Calvary Bible Church - Pastor Ken’s Weblog

Passage for Sunday, March 9, 2008

Luke 10:1-20  “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”  

Rejoice!

With Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday fast approaching, I thought I’d stay here in Luke again this week as we look at the final months of Jesus earthly ministry.  Last week, we saw how He resolutely “set His face” to go to Jerusalem, determined to accomplish the father’s mission, and knowing His time was short, emphasized the cost of discipleship to His followers.  Discipleship is serious business, and no one knew that better than He.  We need to take our calling to discipleship seriously as well.  That journey to Jerusalem that we discussed last week probably took place in the fall, Jesus arriving in time for the Feast of Tabernacles, which took place in October.  He then left Jerusalem and traveled into Perea where our story today takes place, before going back to Jerusalem in December for the Feast of Dedication, after which He went back into Perea, Bethany beyond the Jordan according to John 10:40 and after teaching the people there, into Judea, traveling from village to village, which Luke documents in chapters 11-18, as He makes His way toward the final journey to Jerusalem in the Spring, the Triumphal Entry we celebrate next week as Palm Sunday.

 

Keep in mind that the purpose of the gospel accounts is not to give a precise chronological or historical account of Jesus’ life, but to reveal Jesus to us.  While each writer reports factual accounts, chronology was not important to them.  It is not unusual for a gap of time to fall between two accounts, as we see here between the end of chapter 9 and the beginning of chapter 10, or to report events out of their chronological occurrence.  In the culture to which the original accounts were written and received, none of this would seem unusual, as it does to us today.  Context is King, remember?  That applies to cultural context as well.  So now that you’ve hopefully got a better “big picture” idea of this journey, we come to today’s scripture, and take one more look at discipleship.       

Luke 10:1:  “After this (Jesus visiting Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles) the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where he was about to go.”  There is some debate about whether there were 72 or 70 disciples appointed and sent out.  Since the manuscript support for both readings is equally good and good reasons can be given for the authenticity of either number, it cannot be said for certain which one Luke actually wrote. Manuscript evidence is basically equal for either number.  Some translators picked 70 because it ties in better with their view of how Jesus operated, others used 72 for reasons they believe valid, which also tie in with how Jesus operated!  The number isn’t critical to the point.  The point is that at this stage in His ministry Christ had a large enough group of “committed” followers (remember last weeks focus on commitment?) that He could choose 72 of them and send them out on a short-term mission trip to prepare the people of the area He would be traveling through for His coming.  He sent them out, not alone, but “two by two” so they could strengthen and encourage one another.  This is a pattern followed by the early church, which we have seen in our study of Acts in our Adult Sunday School class.

Verses 2-4:  “He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Go!  I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.  Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.”   The instruction reveals the urgency of the mission.  Having chosen His Workers, He motivates and instructs them.  First He tells them that the harvest is plentiful.  Nothing helps motivate workers like the prospect of results!  But He also points out that their work will be all the more difficult because the workers are few.  72 may have seemed a big crew of reapers, but not when they understood the size of the Master’s field.  He tells them to pray, to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers, to help with the harvest.  That, by the way, was not intended as an “out” for those who had been “appointed” to go!  It was to be a prayer for help, not replacement or substitutions.  Some Christians today tend to use it as a way to convince the Lord to find someone else to go!  Then He gives them their “Marching Orders” as it were!  Go!  And another warning: they would be like sheep among wolves.  The mission was a dangerous one, they should expect danger.  But the Lord who sent them was their protection.

 

One Commentary said:  “He who is called to preach the Gospel is called to embrace a state of constant labor, and frequent suffering.  He who gets ease and pleasure, in consequence of embracing the ministerial office, neither preaches the Gospel, nor is sent of God.  If he did the work of an evangelist, wicked men and demons would both oppose him.”  That’s a sobering statement.  If you and I are facing no opposition, if you and I never feel like a lamb among wolves, never experience the opposition of “wicked men and demons” we need to take a hard look at how hard we are working as the Lord’s reapers, don’t we.  Jesus instructs them to go as they are, not to take a wallet (don’t worry about money), or suitcase (don’t worry about clothes) or extra sandals, and, to emphasize the urgency even further, not to be distracted even by the exchange of pleasantries with those they met on the way.  They were on a mission!  How easy it is to become “distracted” from the mission we have been given by the distractions of every-day life.  He continues:

 

Verses 5-7:  “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’  If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.  Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages.  Do not move around from house to house.”  Jesus here gives the  reason for His earlier instruction on not taking the time to gather and carry provisions.  The people to whom He was sending them would extend hospitality to them if their hearts were ready!  Imagine that, hospitality as the test!  How would you fare?  When was the last time you opened your home to someone other than family or close friends?  The disciples, on their part, were to graciously accept the hospitality given, not ask for special treatment.  Don’t look for someone else to stay with that may treat you better, Jesus says!  He gives them further instructions, including an admonition not to be picky:

 

Verses 8-12:  “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you.  (Can you imagine?  The disciples sit down to supper and say: What?  Dry bread and bean soup again?)   Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’  He also gave them the message to proclaim.  The kingdom of God is the rule of God and is both a present reality and a future hope. The idea of God’s kingdom is central to Jesus’ teaching throughout the Gospels.  Some of its different meanings in the Bible are: the eternal kingship of God; the presence of the kingdom in the person of Jesus, the King (which is probably it’s intended meaning here); the approaching spiritual form of the kingdom; and the future kingdom.) Here too we have an indication that Jesus not only chose the 72, but empowered them for the mission as well.  Healing the sick required God’s healing power, given to bring God the glory and authenticate the message of these disciples.

