A Crowd and Two Daughters - a podcast by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Sermon preached on Luke 8:40-56 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/16/2022 in Novato, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







Each of the three scenes from today’s passage could warrant study on their own. Yet, Luke clearly has woven these three scenes together. The first scene is Jesus sending out the twelve apostles in verses 1-6, but it’s not really until verse 10 that he finishes that scene when he tells us of their return and reporting to Jesus. And so that means that the second section about Herod in verses 6-9 interrupts the story about Jesus’ sending out of the twelve. That gives us reason to consider why Luke does that and how the two scenes relate. And then by bringing up the sending of the twelve at the start of the third section with the feeding of the five thousand, we see its close connection between those two scenes. That also invites comparison between those two scenes. All in all, we’ll see that all three scenes tell us something about the continued proclamation about the kingdom of God.







Let us begin then in the first scene in verses 1-6 of Jesus sending out the twelve apostles. I love how this follows so well from last chapter where we had been showing forth Jesus’s power and authority. Here that continues to be the case as he sends out his twelve disciples to be apostles sent in his name. He endues them not only with the same message of the kingdom that he’s been proclaiming, but he also endues them with the power and authority that he has been exercising. That’s where he’s been curing people of various illnesses and casting out demons. What authority for Jesus for him to not only been doing such miraculous healings, but even able to bestow that same power now on his twelve disciples.







So then, while we read here about Jesus sending out the twelve we can imagine the wonderful things that God will do through their ministry. But we should not lose focus that this scene is still ultimately about Jesus and his ministry. The twelve’s ministry is that of apostleship. An apostle is a “sent one” – someone who is sent and commissioned as an authorized messenger for someone. These twelve are apostles of Jesus. Their endowment with Jesus’ power and authority is proof of their apostleship. Their ministry as apostles is Jesus’ ministry and message.







In terms of that message, we see Jesus instruct them on that in verse 2. They are being sent to proclaim the kingdom of God. Based on what we’ve seen Jesus himself proclaiming of that kingdom in the gospels, we have a pretty good sense of what all Jesus was expecting them to communicate. In it very broadest terms, it’s that God is king over all and we should submit in our hearts to his rule. But more specifically, it’s God’s redemptive kingdom that is coming to save and reclaim God’s chosen people out of their sin and misery and to bring them into a place of blessing and glory under the rule of his anointed Messiah King. In Matthew 4:17, Jesus begins his teaching ministry calling people to repent of their sins in light of this coming kingdom of God. He taught people about how they could be a part of this coming kingdom. He spoke of ways in which that kingdom would be growing and advancing even now before it came in its fullness. He spoke about what that kingdom would be like ultimately. Typically, his various parables were teaching different aspects of the kingdom of God.







Jesus’ message of the kingdom that he wanted his disciples bring would be good news to those who received it. But it would also mean God’s judgment upon those who didn’t receive it. That is reflected in verse 5 when Jesus instructs them to shake the dust off their feet as a sign against any town that doesn’t receive them.

Further episodes of Reformed Sermons and Sunday Schools at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Petaluma, CA

Further podcasts by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Website of Rev. W. Reid Hankins