Action and Reaction - A Reflection on Luke 9:1-6




Then Jesus called the twelve together and 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. He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

 

When the word “then” is used in the Bible, it usually means that whatever is currently happening is a result of something that preceded it. So, when we read that “THEN Jesus called the twelve together” we have to look at what happened just before “he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God”. And what happened was that Jesus had calmed a terrible storm that had threatened to drown them. Scripture says “they were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?” He then sent them out on mission.

 

There are three other stories sandwiched between this story. In each case, there was a need that Jesus met. And after he had met the need, he demanded a response. In the country of the Gerasenes he encountered a man with an unclean spirit. After he had delivered the man from the demoniac, he said to the man: “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And the man went away, proclaiming how much Jesus had done for him throughout the city” (see Luke 8:39).

 

Then he had an encounter with “a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her” (see Luke 8:43). When she was healed of her illness, Jesus “said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace”” (see Luke 8:48). His words “go in peace” might seem like a benediction, and while it undoubtedly was, it was also a command to be at peace, because for years she wasn’t.

 

Following this, Jesus brought a dead girl back to life. She was the daughter of Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. When he arrived at his house, everybody was expectedly “weeping and waiting, but Jesus said, “Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping” (Luke 8:52). Equally expectedly, they laughed, but ignoring them, he told the girl to get up and she did. And then he directed the parents to give her something to eat (see Luke 8:55). Again, a need is met, and an instruction is issued.

 

Jesus meets our needs constantly, and whenever he meets a need, he expects a response. Faith, as we are taught, is man’s response to God. Whenever we respond to God as we should, we grow in faith. These responses do not have to be huge, as we just saw. In one instance, the instruction was to return home. In another, it was to go in peace. In the third, it was to provide food. But they are demanded. And, then, after we have grown in faith, the response demanded might be greater. “Go,” Jesus might say to us as he said to the apostles, “proclaim the kingdom of God and heal.” 

 

So, let us start responding to Jesus today. Do these reflections fulfill a need? Know that a response is required, every single time. What is it? You need to figure that out. 


Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/QuChhtdQdWM

 

 

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