Scripture Reading(s)
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.
10:2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
10:3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.
10:4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.
10:5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’
10:6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.
10:7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.
10:8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you;
10:9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10:10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say,
10:11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’
10:16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
10:17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”
10:18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.
10:19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.
10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Reflections
God has equipped every single one of us to go out and share the good news of Jesus Christ. Going out into the world to tell others of Jesus is no easy task. There is always the risk of facing rejection, gaining unpopularity among your peers, or fear of being mocked or challenged. However, we know that it is God who is doing the saving work in the hearts of those who have not yet come to know Him as their saviour.
In this passage we see how Jesus is emphasizing that He is the one who is giving His disciples authority to speak the truth into the lives of those they come in contact with. He gives them the words to say, the responses to have to either acceptance or rejection, and ultimately He gives them the position of truly representing Himself.
Verse 16 sums up their mission “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” Christ equips, sends us out and does the saving work. He uses us as His vessels and tools to bring others to Him. Notice how the focus is not on them but all on Jesus. The hope that we have to cling to when it comes to spreading the Gospel is that we are not to think of our own strengths or weaknesses while spreading the Gospel, but we are to think of God’s awesome power working through us.
He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Luke 10:2)
Jesus is known to have 12 disciples but we forget that he also hoards of followers that were also called disciples. In this passage Jesus sends out 70 disciples to go door to door proclaiming the kingdom of God and healing the sick. Much to some of their surprise, Jesus’ name was effective in fasting out demons and healing the sick.
What can we learn from this example of Jesus’ followers? I would suggest that we also should walk in boldness with the gospel. We can trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us and provide us with everything we need to bring the kingdom. As the 70, we are sheep among wolves but even the wolves must bow to Jesus’ name and we bear that name wherever we go.