Luke 9:1–6

Luke 9:1 — "He called the twelve" Luke's use of "the twelve" (hoi dōdeka) is deliberately numerical and symbolic. Jesus does not send eleven or thirteen; He reconstitutes the twelve tribes of Israel in these men, signaling that a New Israel is being gathered. The verb "called" (sygkaleomai) implies a deliberate summoning to Himself before sending them out—the mission originates in communion with Christ, not in the disciples' own initiative. Crucially, He grants them "power and authority" (dynamin kai exousian): dynamis refers to miraculous capacity, while exousia denotes the right and dominion to exercise it. This double gift distinguishes apostolic mission from mere social work or moral exhortation; the Twelve go as Christ's authorized representatives, acting in His name and by His strength.

Luke 9:2 — "to preach God's Kingdom and to heal the sick" The twofold mandate—proclamation and healing—mirrors Jesus' own ministry as summarized in Luke 4:18 and 7:22. The Kingdom (basileia tou Theou) is not merely a future realm but a present, invading reality that is both announced in word and demonstrated in deed. Healing the sick is not incidental charity but a sign-act: every restored body previews the resurrection wholeness that the Kingdom fully brings. Word and sign belong together; to separate evangelism from works of mercy is to dismember the apostolic commission.

Luke 9:3 — "Take nothing for your journey" This verse is the theological and ascetic heart of the pericope. The list is precise and comprehensive: no staff (rhabdos—walking stick and defensive weapon), no wallet (pēra—beggar's or traveler's bag), no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Luke's version is notably more stringent than Mark 6:8–9, which permits a staff and sandals, reflecting Luke's sustained emphasis on radical poverty as a sign of total trust in God. The prohibition is not about romanticizing destitution; it is eschatological. These missionaries travel light because the Kingdom brooks no delay and because their provision is God Himself. St. Augustine comments that the apostles' poverty was itself a proclamation: "They carried nothing with them, but they carried themselves—and in themselves they carried Christ."

Luke 9:4 — "Into whatever house you enter, stay there" The instruction to remain in one house—rather than moving to more comfortable lodgings—guards against a subtle corruption: the missionary who upgrades his hospitality as his reputation grows, subtly transforming the Gospel into social capital. The "house" (oikos) also carries ecclesiological weight in Luke-Acts, where households become the basic cell of the early Church (cf. Acts 16:15, 31–34). Stability within a household signals respect for the host's gift and avoids the appearance of greed or restlessness.

Luke 9:5 — "Shake off even the dust from your feet" This gesture draws on a Jewish practice by which rabbis shook the dust of Gentile lands from their feet when re-entering Israel, to avoid ritual contamination. Jesus subverts the symbol: it is now performed against Jewish cities that refuse the Messiah. It functions not as a curse but as a "testimony against them" (eis martyrion)—a prophetic act of witness that places responsibility squarely on those who reject the Word. The solemnity is unmistakable: to refuse the apostolic message is not merely poor judgment but a rejection with eschatological consequence (cf. Luke 10:12).

Luke 9:6 — "They departed… preaching the Good News and healing everywhere" Luke's summary verse is significant for its Greek euangelizomenoi—the very word from which "evangelization" derives. The Twelve do exactly what they were commissioned to do. Their obedience is immediate and total. The word "everywhere" (pantachou) suggests the universalizing scope of what begins here: the mission to villages in Galilee is the prototype for the mission to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Catholic tradition reads this passage as the foundational charter of apostolic ministry, irreplaceable for understanding the nature and structure of the Church. The Catechism teaches that Christ "gave the Apostles a share in his own mission" (CCC 858) and that this mission is perpetuated in the episcopal college, which stands in direct succession to the Twelve (CCC 861–862). The dual grant of power and authority in verse 1 foreshadows the sacramental structure of Holy Orders, through which the Church understands that apostolic ministry is not a human institution but a divine commission, transmitted by the laying on of hands (CCC 1536).

The radical poverty of verse 3 holds a privileged place in the Catholic theology of religious life. St. Francis of Assisi famously used this passage as the founding text of Franciscan poverty, hearing it at Mass and declaring, "This is what I want; this is what I seek." The Second Vatican Council's Perfectae Caritatis (no. 13) invokes the apostolic mission as the model for evangelical poverty in religious communities. Pope Francis, in Evangelii Gaudium (no. 20), echoes verse 3 directly, warning against a Church "too caught up with itself" and calling for a "Church which goes forth" unburdened by self-preservation.

St. John Chrysostom draws from verse 3 the lesson that the preacher's greatest credential is his poverty: "Nothing so adorns a teacher as the contempt of money." The Church Fathers uniformly see the mission of the Twelve as the pattern for all subsequent evangelization—proclamation wedded to poverty, authority exercised in service, and the offer of salvation that demands a free response. The dust-shaking of verse 5 is treated by St. Bede the Venerable as a reminder that the grace of God, once refused, bears witness to its own rejection.

For contemporary Catholics, this passage challenges several comfortable assumptions. First, it unmasks the temptation to over-resource our witness: to wait until we have the right program, platform, or credentials before evangelizing. Jesus sends the Twelve immediately, with nothing but His authority. Second, the command to "stay in one house" speaks against the restlessness that makes sustained relationships—the actual vehicle of evangelization—impossible. Real mission requires rootedness as well as movement.

For laypeople, the passage reframes the ordinary: the household, the neighborhood, the workplace become the "house" into which we are sent. Verse 6's "everywhere" (pantachou) suggests that no space is religiously neutral. For parish communities discerning their mission, the passage invites a concrete audit: are we proclaiming the Kingdom in word (preaching, witness) and in deed (healing, service) together, or have we separated them into distinct ministries that rarely speak to each other? The apostolic commission is always both/and.