The Mission of Jesus (Lk 9:1–11) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

In 1 Corinthians 4:16, the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth, I urge you, therefore, be imitators of me. Now, if you wanted to be like someone, you’d observe them, see how they do this or that, note how they respond to a joke, an insult, or stress. You’d do that over and over, day after day, and eventually might be able to anticipate how they’d react to this or that situation. Then you’d do it yourself. You’d be imitating him or her.

Paul tells the church to be imitators of him. But what he says in the next verse is unexpected, I think. I urge you, therefore, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy.

Rather than himself, Paul sends someone else for them to watch. He sent someone who would be like Paul in front of them. In his mind, to send Timothy was to send Paul. I urge you, therefore, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy. Paul had multiplied himself and his influence.

This is discipleship. And who came up with that? We’ll see the answer to that question clearly here in Luke 9, where Jesus accomplishes His mission––to make Himself known––through His people. Or as we’ll take it, through His people––to make Himself known––Jesus accomplishes His mission.

1. Through His People

A. An Empowered People

Back in Luke 5, Jesus begins calling disciples to Himself, telling them, Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men (Lk 5:10). Then in Luke 6, He chose twelve of those disciples to be His apostles. But before and after those texts, the Gospel of Luke has spoken of these men mostly as bystanders. They, like us, have witnessed the teachings and works of another.

But if we were to look ahead to Luke’s sequel––the book of Acts––we’d find these men in the middle of the action. Our passage today functions as something of the beginning of that transition. While thus far Jesus has been demonstrating and teaching the nearness of the Kingdom almost exclusively, now the disciples will imitate Him for His purposes. He’s done it; now He’ll tell them to.

V. 1: And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. It seems that at the close of last week’s passage, after the healing of Jairus’ daughter, all the disciples weren’t together. Here in verse 1, Jesus gathers them. And He gathers them for a purpose.

Since 8:22, Jesus has demonstrated His power over nature by calming the storm, over the evil realm by delivering the demoniac, over disease by healing the woman with the issue of blood, and over death by raising Jairus’ daughter. In each instance, Jesus displayed His power and authority.

Here in verse 1, He gives aspects of that power to His disciples.

I think it’s helpful to be reminded why Jesus demonstrated His power in these ways. Fortunately, He tells us in a couple chapters. If you’d like to turn over to Luke 11, I’ll just read one statement Jesus makes, 11:20: But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

So why did Jesus do this? Throughout Luke, Jesus’ power and authority have served as an object lesson. He preached and taught on the Kingdom of God while demonstrating in visible ways what that Kingdom looked like.

For the same reason, in this moment, He gives His disciples something of that power. It’s a derived authority and power, intending to point to the One who gave it. Jesus accomplishes His mission through empowered people.

B. A Sent People

And I think verse 2 actually confirms the assertion that those deeds function as previews of the Kingdom. After gathering them together to give them this power, Luke continues, v. 2, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

As they went with this power and authority, they were teaching and proclaiming a particular subject: the Kingdom of God. There’s quite a bit we could say about the Kingdom of God, but Leon Morris defines the kingdom of[...]