Tag Archives: commissioned

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – BIBLE SCHOOL, JESUS STYLE

Bible Study, ,

CHAPTER NINE

BIBLE SCHOOL, JESUS STYLE

“Jesus now called the Twelve and gave them authority and power to deal with all the demons and cure diseases. He commissioned them to preach the news of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. He said, ‘Don’t load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns – get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you’re not welcomed, leave town. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and move on.’

“Commissioned, they left. They travelled from town to town telling the latest news of God, the Message, and curing people everywhere they went.” Luke 9:1-6.

Step two of Jesus’ training programme for His disciples was about to begin. Mark outlined His strategy in one simple sentence: “He appointed twelve: that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.” Mark 3:14 (NIV).

He had spent a considerable time modelling His method and His message, with His disciples with Him day and night, watching and listening to Him and getting the feel of the kingdom He was introducing to His people. Although they still had in mind that He had come to deliver them from Rome, perhaps they thought that what He was showing them was part of His strategy to win the people over.

Jesus considered them ready to go out without Him to do what He had been doing. They needed plenty of practice for the day when He left them on their own for good to get on with what He had started. The day would come when He would give them their commission to a life work to go, not just to the towns and villages of Israel but to the whole world to pass on who they were – disciples of Jesus.

His instruction was simple. ‘Don’t weigh yourself down with loads of baggage and equipment.’ This was a partnership between Himself and His disciples. It was His responsibility to see that they were provided for on their journey. They did not have to run “Praise-a-thons” to raise funds or stay in 5-star hotels or travel in Mercedes Benz vehicles. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, said, ‘God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.’ His policy was “to move man through God by prayer alone.”

They were to rely on the hospitality of the local people. Between the lines, He was giving townspeople the opportunity to have a share in the blessing of partnering with His disciples in the work of the kingdom. If there were those who were inhospitable enough to turn them away, it was not necessary to make a fuss about it. They would be the losers and that would be enough.

Jesus’ strategy was brilliant, bringing people and God together and showing His disciples how to trust Him for their resources by giving people the opportunity to be generous. He promised to meet our needs but He does not do it by tossing money from heaven. It is the generosity of people that creates a current and keeps His resources circulating. This principle works in the natural world too.

The disciples did what He instructed them to do and He did what He promised He would do. He was already beginning to multiply Himself in twelve men who were listening, watching, learning and imitating their Rabbi.

Isn’t it sad that the simple message of Jesus has been covered up with layers of stuff and ritual until it had become unrecognisable? There is nothing wrong with using technology to get the message out as long as the message remains unadulterated with human ideas and interpretations. What Jesus came to do should remain unchanged, however it is delivered.

What did He come to do? He came to show us the Father and to take us to the Father so that we can be reconciled and live as His sons and daughters here on earth. Anything else is not who He is and not what He came to do!

Called And Commissioned

Bible Study, , ,

CALLED AND COMMISSIONED

“Meanwhile the ministry of God’s word grew by leaps and bounds.

“Barnabas and Saul, once they had delivered the relief offering to the church in Jerusalem, went back to Antioch. This time they took John with them, the one they called Mark.” Acts 12:24-25 (The Message).

Barnabas and Saul — up to this point Saul was still the learner. Barnabas had been the teacher and initiator and Saul the follower. His apprenticeship would soon to come an end and he would become the strong leader of the missionary enterprise that would take the gospel into the heart of the Roman Empire – the very household of Caesar.

Barnabas and Saul fulfilled their commission to take help to the church in Jerusalem. They quickly returned to Syrian Antioch which was fast becoming the new centre of the church, away from Jewish persecution and far more open-minded than the Jerusalem church which was still Jewish at heart.

Another character enters the story — John Mark, a relative of Barnabas. His name has already popped up in Luke’s record, as though he was known to his reader. Who was John Mark? Traditionally he was the unknown youth who fled naked into the dark during Jesus’ arrest. His mother’s home was a gathering place for the church in Jerusalem, where they prayed when Peter was in prison at the hands of Herod.

He was also traditionally the author of the second gospel, having at some stage either accompanied Peter or laid his hands on a copy of Peter’s memoirs which he used as a base for his gospel story. He had a chequered career as a companion of Barnabas and Saul for a short while on their first missionary journey, and a quitter who was the cause of a serious rift between Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Mark were later reconciled and he became a valuable asset to Paul in his ministry.

“The congregation at Antioch was blessed with a number of prophet-preachers and teachers: Barnabas, Simon nicknamed Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manean, an advisor to the ruler Herod, and Saul.

“One day, as they were worshipping God — they were also fasting as they waited for guidance — the Holy Spirit spoke.’Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.’

“So they commissioned them. In that circle of intensity and obedience, of fasting and praying, they laid hands on them and sent them off.” Acts 13: 1-3 (The Message).

Is there a clue, in these three opening verses of chapter 13, to the success of the church which is largely missing today? It would seem that this group of leaders, incidentally, made up of an interesting cross-section of black and white, were aware that they must embark on another phase of outreach and growth. Barnabas and Saul had spent time instructing the new believers and it was time to move on. Who would go and who would stay?

What did this group of leaders do? Did they call a church meeting and take a vote? Did they meet in a huddle and draw straws? They worshipped, fasted and prayed and kept doing that until the Holy Spirit spoke to them. He had his men and it was up to them to find out who they were.

It was this intimate fellowship and co-operation with the Holy Spirit that gave Paul and his companions the courage and confidence to do what they did in spite of opposition and persecution. The did not quit because they knew they were called, ordained and accompanied by the Holy Spirit on a divine commission that could not fail.