THE TRAINING OF THE TWELVE

 Vol 13 No 11

July 23, 2014

Dear Friend,

Luke Chapter 9 offers a remarkable snapshot of the ministry of Jesus highlighting both the power of God and the training of the twelve apostles. 

It begins with Jesus sending them by saying, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic.” Luke 9:3* In other words they could only rely on the power of God and the good will of others to sustain them. They reported back to him the wonderful things that had happened.

A crowd grew and they asked Jesus to send the people away because, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish-” Luke 9:13  They had seen God work on their earlier mission but failed to connect the dots that God’s power was still available to them.

Jesus then takes them on a mountain to pray and the apostles witness what is called the Transfiguration. Jesus, in his glory, talks to Moses and Elijah. Chapter 9 ends with a word from Jesus about the implications of following him.

When we arrive at Luke Chapter 10 we discover Jesus again sending his disciples, now seventy of them, two by two and with similar instructions.

What we see is the progressive discovery on the part of the disciples of the true nature of Jesus as God and the tasks he sent them on to train them as followers.

Think about your own recent “God-sightings” – where you have seen the power of God at work – and ask yourself, what is our Lord teaching me about my own followership at this time?

Joy to you - 

E. Stanley Ott