Luke 10:1–16 (ESV)
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. 16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
As a youth pastor and pastor of a church, I have attended all kinds of conferences, seminars, webinars, and breakout groups where the latest and greatest strategies, programs, and curriculums are offered to nurture growth in Christians in their relationship with the Lord as well as equip and send them out to reach others in the name of Jesus.
Each program or curriculum is helpful in its own way and provides wonderful encouragement for those who are receiving the teachings, but at the heart of it all, it always is and always has been about relationships.
We see that here in our passage as Jesus sends out the seventy-two.
This account is only recorded in Luke’s Gospel, and it’s clear early on that this is not just a simple “Go and share your faith with others” command. This is a dangerous and urgent mission from the outset.
“Harvest” is a symbol of judgment in the Old Testament, and here, “harvest” is linked to the kingdom of God, signifying that this is now a critical time in sharing the message about the kingdom of God. But there’s a problem, “the laborers are few,” Jesus says. In other words, the laborers whom Jesus is sending out for the harvest are not adequate; they are not enough. So even before they go, the laborers are to “pray earnestly to the Lord” that He will send workers into His harvest, that the Lord will dispatch more workers into the field.
It’s a sobering start for these folks, but Jesus raises the stakes even higher as He speaks about the danger of the mission, “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Sheep are defenseless against wolves and then add to that the restrictions Jesus gives: the seventy-two are to take no moneybag, or knapsack, or sandals, and they are not to greet anyone on the road.
A challenging mission, to say the least.
However, this is a mission focused on relationships. The seventy-two are not to go out into the streets and the marketplaces and proclaim the kingdom of God. What they are told to do is go to people’s homes.
In that cultural context, the Jewish home and fellowship around the table were the most intimate settings, and it’s in this setting that these pairs of the seventy-two are to share the good news of the kingdom of God. This is not about a program or a declaration; it is a relational encounter where the Gospel is shared with others.
Here’s the incredible thing that we see at the end of the passage. In the last couple of verses, Jesus speaks to the seventy-two about several towns where the message of the nearness of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed. Some of these towns have already heard the message from Jesus and have seen and been touched by Jesus’ incredible miraculous signs, however they reject the message, and the result is disaster unless they repent.
Jesus then wraps up His instructions by saying, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Jesus has just made an incredible statement that we easily overlook. Jesus has just equated Himself to God. This was unparalleled and would have stunned Jesus’ listeners and Luke’s readers alike.
As Jim Edwards notes in his great commentary on Luke’s Gospel, “The remarkable and unprecedented declaration of Jesus in v. 16 establishes in a rather scandalous way an unbroken relational line of revelation between Jesus and the disciples that reflects the relational line of revelation between Jesus and the Father.”
You and I are, as we’ve entrusted our lives to Jesus and press on to know, love, and follow Him, we are reflections of Jesus out to the world in and through our relationship with others.
The challenging question to ask of ourselves if we dare ask it is this, “What reflection of Jesus do people see in me?”
God bless you, and know that you are constantly in my prayers!
Scott