10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] 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
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Why did Jesus tell the 72 to pray earnestly for laborers instead of focus on being laborers?
2. Why carry no money or spare shoes?
3. Why greet no one on the road?
4. Why say, "Peace to this house!"
5. What does it mean that your peace will rest upon a son of peace? What does it mean that the peace will return if there isn't a son of peace there?
6. Why remain in the same house, and not stay in several houses?
7. What is the message that "The kingdom of God has come near to you"?
8. What is the message that "Even the dust of your town . . ."?
9. Why is not receiving that message imply more guilt than the horrible people who lived in Sodom?
https://hartmangroupdevotionsmark.blogspot.com/2018/05/mark-66-13-then-jesus-went-around.html says:
ReplyDeleteFactors about authority:
I. To receive authority, one must be submitted to authority.
II. A certain amount of faith is required.
III. To exercise authority one must act (usually by speaking).
IV. The authority is limited by the one giving the authority.
V. We are to use the authority.
VI. Authority must be acknowledged.
VII. Power must also accompany authority.
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Healing of the sick rests upon the work Christ did on the cross, the clear promises of Scripture, and upon the faith and authority (in Christ) of those praying or ministering. But we must acknowledge where we are in praying for, or ministering to, the sick. If we are not operating in the spiritual gifts Christ gives His church, if we are not moved by the Spirit or receive a special revelation from God about the situation, if we do not feel 'anointed with power from on high' (Lk 24.49), then our prayers are more like petition prayers - which can be equally effective. Great damage can be done by pretending otherwise e.g. by claiming healing. We should be humbly aware of our limitations at any point in time!
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I'm not crystal clear on how it all works. But, I believe it does NOT work in the following manner: God has given us blanket authority to heal and cast out demons whenever we want. And I don't believe that we activate this power by just believing hard enough.
The way I think it works is that God gives us a mission (which may be long or short term), and with that mission He will give us the authority to do what He wants done. Our faith comes in play and it looks like: We hear what God is telling us, we believe what God is telling us, and we do what God is telling us.
God gave the disciples a mission and they went out to do it. I think that this was an example of Jesus giving the disciples a mission, and we shouldn't interpret it as Jesus was giving us all that mission. Jesus has missions for us. But we have so little faith (we don't hear Him, we don't believe Him when we do hear Him, or we don't do what He says when we hear and believe Him).
So, if we all had perfect faith, would there be a lot of healing and casting out demons? It's not possible to answer. I believe that God has specific missions for us at specific times - which may or may not involve miracles. So, if we all had perfect faith, would a lot of people feel Christ's love? Absolutely!
This clarifies this difficult topic well.
Deletehttps://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteThe Perean period of the ministry of our Lord receives its name from the fact that Christ upon His final departure from Galilee passed through Perea (map), ministering as He went; and after His arrival in Jerusalem He retired again to Perea until a few days before His passion. As Christ left Galilee He sent out the seventy disciples on their mission (Luke 10:1–24). The parable of the good Samaritan and the events of John 9 and John 10 occurred during the Perean ministry. After the feast of dedication in Jerusalem (John 10:22)(Holman Bible Dictionary article), some of the more important utterances of Christ were recorded. After the resurrection of Lazarus (Jn 11:43-44) and the increased opposition to Christ which it aroused (Jn 11:53), Christ again withdrew into Ephraim. Until the time of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passion Week, Christ was not inactive. The Scriptures record the cleansing of ten lepers, the interview with the rich young ruler (Lk 18:18-23), and Christ dining with Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10). While at Bethany He was anointed by Mary. The period of His Perean ministry extended from the fall until the following spring of Christ’s last year.
The Lord appointed - Don't miss this vital truth. Unless the Lord appoints, we go in vain. They were sent and they went. If we go and are not sent then woe to our "go"! We may desire to do certain things in service to Jesus, but must first make sure He appoints us. Jesus is the Head of the Church and as such His appointment is the foundation of all genuine Christian work. Lord, give us spiritual eyes to see the good works which You have prepared for each of us even before we were born, so that we might walk in supernatural power of Your Spirit in Your immutable good works and not our imagined good works. Amen
Seventy others - "Luke 10 is the only place where we find the account of Jesus sending a specific 70 (or 72) disciples to prepare the way before Him. The discrepancies in the number (70 or 72) come from differences found in approximately half of the ancient scrolls used in translation. The texts are nearly evenly divided between the numbers, and scholars do not agree on whether the number should be 70 or 72, although such a minor issue is no cause for debate.
Why did Jesus send them out to witness in pairs? Some thoughts - In part, surely for mutual encouragement and help. "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor, for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up." (Eccl 4:9-10) "On the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed."(Dt 19:15, 17:6) "Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another." (Pr 27:17) And so it is not surprising we see this same pattern of pairs in the Acts of the Spirit.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteTHOUGHT - You may say "I am not really able to go out into the mission field and harvest souls for Jesus." You may have many good reasons. But let me suggest an alternative -- you can "go" in a sense by praying for the souls of those around you and around the world. You can pray for the unreached people groups. Some unreached groups number in the millions and yet have not a single known believer in Jesus.
Steven Cole - When you think about the Lord’s words in verse 2, you have to ask yourself, “Do I pray for the harvest? Did I pray for the harvest this past week? Do I regularly pray for the Lord’s work around the world?....Do I ask Him to raise up and send out workers into His harvest?” Let’s be honest: We all pray for the things that matter the most to us. I pray often for my children, because they matter greatly to me. I pray for my wife, because she matters greatly to me. If I get sick, I pray for my health, because that matters to me.
