He summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and twere saying o heal [the sick]. 3 He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. 5 And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” 6 Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
7 Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”; 8 others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” 9 But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.
Many disciples, both men and women (Lk. 8:2-3), followed Jesus as he traveled from town to town healing, exorcising, and raising the dead (Lk. 8:26-56). Jesus commissioned the twelve apostles (Lk. 9:10) to proclaim the kingdom of God and gave them power to exorcise demons and cure diseases (Is. 61:1). They were to participate in his ministry. He forbade them from taking anything other than the clothes they were wearing because they were to rely entirely on God. They were to accept hospitality from the strangers whose houses they entered, and they were to disassociate themselves from unbelievers (v. 5; Acts 13:51).
Herod was hostile to both JBap (Mk. 6:17-39) and Jesus (Lk. 13:31-32) and was puzzled when he heard about the miraculous works Jesus was doing. Some of the people were saying that JBap was raised from the dead and others were saying it was Elijah or one of the prophets (Mk. 6:14-16). This is the first place in the Gospel of Luke that his audience was finding out that Herod beheaded JBap (v. 9). Herod knew it was not John raised from the dead and wanted to find out who Jesus was. That is why Herod was glad to see Jesus (Lk. 23:8-9) after he was arrested (Lk. 22:54).
Almighty God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus the
Holy Spirit can dwell in all who truly believe.
Grant us the wisdom and grace not to work against the Spirit as you work
in our lives to bring us to your kingdom.
This we pray through Christ our Lord.
Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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