Study Guide

Proclaiming the Kingdom

An Orderly Account:

Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

Luke 9:1-9

Introduction:

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy stumbled into a frozen country called Narnia, buried under the eternal winter of the White Witch. After supper with Mr. & Mrs. Beaver, they want to know what can be done to turn back the evil in the land and Mr. Beaver says, “It’s no good, Son of Adam, no good your trying… but Aslan is on the move…”

And at the name of Aslan, “a strange feeling – like the first signs of spring, like good news had come over them.”

When she finds out that Aslan is a great lion, Lucy, the youngest, asks, “Then isn’t he safe?”

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

There it is – he’s the king, the rightful ruler.

Orient Towards the Main Idea

In Luke 9:1-9, Jesus Christ sends out his twelve apostles on a singular mission: to proclaim that the king has come and so has his kingdom.

What does it mean that the kingdom has come? What kingdom is Jesus speaking of? As we study Luke 9:1-9 we learn that Christ’s Kingdom

1. Is His Dominion
2. Concerns Everyone
3. Is Entered by Grace

The Text

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases…

1. Christ’s Kingdom is His Dominion

Verse two tells us why Jesus gathered the twelve, why he equipped them, and what he sent them to do:

² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God

When we hear the word “kingdom”, we may think of a realm. In the Lion King, Mufasa tells Simba, “Everywhere the light touches is our realm.” Or we may think of a particular king such as Henry VIII, Louis XIV, or Charles III.

The Greek word for kingdom means realm, it refers to kingship, but more than anything it means dominion.Dominion. It’s sovereign right and rule; authority.

Think of God’s power as his strength, whereby he is able to effect all of his purposes. Dominion is his authority; he has the right to do as he pleases.

When Jesus tells the disciples to proclaim the kingdom he’s saying, “Tell everyone that I have the right to make whatsoever I please, to possess what I make, and to dispose of what I possess as I see fit.”

In other words, Jesus Christ claims to be the author and owner of everything. He’s claiming to be your maker and your Lord, the one to whom you owe your existence and every breath.

Now, you have two options before you today. Either you were made by no one, and your life has no meaning, or you were made by Christ the King, and he determines the meaning, purpose, and destiny of your life.

Many in our nation believe they came from nothing. They believe there is no Creator, there is no God, there is no King. And let me just tell you, if that’s true—if there is no Maker, no Designer, no King—then your life is utterly meaningless.

You might think it has meaning. You may think you create your own meaning. This was the view of Stephen Jay Gould who taught at Harvard. He writes:

“We are here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs … because comets struck the earth and wiped out dinosaurs, thereby giving mammals a chance not otherwise available (so thank your lucky stars in a literal sense); because the earth never froze entirely during an ice age; because a small and tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of a million years ago, has managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook.

We may yearn for a “higher” answer — but none exists.

Now listen to what he says:

This explanation, though superficially troubling, if not terrifying, is ultimately liberating and exhilarating.We cannot read the meaning of life passively in the facts of nature. We must construct these answers for ourselves…”[1]

Do you hear what Gould says? Because there is no king, the only king is you.

Isn’t that liberating? Isn’t that exhilarating? That you get to construct your own meaning; that there are no other stories in the world except yours.

That line of reasoning survives only as long as life is pleasant; only as long as you can avoid pain.

But slow down long enough to look around at the state of this world and you’ll say, “If I am the maker of my own meaning, what a pitiful meaning it is. If I’m the king, what a miserable kingdom I’ve built. Is there really no life fuller than this? If I am the king, what an inadequate king I am.”

And as Chesterton wrote, “How much happier you would be, if the hammer of a higher king could smash your small cosmos, scattering the stars like spangles, and leave you free” of yourself.[2]

Are you constructing your own answers? How’s that going for you? Do you enjoy being king?

Jesus Christ comes to you saying, “I’m the true king you were made to know and obey. Your life is not meaningless, for I have made you, and I have the right to own you. You owe me your entire allegiance.

So, there it is—Christ’s Kingdom is His Dominion. Second…

2. Christ’s Kingdom Concerns Everyone

The twelve Apostles are sent out to all of Israel to proclaim the kingdom. They aren’t sent to become popular or make themselves rich. They weren’t to try and impress anyone by taking extra clothes and provisions. They were to be simple preachers. Verse 3:

³ And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. ⁴ And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.

They were to proclaim the kingdom to everyone they came across. They weren’t to discriminate. If someone took them in, they were to stay and keep preaching. If someone in a nicer house and better food invited them, they weren’t to play favorites. Verse 5:

And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.

They weren’t to outstay their welcome. They weren’t there to force their message on anyone. If the message was welcomed, they stayed, if the message was rejected, they shook off the dust. This, Jesus said, served as a testimony.

Luke then gives us personal example of someone who rejected Christ—Herod the Tetrarch.

