How did Jesus train His 12 apostles for the astounding task of getting the gospel to the ends of the earth? He did it by Calling, Authorizing, Delegating, and Supervising them.
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How Jesus Trained His Men
Luke 9:1-10
Why did Jesus Christ come into the world? Why did He leave heaven? Why did He become a man? What was that all about? We have a very concise answer from His very own lips in John 3:17 where He says, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Now, of course it was not God’s sovereign plan that Jesus would actually save every member of the world. Rather, God sent Him to purchase for God with His blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He is the Savior of the world. Jesus came into the world, not just to save the Jews, but people from every part of the globe. He is a universal Savior in that sense.
So, when Jesus was on this earth, what was His plan to bring the message of the gospel to the human race? Was it to hold mass evangelistic rallies? You know, get as many people together at one time as possible, and preach the message of the good news to them? Yes, Jesus did preach to large crowds that followed Him. However, that was not His plan on how He would reach the world with the message of salvation. At the same time that He was going about healing the sick, casting out demons, and preaching the kingdom of God, He was also intentionally focusing the majority of His time and attention on a few men – the 12. Remember back in Luke 6 Jesus spent the whole night in prayer and then in the morning called 12 of His disciples to Him whom He named as apostles. An apostle is “one who is sent.” These are the men who will spearhead the effort to evangelize the world once Jesus has ascended to heaven. And it is these men who are Jesus’ priority. Yes, He ministers to the multitudes, but that is not His #1 priority. His #1 priority is to get these men ready to take over once He has gone back to heaven.
In Matthew 28 we have Jesus’ words to the 11 after His resurrection. He said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” In Mark 16 Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation!” Jesus gave them the greatest responsibility imaginable. They were responsible to get the message of salvation to the ends of the earth!
So, how is Jesus going to prepare and equip and train these men so that they are ready to assume this responsibility? That’s what we are going to discover in our text this morning. In Luke 9, we see Jesus calling, authorizing, delegating, and supervising the apostles as He gives them some field experience. All of this is to prepare them for the Great Commission which He will call them to in just about 18 months.
1. Jesus Called His Men
Luke 9:1 says, “And He called the twelve together…” There were many different ways that Jesus called these men.
He Called Them To Faith. At some point, each one of these 12 men were called to faith in Christ. Jesus walked up to Matthew’s tax booth, and said, “Follow Me.” Jesus found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” When Andrew brought Peter to Jesus, the Lord said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas.” In the case of all of these 12 men there came a crisis point when they were called to faith. They came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God.
He Called Them To Permanent Discipleship. After Jesus called these men, they became part-time followers. We find that Peter, James, and John after becoming His disciples, had gone back to their fishing business. They spent the whole night fishing and caught nothing. Jesus commanded them to put out into the deep water and let their nets down for a catch. When they let down their nets, they enclosed so many fish that they had to signal to their partners in another boat. Both boats were filled with so many fish that the boats began to sink! Jesus the turned to these men and said, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” At that point Luke tells us, “they left everything and followed Him.” They became permanent disciples (followers) at that point. No more part-time discipleship. They left everything behind and followed Him permanently.
He Called Them To Apostleship. We studied this back in Luke 6. Jesus spent the whole night in prayer, and then in the morning He chose 12 of His disciples, whom He named as apostles. The word “apostle” simply means “one who is sent.” Jesus had many followers, but out of that large group of followers, He chose 12 who would be “sent ones.” These would be the ones He would send with His authority and power to be the leaders in establishing the kingdom of God throughout the world. Now, Jesus chose them in Luke 6 to be “sent ones”, but they don’t get sent out until Luke 9. In Mark 3:14 it says, “And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach.” Step 1 – be with Him. Step 2 – send them out to preach. Well, for about the first 18 months, all they did was Step 1. They were with Him. They watched Him heal the sick and cast out demons and calm the storms, and raise the dead. They heard him preach the gospel of the kingdom. But now, it’s finally time for Step 2.
He Called them To Internship. That’s really what’s taking place here in Luke 9. An internship is a formal program to provide practical experience for beginners in an occupation. Well, that’s exactly what Jesus has established here. He is deliberately sending out the twelve to give them some practical experience in ministry to prepare them for the real thing when He dies and resurrects in 18 short months.