 

He continues: “But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, `Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you.  Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’  I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”  What to us seems a weird ritual had a far greater meaning to these people.  To “shake the dust off one’s sandals” was a symbolic act, practiced by the Pharisees when they left an “unclean” Gentile area.  Here it represented an act of solemn warning to those who rejected God’s message, a sign of rejection for their refusal to accept God’s message and messengers, and a gesture showing the disciples separation from everything associated with the place.  The warning and comparison to Sodom and the judgment was intentionally severe.  Although Sodom was so sinful that God destroyed it, the people who heard the message of Jesus and his disciples were even more accountable, because they had the gospel of the kingdom preached to them, yet chose to reject it.  These verses also point out what may well be another reason Jesus sent them out “two by two”.

 

According to Old Testament Law:  “One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”  (Deuteronomy 19:15) Two witnesses would testify against a town that rejected them.    The next couple verses continue this theme of greater judgment for those who had greater opportunity.

 

Verses 13-16:  “Woe to you, Korazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.”  Jesus spent much of His time during the Galilean Ministry in Capernaum, which was His headquarters, so to speak.  Korazin was a town only about two miles away, and Bethsaida was on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee.  The inhabitants of these towns had many opportunities to see and hear Jesus.  Therefore the condemnation for their rejection was the greater.  Tyre and Sidon, by comparison, were Gentile cities in Phoenicia, north of Galilee on the Mediterranean coast, and had not had the opportunity to witness Jesus’ miracles and hear His preaching.

 

Listen to this from Adam Clarke: “In Jude 7 we are told that these persons (The people of Sodom and Gomorrah) are suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.  The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah happened 1897 years before the incarnation.  What a terrible thought is this!  It will be more tolerable for certain sinners, who have already been damned nearly four thousand years, than for those who live and die as infidels (unbelievers) under the Gospel!  There are various degrees of punishments in hell, answerable to various degrees of guilt, and the contempt manifested to, and the abuse made of; the preaching of the Gospel.”    An awareness of the coming judgment should be a powerful incentive to do all we can to share the Good News with those who need it.  I chose the responsive reading this morning to help make that point.  People who die without trusting Christ for salvation are destined to spend eternity in hell.  We, as disciples of Jesus Christ, have the privilege and responsibility to point them toward the gospel!  The best spot in hell is still a terrible place to spend eternity.

Jesus emphasizes the point in verse 16:  “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects Him who sent me.”  We sit in Sunday School or in Church, or listen to our favorite radio or TV preacher or teacher many times forgetting that rejecting the truth of scripture taught is not rejecting the teacher or preacher but the God whose truth is being taught.  That is a sobering thought.  The true Believer doesn’t need to worry about hell-fire, but will in fact face a judgment and give account for what we have done with the truth we have been exposed to.  Our works will be tested with fire, according to I Corinthians 3:12-15.  Knowledge of truth is important, but it’s the application of the truth we know that really counts.  The 72 applied what Jesus told them.  Listen to the report:

 

Verses 17:  “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”  Here we have another example of how time transpires between verses.  We do not know how long these disciples were gone, how long the mission lasted, but probably for at least several days to several weeks.  They came back, and reported to Jesus. Can you imagine their excitement?  These disciples were mostly farmers and fishermen, common people like you and me.  Nothing like this had ever happened to them before, and they could hardly contain their joy!

 

Verses 18-20:  “He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.  However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”   What a powerful statement.  Jesus watched the reign of Satan on earth crumble as these disciples spread the good news, healed the sick and cast out demons, an indication that Satan was suffering defeat!  His fall was like lightning falling from heaven, the fall was sudden and apparent!  He reminded them that it was His authority that won the victory, and that as amazing and exciting as that was, the true source of their joy should not be in circumstances, in spiritual experiences, in victory over snakes and scorpions (probably a reference to demons), and even the protection they have against Satan himself, but the fact of their salvation, that their names were written in heaven!  This is a theme that runs throughout scripture.

 

Speaking of last days, Daniel writes in  Daniel 12:1-3: “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise.  There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.  But at that time your people–everyone whose name is found written in the book–will be delivered.  Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.  Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”  Imagine that.  The faithful disciple has an amazing future to look forward to.  Shining like a star!

 

Listen to this from Revelation 20:11-15: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it.  Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life.  The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death.  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

 

Knowing this, it is no wonder Jesus told the disciples to rejoice that their names were written in heaven.  I pray that is the source of your rejoicing as well, and that the awareness of the coming judgment will motivate you to accomplish the mission Christ has “appointed” you to!  I’ll close with this reminder of the message you should be proclaiming, from the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 6:1-2:  “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.  For He says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”  Discipleship is serious business because judgment is serious business, and lost people need to hear and see the truth of Jesus Christ in us.  Their eternal destiny hangs in the balance. 

In His Grip,