If you’re unfamiliar, Herod is a name for a family that ruled Palestine immediately before and during the time of Christ. Earlier in the gospels, we learn that this Herod, Antipas, had married his brother, Philip, wife and at the time, God’s prophet, John had preached against him. John became such a thorn in Herod’s side, that his wife had him behead God’s prophet.

Now here’s what all that means—Herod had rebelled against the law of God—the law of the King, and the King did what a good king always does—he didn’t let Herod get away with it. He sent him a preacher—John the Baptist.

But rather than submitting to the King, he rebelled even further and killed the King’s emissary. Herod was haunted, not so much by the ghost of John the Baptist—he was haunted by the ghost of his own sinful rebellion.

Luke tells us that he was perplexed; literally, “at a loss.”

Rather than submitting, he had run from the King—but the King ran faster than Herod. He thought he could control his own destiny—but his conscience could not escape the King… and neither can ours.

Most people think of their conscience as the “angel on the shoulder” trying to convince them not to listen to the demon of temptation on the other shoulder.

That’s not your conscience. Your conscience is an internal spotlight, given by God, which shines on your thoughts, your attitudes, your actions, revealing them to be either right or wrong.

And here’s the catch – you can either obey the judgment of your conscience, or you can ignore it, suppress it, and even damage it. That’s what Herod did.

Mark’s gospel tells us that Herod “feared God, knowing that [John] was a righteous man.”[3] In fact, Herod didn’t want to kill John, but did so at the request of his wife.

God sent Herod an external warning: the preaching of John. And God sent Herod an internal waring: his own conscience. Yet Herod refused every opportunity God presented him to humble himself.

What about you? The kingdom of Christ didn’t just concern Herod, or Israel. It concerns you—right now, this very moment!

The preaching of the kingdom is reaching your ears right now, just as it did Herod’s 2,000 years ago—and in one sense, that’s good news! Life isn’t meaningless. You aren’t left to construct your own purpose.

But on the other hand, it’s awful news, because you and I have not lived out God’s purposes for our life as king. We, just like Herod have refused to humble ourselves.

We have offended the King. We’ve rejected his purposes. And, worst of all, because of our sin, we haven’t just killed his prophet—we are guilty of the blood of his Son.

How can we get back into the King’s good graces?

Finally, we see that this Kingdom, which you and I have alienated ourselves from can only be entered by grace.

3. Christ’s Kingdom is Entered by Grace

At the top of the passage, the Apostles are not sent only to preach—they are sent to heal. Specifically, they are given power, or strength over demons and disease.

The miracles of Jesus—what are they? They are signs of his dominion, yes. But they are also signs of his grace.

First, the miracles of Jesus picture the arrival of his dominion and power. Who but the true King has power over demons? Who but the true King and Creator has power over creation? For three years Christ and his disciples travelled up and down Israel healing everyone.

For all intents and purposes, he literally wiped-out disease in Palestine. He was showing his dominion. The power of the King had arrived.

But not only his dominion, he was showing his grace.

When humanity fell in the Garden, two things happened:

First, God declared there would be enmity between humans and Satan, and second, all creation, including our bodies would be subject to disease and decay.

The English Puritan Thomas Watson said, “Sin has the devil for its father… and death for its wages.”

Friend, I do not know if you feel it—but this is a world in bondage to sin, Satan, and death. This is a world that is decaying and wearing out.

To be afflicted by demons, to be wracked by disease, they are both signs that we are sinners living in a cursed world! And we are utterly helpless to fix ourselves.

And into this cursed world, God sent his only begotten Son, full of power, full of grace. He comes with armloads of grace!

Everywhere he goes, demons flee and sickness dies!

And here’s what that means—the miracles are not just a demonstration of his dominion—they are an invitation of his grace. They are a promise to our hearts, that the King who is just is also merciful.

The miracles of Jesus tell us that because he has come—and because of what he is going to do—even Death itself will work backwards.

Have you ruined yourself? Have you run from him? He will chase you down. Do you think yourself to far gone? He can deliver the demon possessed. Do you think yourself to sick? He will take all your diseases.

And we know this because at the end of his life, Jesus the King, satisfied his own royal justice, by bearing his own wrath against us at the cross.

The good news is that the King has come, but he did not come with sword in hand—he came with nails in hand. Not to bring the judgment but to bear judgment for the sins of his people.

Bowed down beneath a load of sin,

By Satan sorely pressed;

By war without and fears within,

I come to you for rest.

Be thou my shield and hiding place!

That sheltered by your side,

I may my fierce accuser face,

And say the Lamb has died.

The King who is your judge, has made himself the lamb who is your sacrifice. And he is offered to you today freely. Only believe.

[1] Stephen J. Gould, interview, Life (December 1988)

[2] G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Kindle

[3] Mark 6:20