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NASB | Luke 9:2 And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 9:2 Then He sent them out [on a brief journey] to preach the kingdom of God and to perform healing. [Matt 10:5] |
Subject: Actions to preach the kingdom of God |
Bible Note: 00123, Its a pretty interesting question you are asking. One that I admitedly haven't thought of much in the past. I'll give you some of my own thoughts on this matter and you can judge their worth for yourself. First, what message exactly was this kingdom message they went and preached? We must noticed that we aren't given any examples of it. I am left with the assumption that their message was the same message as Christ when He Himself preached the kingdom. So what did Christ do? That we have many examples of yet we then notice that Christ spoke in parables. Shall we assume that the preaching of the disciples were also them going out in parables? I couldn't say. Now, let me direct the question a bit further. If the case is that we are asking this question from just some trivial interest then we are forced to stop there. We are given no further evidence of how their preaching differed from post-ressurection preaching. But, if we are asking such a question because we feel it is of the utmost importance because we ourselves must know what we are to preach, then I suggest we reshape the question. Let us state it clearly in that case and ask what shall we preach? Now there we have very much guidance in the scriptures. We see very clearly what those disciples of Christ preached once the Holy Spirit came and they were filled with power on high. They preached Jesus Christ crucified for sins. They preached justification through faith. They preached the gospel. So what are we to be preaching? The gospel. And truely, that may be what preaching the Kingdom of God was from the beggining. Mar 1:14,15 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." In this verse we see Christ preaching the coming of the kingdom to be a motivation to believing the gospel and repenting. And again scripture says Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." So when Christ preached the kingdom of God, central to that was calling people to repent and believe the gospel. This is exactly what we see the aposltes take up after pentecost. Paul says his constant teaching was Act 20:21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So there is no question what you and I are to be preaching. We are to call people to repentence and preach the gospel as ambassadors of Christ urging them to be reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20) In Christ, Beja |