“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith"

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 9:1-9:

Chapter nine is an extremely busy chapter, with very powerful lessons. We will begin our study in this chapter with the limited commission. The term limited commission comes from the comparison to the “Great Commission”.

The limited commission was given to the twelve t o go to the lost sheep of Israel only (Matthew 10:6 – they were to avoid Gentiles and Samaritans). They were to preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 10:7). This is the same message that John the Baptist preached (Matthew 3:2) and that Jesus is preaching (Mark 1:15).

This was a Gospel of repentance and preparation. The repentance was to the commands of the Old Law and the preparation was for the coming kingdom of heaven. Jesus would commentate on this very subject in Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount, note:

Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

In our text Jesus is likewise sending His chosen disciples out to the lost sheep of Israel with this same message. Repent and practice righteousness now, so you are prepared to enter the kingdom when God chooses to open its gates!

Text #1:

Luke 9:1-6 “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.
4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”

See also: Matthew 10:5-42; Mark 6:7-13

Gave Them Power: The Lord gave them the message they were to preach: since the message came from Him and His words came from the Father (John 12:49 -50), He also gave them power to establish the word with signs and wonders. Miracles, signs, and wonders were never random acts without purpose or design, note:

Mark 16:19-20 “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” Amen.

The signs and wonders performed by the Lord were for the same reason, note:

Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know”

Those who claim to be able to perform miracles, signs, and wonders today; what exactly are they claiming to confirm? Remember that God is a God of order not chaos!

Take Nothing: This was a brief circuit, but more importantly, they were not to be like the leaders of the Jews. The rabbinical teachers of the time in many cases advanced themselves by the generosity of local synagogues and peoples. The disciples of Christ were not to detract from the message they brought by earning disdain from the people. Had they taken advantage of their generosity, this would have been the case. Instead they were to seek those who were worthy (Matthew 10:11); that is those who would recognize that they were different and intent on bringing good news and to be content.

This was the same point in the instruction not to take two tunics. In many cases, multiple tunics was a sign of wealth and many of the people they would go to would not have more than one. Again they were not to do anything that would detract from the message.

The prohibition is against securing these things before they leave. They were in fact to depend on the generosity of the people they encounter. This was a people habitually committed to hospitality, especially when their hospitality could be freely offered verses demanded. In this instruction, the Lord is teaching His disciples to depend on God rather then themselves. This is found in Matthew 10:10, where Jesus would say, “For a worker is worthy of his food”.

2x2: In Mark's account, the Lord sent them out two by two (Mark 6:7). This wisdom was three fold:

1) The law required two witnesses to establish testimony.

2) They would be able to supplement each others efforts. Different minds reach different people.

3) They would be able to encourage each other through this difficult work and keep each other from becoming despondent when they encountered rejection.

Sheep among Wolves: In Matthew's account, the Lord would tell His disciples that they were in fact sheep being sent out in the midst of wolves (Matthew 10:16-17). This was a testament of the fact that they would be hated, just as Jesus was hated; not by all, but by those who hearts were bent to their own desires and not God's (see: John 8:42-47).

Shake the Dust Off: Even from the early history of Israel, heathen lands were considered defiled (see: Amos 7:17). It became customary then that when you traveled through heathen or defiled lands that when you entered your own land, you shook the dust from the heathen land off your feet!

Jesus is using this practice to symbolically indicate that if His chosen encountered those who would reject their message, as He knew they would, they were to consider them defiled and move on.

Text #2:

Luke 9:7-9 “Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. 9 Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” So he sought to see Him.”

See also: Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29 .

Note: Luke does not record the events that caused John the Baptist to be be-headed; however, Luke would record the Lord's reference to John as a faithful steward of God. That is, he preached the righteousness of God without regard to consequences or concern over improving his own standard of living as the Pharisees did (see; Luke 16:14-18).

It is worth while to read both Matthew's and Mark's account of John's death at this point.

Herod the Tetrarch: This is the son of Herod the Great and is also known as, Herod the Antipater III. This is the Herod that Jesus would refer to as “that fox” (Luke 13:32). The term “tetrarch” meant a ruler of a fourth of a kingdom or region.

He was Perplexed: The work of Jesus and John were so close in nature that when Herod heard about Jesus, he thought John had risen from the dead (Matthew 14:2). By this testimony and by those who believed that Jesus work was prophetic instead of Messianic, Herod sought Jesus to see for himself who He was.

Next: “Feeding the Five Thousand”