When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
Luke 9:1-6, NIV
In Luke 9:6 we read “So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.” And here’s the question: what good news were they proclaiming?
That may seem like a “doh!” kind of question, but stop and think a minute. We probably have some idea of what “proclaiming the good news” would sound like today: “Christ died for our sins and God raised Him to life, and we can shared in that life forever if we confess our sins and repent…” The problem is, the payload of that “typical” modern good news is pretty much excluded by a) the fact that was all still to come and b) it was definitely being kept a secret, not least from the Enemy. So whatever the disciples were proclaiming, two by two, it wasn’t what we think of as the Good News.
That may still seem like a “so what” kind of question; but it is worth getting to the bottom of, not least because our version of the Good News might prove to be a bit deficient in its content too – simply because we haven’t understood the answer to my question. Don’t misunderstand: of course Jesus’ death and resurrection is a key part of the equation; it is the well-kept secret which the rulers of this present age failed to understand, the irreducible “how we are able to participate, legally, in what God has prepared for us.” But it isn’t, of itself, what God has prepared; which is the Kingdom. Framing the Good News as just salvation from sin is to miss how good God’s intention to us really is.
So let’s look at a more literal version of this passage:
“Calling together the twelve, He gave to them power and authority against all the demons and diseases to heal them (or “against all the demons and to heal diseases”), and He sent them to announce as heralds the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick people, and He said to them ‘carry nothing for the road, neither to have staff nor food-pouch nor bread nor silver, nor a pair of shirts‘.”
“‘And whatever house you might enter, stay there until you leave that place. And as many as may not receive you, going out from that town, the dust from your feet shake off as a witness against them.'”
“So they went out and passed throughout the villages, announcing good news and healing everywhere.“
Three things to note, especially.
One, the word κηρύσσειν (as in, κηρύσσειν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ) is often translated “proclamation”, and we talk in theological terms of the “kerygma”, the content of our proclamation. But at heart it is “the proclamation of a herald”; and here at least (I would argue for “everywhere else, also”) that fundamental and specific meaning fits perfectly. A herald serves a King in the enforcement of his rule and dominion; so “proclaiming as heralds the Kingdom of God” is perfectly fitting, and helps us to understand that proclaiming the Kingdom of God is not just a vague catch all for “some gospel related work”. They are announcing that the Kingdom of God has come upon them; and they demonstrate this by healing all the sick people.
Whatever you have been thinking, the people who met the disciples on this mission were left with a clear sense that the Kingdom of God has been announced. Whether they accept or reject that fact, they have heard and seen things they can’t ignore.
Second, the term διήρχοντο (from διέρχομαι, to go through, pass through) and translated in the NIV as simply “went” has a much more specific payload than this would suggest. It is “to pass through for effect” if you like – a missile from a bow passes straight through a flying bird, a pain shoots through a limb, an army passes through the countryside. The disciples didn’t just go from A to E via B, C and D; the implication is they impacted (one way or another) every place they passed through.
So finally – what does “proclaiming the good news” in verse 6 actually mean? Putting the definite article in there may be unhelpful – unhelpful because it makes us think of what we mean by “the good news” – and is not called for by the Greek. “Announcing good news” or “bringing good news” are both options. And what is that good news – “we speak as heralds of the King of Kings to tell you the good news that His Kingdom has come upon you. And you are healed, and you, and you, and you… “
So to go back to my original point: if our proclamation of good news omits the content of their proclamation… then why? Surely it is still always proclamation of the Kingdom of God, but with the addition of the secret, long hidden for us and from our Enemy: “and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved – because of the Cross of Christ.”
Seeing the Kingdom 