He Called them To World Evangelization. Of course, I’m referring to the Great Commission that Jesus gave them after He rose from the dead. In acts 1:8, Jesus said to them, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Jesus called the twelve to this work. And folks, we may not be apostles, but we have also been called to do our part to extend the kingdom of God in this world. The Spirit of God has gifted every believer just as He wills. God has gifted you and He has called you to be faithful with the gifts He has entrusted to you. And every believer has a part to play in getting the gospel message out to every person in the world. Now, the way you faithfully fulfill your calling to extend God’s kingdom may be different than the way someone else does it. Some may be called to street preaching. Others may be called to host a neighborhood bible study and invite their neighbors over. You might take a co-worker to lunch so that you can share the gospel with him. The Great Commission was given not just to 11 men, but to the entire church throughout the ages until Jesus Christ returns. If you are a member of His church, you are called! There are to be no spectators in the Church. If you are not seeking to do something to extend Christ’s kingdom and build up the body of Christ, you are being disobedient. Peter puts it like this in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Brothers and sisters, if you have had the attitude, “I’ll let so and so do it”, I challenge you to get out of the stands and onto the field. Get in the game! Get involved! Make plans on what you will do this week to be involved in serving Christ and extending His kingdom in the world.
2. Jesus Authorized His Men
Luke 9:1 continues by saying, “and He gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.” Basically, Jesus took the power and authority He had in Himself, and gave it to the twelve, so that they could do what He had been doing. Now, think about the ministry of Jesus with me. What did do in His public ministry? What activities did He engage in? Over and over and over, we read of Him preaching, healing, and casting out demons. Now, what do we see Him giving His apostles authority to do? Preach, heal, and cast out demons. So, what’s going on here? Jesus is multiplying Himself. Very soon, Jesus will be leaving Galilee and heading toward Jerusalem, where He will eventually suffer and die. His time on earth is short. He knows it. In an act of great love and grace, He decides that He will get the message of the gospel of the kingdom out to everyone throughout Galilee. As long as Jesus is the only one who is preaching and doing miracles, He can reach only a limited number of people. However, if He multiplies Himself by 12, now He can reach 12 times as many people.
Jesus gave them both power and authority. Power is the ability to do a thing. Authority is the right to exercise that power. Not only did Jesus give the twelve His power, but He also gave them the right to exercise it as His specially called ambassadors. When the twelve went into a city, they were the personal representatives of Jesus Christ. What did they have power and authority over? All the demons and to heal diseases.
You say, “Brian, does this apply in any way to us today?” I believe it does. In Luke 10:17, after Jesus sends out 70 others on an internship, they return saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” In Mark 16:17 Jesus said, “In My name you will cast out demons.” Using the name of Jesus was not just the privilege of first century saints. We today also have the privilege of using the name of Jesus when confronting demons. If you have an encounter with a demon-possessed person, you can invoke the name of Jesus Christ and cast it out.
But what about healing the sick? I believe God still heals today. In 1 Corinthians 12 we are told that one of the spiritual gifts the Spirit distributes in the body, is “gifts of healings.” There will be some in the Church who the Lord especially gifts in the area of healing. When they pray for the sick, they see greater results than others. Not only do I believe God still heals today, but I also believe God does not always heal today. The Lord has His reasons for withholding healings at times. He is sovereign and He is wise, and He is good. I do not believe that if a person is not healed, it’s because of a lack of faith or sin in their life, necessarily. Even in the New Testament we find that Timothy had a stomach ailment, Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus, and Epaphroditus was sick to the point of death. Even in the first century God did not heal everyone all the time. However, I do believe we should be much more eager to pray for the sick. We easily fall into the rut of assuming God won’t heal someone. Consequently, we don’t even pray for their healing, or if we do, we don’t have any faith or expectancy that God is going to do something. We need to be quick to pray and believe for healing. If God makes it clear that He is not going to heal, then we need to accept that. But let’s not assume from the get go that the Lord will not heal.
