5 Radical Statements - 1 Chapter: #3

As I begin the freedom to write and express whatever I want again, I wanted to start with the most important thing - Jesus. As I was reading today there were 5 statements in one chapter that I think would drastically change the way we live if we really wrestled with them. Luke 9:


#3 "He gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal." (verses 1-2)

I know this is a long statement but we need it all. Jesus just had prayed for a little girl who was dead and she came back to life and then ate with them. He then pulls the 12 together and does this. "He gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal."

What did he send them out to do? 2 Things. Go look again.
     1) to proclaim the kingdom of God
     2) to heal

What did he give them for that?
    1) power and authority over all demons
    2) power and authority to cure diseases

I'm not the wisest person and I am often wrong. Most of the time when Jesus makes a statement to His disciples we continue to apply it to today "go make disciples of all nations..." "follow me" "repent" "be born again" etc. Most of the time as I read this, I read it how it had been preached to me, "Jesus sent out the 12 to preach the gospel! 1) The gospel that Jesus refers to in Mark 1:14 is not the same gospel that we refer to today. Now we say "Gospel/Good News - Jesus came to live, die, and rise again for our sins." The gospel/good news he proclaimed was a military term used by the Romans. When they conquered a new area they would proclaim the gospel the "good news" that the new area was part of the Roman Empire. They now had all of the rights, privileges, and protection that all Roman citizens have. 2) He doesn't say preach the gospel. He says proclaim the Kingdom. So Jesus was proclaiming that Heavens kingdom was here. It was about to come (and did at the cross).

What happens in the Kingdom? People know and see God and Jesus who He sent. They are complete - no sickness, pain, suffering, lacking, depression, insecurities, etc. Many times when we read this but miss out on the other parts of this verse. Proclaim the Kingdom and cure diseases to show the Kingdom. It's like show and tell. He sends them out to show (cure diseases) and tell (the Kingdom is near).

The last part is the how. Jesus sends them out He gives them power and authority over demons and to cure diseases. Jesus gives them/us power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. (This was never for them to boast in what happened - later they did and he rebuked them for it and told them instead to celebrate God knows them - but it was to show that God is real, loving, furious, and pursuing them.)

My question for us to wrestle with is: Why don't we still do this? I don't think the question is why doesn't God do this but rather why don't we pray for this? When's the last time you prayed for someone and asked for them to be healed and expected in instantly? When's the last time we rebuked a demon (or apparent demon - I say apparent because in America they masquerade much better. By the way, a person is not a demon. Please don't rebuke a person as a demon. Jesus loved the person and hated the demon that was bothering them. Love the people enough to rebuke other things.) So I wonder:

"Why don't we still do this?"