Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 9:2

"And he sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick." — Luke 9:2 (ASV)

The “Twelve” receive both the “power” (GK 1539) and the “authority” (GK 2026) to do works of the sort that Jesus has performed in the episodes Luke has thus far reported. Signs and wonders are important to Luke, especially as the validation of the Gospel by, among other means, the apostles’ miraculous power as God’s messengers. Since others were claiming supernatural power (cf. Acts 13:6–10; 19:13), it was necessary for Jesus’ disciples to have both “authority” and “power.” This principle appears in a different context in 5:24. The connection between casting out demons and the coming of the kingdom is not as clear there as in 11:20; but the double mention of the ministry of healing here in 9:1–2 suggests that relationship.