3. Jesus Delegated Tasks To His Men
They Were To Preach The Kingdom. Luke 9:2 says, “And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God.” Now, that’s an interesting statement, because this is exactly what Jesus had been doing from the beginning. In Luke 4:42-43, Jesus had risen early to seek God after ministering late into the night the day before. When the crowds found Him they tried to keep Him from going away. But Jesus responded, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” Then in Luke 8:1 we have a summary statement of Jesus’ ministry. It says, “Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God.” This was Jesus’ purpose, His modus operandi. He went about everywhere preaching the kingdom.
Now, what does it mean to preach the kingdom. It’s very simple. It is to preach that Jesus Christ is the King, and you may become part of His kingdom and receive forgiveness and eternal life. The terms to enter the kingdom are repentance and faith. A sinner must turn from his old way of life, and turn to Christ as his king. We must lay down the arms of our rebellion and wave the white flag of unconditional surrender. But, if we will come to Christ on His terms, He admits us into His eternal kingdom! To preach the kingdom is to preach salvation through Christ. When Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God” His disciples responded, “Then who can be saved?” The disciples understood entering the kingdom was equivalent to being saved.
Friends, one of the tasks Jesus has still delegated to us today is to proclaim the kingdom. We are to tell others that they can find forgiveness and eternal life and a part in His kingdom if they will repent and trust in Jesus. How are you doing? Was there anyone this last week that you preached the kingdom to? Let’s pray for divine opportunities to proclaim the kingdom and boldness to take advantage of them!
They Were To Demonstrate Compassion. Not only were they to proclaim the kingdom, but they were to demonstrate it. They were to perform miraculous healings, and cast out demons. Now, Jesus could have demonstrated who He was in any number of ways. He could have taken Satan’s advice and jumped off the pinnacle of the temple. When He landed safe and sound 400 feet below, that would have been a great miracle. However, the Lord chose to manifest His Deity and supernatural power in the realm of human pain and suffering. His miracles were used to heal people in great bodily pain. His power was used to set people free from the torment of Satan and his demons.
Jesus sent out the twelve to do exactly what He had been doing. Preach the kingdom and show compassion for hurting people. And this is our mandate as well. You know we can preach to people without compassion, and it will do little or no good. If you want to be like Jesus, you not only need His message, you need His heart! We need to be willing to enter into the pain and suffering of others and do whatever we can to alleviate it. So, if you are witnessing to a homeless guy who hasn’t had anything to eat all day, maybe you need to walk over to Taco Bell and buy him a couple of burritos.
They Were To Trust God For Their Needs. Luke 9:3 says, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.” Jesus’ instructions to the twelve were clear. Don’t take anything with you. Don’t take extra money or bread or even an extra shirt. Leave and go with just the clothes on your back – period.
Now that seems pretty austere, doesn’t it? Why would the Lord require His men to go off on a trip without any food, any money, or any change of clothes? Simple – He wants his men to learn to trust God for their needs. Jesus knows that there are going to be times later on, when He’s gone, when they aren’t going to have any food or money or clothes, and they are going to have to know that God will take care of them. So, the Lord is forcing them into a situation where they will have to depend on God, because they can’t depend on their own resources.
Now, how will God provide for them? Through the generosity of other people. Remember, the twelve were going to be healing people of their incurable diseases and casting out demons from tormented people. Don’t you suppose that some of those healed and delivered people are going to want to do something to show their gratitude? I’m sure of it. Over in Matthew 10:8 Jesus said, “Freely you received, freely give.” In other words, don’t charge for your ministry. Don’t ever set a price on your ministry. Jesus had freely given them the power and authority to preach, heal and cast out demons. He absolutely forbade the twelve from charging others for this ministry.
Now, if the twelve lacked integrity, they could have become very rich. People will pay almost anything to be healed of an incurable disease, or to have a loved one raised from the dead. However, Jesus made sure they understood that their motive in ministry was not to become wealthy.
So, the twelve were not to take anything with them. Was this what the Lord would require of them for the rest of their lives? No, not at all. Look at Luke 22:35, “And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.” You see, this field experience, this internship, was a temporary situation to teach them to trust in God for their needs. It would be useful, because they would find themselves in situations later where they had nothing and had to trust God to take care of them. However, when they set out to fulfill the Great Commission, they are permitted to take a money belt, a bag, and even a sword.
