The Middle Eastern people of Jesus' time divided the world of living beings into five categories. The Gospels nod in that direction when Jesus commissions his apostles in today's passage from St. Luke's Gospel, and understanding that commission is dependent upon our cognizance of their divisions.
The first category was reserved for God. Directly below God in their hierarchy were the "sons of God," the beings that populate God's court, creatures which we sometimes call angels. On the third rung of the ladder were all the spirits, good and evil, which they believed roamed the world and were, to some extent, responsible for the good and bad fortune that gripped their lives. Human beings ranked fourth followed by the creatures of the animal world. The beings or creatures in categories two through five hold sway over those which sit below them in the hierarchy, God having power over all the created universe.
So when the Gospel records that Jesus "gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases" (Luke 9:1b), the evangelist is really saying that Jesus raised his disciples from the fourth rung to the second. He was ranking them with the angels or the courtiers of God. This distinction cannot be underestimated, for, even if we do not use the same hierarchical system as the people of the Middle East, the evangelists certainly did and would have recognized in the mission Jesus entrusts to his apostles a great compliment. In addition to the "power and authority" with which they were invested, Jesus also entrusts to them the very message that he has been preaching; namely, the nearness of the Kingdom of God. In handing on his power and authority as well as his "message," he is paying them and us a tremendous compliment and demonstrating the trust that he has placed in them. The significance of this one verse from chapter nine of St. Luke's Gospel cannot be understated.
I am sure that we have all read a great many treatises on the fact that God loves us, cherishes and nurtures us as well. However, I find that today's Gospel speaks not only of God's care for us but also of God's regard for us as heralds of the Kingdom. Today's Gospel reading, though one that we have heard often, is extremely important in coming to an understanding of our own vocation to spread the Good News. It is not only our responsibility; it is also a mark of God's trust and confidence in us.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator