The Foundation of our Ministry

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. Luke 9:1-2 (ESV)

These verses represent the foundational calling of believers. We have given power over all demonic forces, and we are told what to do with that power: 1) Cure Diseases, 2) Proclaim the Kingdom and 3) Heal the Sick. To understand exactly what Jesus is asking us to do here we must look at the original language.

The word Cure is the Greek Word, therapeúō; meaning “To attendant, servant. To wait upon, minister to, render voluntary service, heal, but primarily signifies to serve as therápōn.”^[1] We are called to offer Therapy to diseases; in this case, diseases is the Greek word nósos; meaning sickness (Matt. 4:23, 24; 9:35; 10:1; Mark 1:34; 3:15; Luke 4:40; 6:17; 7:21; 9:1; Acts 19:12; Sept.: Ex. 15:26; 2 Chr. 21:19). Metaphorically, pain, sorrow, evil.”^[2]

In this case we are talking about issues of the soul dealing with pain, sorrow and evil influences. Biblically speaking, therapy is supposed to be offered free of charge. I am guessing that when is offered in a voluntary basis our services have credibility; we are there to help the person, not to make money out of their pain, sorrow and evil oppression.

The word Kingdom is the Greek Word, basileía; meaning “Royal dominion, kingdom.”^[3] The word Proclaim in the Greek Word, kērússō; meaning “To preach, to herald; to proclaim, to announce publicly.”^[4] Therefor we are called to proclaim publicly the Kingdom of God. We must verbalize the Royal Dominion of His Kingdom and the good news that Jesus saves. This is important because there is a tendency to do things, call it ministry, but never actually verbalized the Gospel. 

We give food to the hungry, we serve the homeless and, somehow someway we think the gospel is in the sandwich or in the bowl of soup. We even pray for folks, but avoid the good old fashion preaching of the gospel because, is too offensive and we just want to show “love”. I know of so-call Christian Shelters that do not even have chapel time anymore; the gospel is not preached. They fail to understand that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). 

The word Heal in verse two addresses physical sickness. This is the Greek word iáomai; meaning “To heal, cure, restore to bodily health.”^[5] Notice the order, 1) we address folks’ emotional sickness by 2) ministering the Kingdom, the Gospel… the Good News and 3) we address the physical issues. There is no wonder the Jesus compare our work to the work done in a hospital, In Mathew 9:10-12 the Bible tells us,

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. (NIV)

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^[1] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[2] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[3] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[4] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[5] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).