Folks, the Lord is also calling all of us to trust Him for our needs. We are never to enrich ourselves from suffering people, contrary to what we see so often on Christian TV. We are to live our lives in such a way that no one will ever be able to accuse us of a lack of financial integrity. In 1 Timothy 3 Paul says that an Elder must be free from the love of money. In 1 Peter 5, Peter says an Elder must shepherd the flock, not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. I’m so glad that the Lord has made it possible for me to do ministry without asking the church for anything. At least this way, I can’t be accused of doing what I’m doing for money. Let’s just minister to others, and trust that God will provide what we need. He will!
They Were To Demonstrate Contentment. Luke 9:4 says, “Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city.” So, what is the principle here? I believe it is the principle of contentment. Jesus is instructing the twelve, that they are not to go around from house to house. Once someone has offered their hospitality, they are to accept it and stay there. It would be very tempting if someone offered to let you stay out in the barn, and then someone else whose child you had healed offered to let you stay in his large, spacious home. No, they were to be content with what God provided for them.
That’s a very relevant principle for us, isn’t it? As we seek to go about doing the Lord’s work, we need to be content with what He gives us. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” Would you describe yourself as a content person? Are you happy and satisfied with what the Lord has provided for you, or are you always wanting more? To be used in the Lord’s service means we must learn the art of Christian contentment.
They Must Pronounce Judgment. This comes out in Luke 9:5, “And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” When a Jew traveled into a Gentile land, and then returned home, before he would re-enter Jewish territory, he would shake all the Gentile dust off his sandals, robe and shirt. By doing this, he was expressing scorn and disdain for them. Jesus is telling the twelve, that if they go into a city and the people will not receive you or your message, shake the dust off your feet as you leave. In other words, treat them like pagan Gentiles, even though they were Jews! By shaking the dust off their feet, they were giving a visual picture of the judgment of God that would come against them one day.
Friends, not only must we preach the good news of the kingdom, but we must preach the bad news of the kingdom. The bad news is that if someone rebels against the King and will not surrender to him, He will be judged by that King one day. Here is the principle – we need to be honest with people about what it means for them if they will not receive Jesus Christ as King. We must be clear. If a person will not receive Christ as their King, they will face everlasting judgment in hell. Though that is a very sober and terrifying thought, it is still a truth we must be willing to tell others. We must give both the good news and the bad news.
4. Jesus Supervised His Men
In verses 7-9 Luke tells us that Herod was greatly perplexed about who Jesus might be. It appears he had a guilty conscience over beheading John the Baptist, and was afraid that maybe Jesus was John risen from the dead, or Elijah, or one of the prophets.
Then in verse 10 it says, “When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida.” Now, what is going on here? The twelve went out on this mission, preached, healed, and cast out demons, and then they gave an account to Jesus of what had happened. Now, why would the Lord ask them to give an account? I think it was because He needed to give them further instruction and training. So, as each of the apostles reported to Him of what had happened, it would give Jesus opportunity to continue to teach and instruct them. “Next time, don’t do it that way. Do it this way.” This demonstrates the Lord’s supervisorial role in the life of the twelve. He was always training and teaching them.
When we raise up leaders here at The Bridge, we should follow Jesus’ example. First, just let them hang out with the current leaders, and watch them preach, teach, minister, pray for and counsel others. Then, at some point, give them practical experience in these things, while you observe. Then follow it up with giving some corrective instruction, so that they can continue to grow and improve.
Conclusion
Although we are not apostles, and not in the same situation they were in, there are many transferable principles we can apply to our lives.
1) Realize all of us are called to extend Christ’s kingdom.
2) Realize He has given us the authority of His name to cast out demons and pray for the sick.
3) Engage in proclaiming the gospel, showing compassion, trusting God, demonstrating contentment, and pronouncing judgment.
4) Keep going back to the Lord again and again so that He can correct us and continue to teach us regarding ministry.
May the Lord use these principles in your life for His glory. Let’s pray.
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