihrconto (diercomai) imperf. "went" - they were passing through, going around. The imperfect is iterative, expressing repeated action, or simply durative; "kept on going through."

kata + acc. "from [village] to [village]" - throughout [the villages]. Here distributive; "one village after another", Zerwick.

euaggelizomenoi (euaggelizw) pres. part. "preaching the gospel" - proclaiming, communicating news. This participle, as with "healing", is adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of the apostles' "going". "They traveled from town to town communicating the news of the coming kingdom both in words and signs."

pantacou adv. "everywhere" - everywhere. Local adverb. "Everywhere they went", Peterson.

ii] Jesus and Herod, v7-9. a) News of the mission even reaches Herod, v7-8. The reported reaction of Herod serves to illustrate the effect of the apostolic mission. There is a popular response to the mission which is generally positive, but ill-informed. There is little agreement as to who this Jesus is and this produces an inadequate understanding of Jesus' person. Some say that he is John the Baptist come back to life; some say that Elijah has come from heaven to visit the people of Israel; others think that Jesus is like one of the Old Testament prophets who has appeared on the scene again. A genuine faith-response is lacking. John the Baptist has, by this time, been executed. The gospels have Jesus' mission beginning at the point of John's arrest, presumably soon after Jesus' baptism. Here though, we get the impression that Jesus' mission proper begins after the death of the Baptist.

de "Now" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the narrative.

HrwdhV oJ tetraarchV (hV) "Herod the tetrarch" - herod the tetrarch [heard]. Mark has "king", the common designation, but Luke, with Matthew, gives the correct title. The title is given to Herod Antipas as a prince, under the authority of Rome, who rules a fourth part of his father's kingdom, an area covering Galilee and Perea, from the death of Herod the Great in 4BC through to 39AD when he is deposed by Caligula "for seeking to make the courtesy title of king into a real title", Fitzmyer.

ta ginomena (ginomai) pres. part. "[all] that was going on" - [all] the things happening. If we take the adjective panta, "all", as a substantive, "everything", then the participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "all / everything"; "all that was happening", ESV, as NIV.

dihporei (diaporew) imperf. "he was perplexed" - [and] he was in doubt, perplexed, puzzled, at a loss. "Did not know what to make of it", REB.

dia to + inf. "because" - because [the to say]. This construction, the preposition with the neuter articular infinitive, introduces a causal clause, as NIV.

uJpo + gen. "[some]" - by [some]. Expressing agency; "because it was told by some that ...", Berkeley.

oJti "that" - that. Introducing an object clause / dependent statement indirect speech expressing what "some were saying."

hgerqh (egairw) aor. pas. "[John] had been raised" - [john] was raised. Obviously a piece of popular myth - an example of 1st. century new-age thinking!

ek + gen. "from" - out of, from [realm of the dead]. Expressing source / origin. "Resurrected from the dead", Junkins / "returned from the realm of the beyond", Nolland.

uJpo + gen. "-" - [but/and] by [certain, some]. Expressing agency.

oJti "that" - that Again introducing a dependent statement expressing what "some" had said.

efanh (fainw) aor. pas. "had appeared" - [elijah] had appeared. In popular thinking, Elijah is able to appear because he was translated to heaven and did not die.

allwn gen. adj. "[and] still others" - [but/and by] others. Genitive after an assumed uJpo, "by", expressing agency.

twn arcaiwn gen. adj. "of long ago" - [a certain prophet] of the old, ancient times [arose]. The adjective serves as a substantive, while the genitive is probably ablative, expressing source / origin; "one of the prophets from the old times." Referring to any of the Old Testament prophets who lived in times gone by. Bock argues that the speculation that Old Testament prophets would come back from the dead and minister to God's people in need was a common Jewish view. Fitzmyer suggests that it's not so much that the prophets of old come back from the dead, but that the present situation is like the "appearing on the scene" of the prophets of old, in which case, people are speculating that Jesus is like an Old Testament prophet.

b) Herod's question sets the tone of for the following episodes; "Who can this be?", v9. It was not so long ago that Herod had John's head cut off, so he is not very impressed with this idea that the Baptist has risen from the dead and is now wondering around Galilee. At any rate, Herod has heard great things about Jesus and so he wants to meet him.

apekeqalisa (apokeqalizw) aor. "I beheaded" - [but/and herod said, john] i beheaded. The aorist is punctiliar. The sense in Luke's account is that Herod is not overly influenced by the common speculation of a resurrected John the Baptist. Herod had John beheaded, and that's the end of it. Note the emphatic use of the personal pronoun egw, "I", "I beheaded John", possibly indicating some agitation on Herod's part.

peri + gen. "about" - [but/and who is this] about, concerning [whom i hear such things]. Reference / respect; "who is this of whom I hear such strange reports", Rieu.

ezhtei (zhtew) imperf. "he tried" - he was seeking, desiring, longing. The imperfect is durative; "he continued seeking", Plummer, "he made efforts", Barclay. Herod wants to get to know Jesus so that he can make up his own mind about him, ie., he is motivated by curiosity, not malice or faith, so Marshall.

idein (oJraw) aor. inf. "to see" - to see [him]. The infinitive is best treated as complementary, completing the sense of the verb "he sought", but it can be taken to introduce an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what Herod sought, "he was seeking that he might see him." "He tried to find a way to meet him", TH.

iii] The twelve give their report, v10. The "apostles" return from the mission and tell Jesus what epoihsan, "they have done"; Mark has "done and taught." It is likely that Luke has in mind everything they have done, ie., the proclamation of the news concerning the coming kingdom, both in word and sign, in the person of Jesus. We are not given any details, but the report of the mission of the 70 is likely to parallel the report of the 12, cf., Lk.10:17-20. The point that Luke draws out in v10 is that the mission has produced an enthusiastic response from the populous, so-much-so that Jesus and his disciples are forced to withdraw to Bethsaida. The following episode, The feeding of the five thousand, further emphasises Jesus' growing popularity; the crowds keep coming to Jesus as he speaks of "the kingdom of God" and heals those in need. The crowd present for the miracle of the loaves and fishes is counted at 5,000 men, apart from the women and children. So, the mission of the twelve produces an enthusiastic response from the populous, although somewhat confused, cf., v7b-8.

kai "-" - and. The use of this conjunction rather than de likely indicates that v7-9 are an aside, with v10 coordinate with v6.

uJpostreyanteV (uJpostrefw) aor. part. "when [the apostles] returned" - [the apostles] having returned. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV.

autw/ dat. pro. "to Jesus" - [described in detail, explained as much as they did] to him. Dative of indirect object.

paralabwn (paralamanw) aor. part. "then he took" - [and] having taken [them he withdrew]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to withdraw."

kat idian "by themselves" - according to one's own. Idiomatic construction taking the sense "privately".

kaloumenhn (kalew) pres. part. "called" - [into a city] being called [bethsaida]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "city"; "a city which is called Bethsaida."

Luke Introduction

Exposition

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