If we’re in financial difficulty or need a job, we pray earnestly for those needs, because those things matter to us. But the important question is, “Does the Lord’s harvest matter enough to me to motivate me to pray often for it?”
In the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13), what comes first? Prayer for the glory of God, that the Father’s name would be hallowed or revered. For that to happen, we must pray next that His kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. It is only when people submit themselves daily to God as King and seek to do His will that He is hallowed or glorified on earth. So Jesus there shows us that our priority in prayer should be for the Father’s glory and for His kingdom. Only after that does He instruct us to pray for our personal needs, such as our daily bread, forgiveness, and victory over sin. But the Lord’s instruction in that well-known prayer is clear, that if we are not praying first and foremost for God’s glory to be increased through the spreading of His kingdom, we are not praying rightly.
Rod Mattoon - Please note that we are to be laborers, not spectators, who pray for more laborers! Too many Christians are praying for somebody else to do a job they are unwilling to do themselves.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteLuke 10:3 "Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
Spurgeon on lambs - It would be foolhardiness to go on your own account; but I send you; and he who sends his lambs among wolves will take care of them.
As lambs we are to be meek, harmless, non-combative! We need continual filling with the Spirit so that we bear His supernatural fruit, including love and gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22,23-note).
Wiersbe - “Any man who takes Jesus Christ seriously becomes the target of the devil,” Vance Havner often told audiences. “Most church members do not give Satan enough trouble to arouse his opposition.”
Steven Cole - These men went out with a sense of mission. Granted, it was a special mission, and not everyone is commissioned by God to do what they did. But, if were all commanded to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33), it’s hard to escape the fact that we all should have a sense of mission from God. We may fulfill that mission in different ways, according to our various gifts and situations. But whatever we do for the Lord, we ought to have the seriousness of purpose that comes from realizing that we have a job to do and we will give an account to the Lord of the harvest for what we did about what He told us to do.While the Lord’s instructions to these men were unique for their mission, the overall impression you get is that they were to be focused on their task and not let anything get in the way of their mission. Jesus warns them right off that He is sending them out as sheep in the midst of wolves (Lk 10:3). There will be opposition and danger, and they will be helpless by themselves to stand against it; thus, they must depend on God for protection (Ed: And God's Spirit for power!).
MacArthur on wolves - (Wolves was) Used to describe false prophets who persecute the true ones and seek to destroy the Church.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteLuke 10:4 "Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way.
Philippians 4:11-13-note Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Jesus' prohibition is not an encouragement to rudeness because Jewish greetings were generally long and involved (sometimes it might take an entire day!) which would have resulted in an unnecessary delay that would blunt the urgency of their commission. Jesus wants His disciples (you and me included) to STAY ON TARGET, to STAY FOCUSED.
MacArthur - A greeting in that culture was an elaborate ceremony, involving many formalities, perhaps even a meal, and long delays (see note on 11:43). A person on an extremely urgent mission could be excused from such formalities without being thought rude. Everything in Jesus’ instructions speaks of the shortness of time and the great urgency of the task.
William Barclay applies Luke 10:1-16 -
(i) The preacher is not to be cluttered up with material things; he is to travel light.
(ii) The preacher is to concentrate on his task; he is to greet no man on the way.
(iii) The preacher must not be in the work for what he can get out of it;
(iv) To have heard God's word is a great responsibility.
(v) It is a terrible thing to reject God's invitation.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteDon’t get distracted by social contacts or material possessions. Rather, stay focused on your mission.
Just as these workers could easily have been distracted by engaging in meaningless chitchat with those they met along the way, we can be distracted by social contacts that are extraneous to our mission. We need to stay focused on our purpose. Jesus was known as the friend of sinners because He went to their social gatherings. But He never went just to socialize. He always went with a purpose, to seek and to save the lost. If you go to social gatherings without a sense of purpose, you’ll get sucked into the world’s meaningless ways and you’ll cease to be a worker in the harvest. The harvest worker’s focus is always, “Where is this person at spiritually and how can I be a part of bringing him or her to the Lord?” Also, we need to be careful not to get distracted by material possessions. While God graciously supplies us with all things to enjoy, we are not to fix our hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God. We are to be rich in good works, storing up the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that we may take hold of that which is life indeed (1 Tim. 6:17-19).
The point of return to you is that the disciple was not to proclaim the message of peace to anyone who was not willing to receive it. Neither the messenger nor the message was to be forced upon anyone. Don't spend your life trying to pound open a closed door! If you see an opportunity to share the Gospel then stay, but if not then leave!
Gilbrant - It was not too long before the Early Church had to regulate itinerant preachers. In the Didachē, (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, circa a.d. 100) reference is made to wandering "prophets." In this book of religious order it clearly states if a prophet wished to stay more than 3 days in one place, he was a false prophet. If he asked for money or a meal, he was a false prophet. This seems rather harsh judgment. But it shows how the principle Jesus taught had been abused. (Complete Biblical Library Commentary)
MacArthur on do not keep moving (for lodging) from house to house - The disciples were to carefully select where they stayed (cf. Mt 10:11), but once there, the sole focus was to be on ministry. Contentment with their first host and his accommodations would be a testimony to others while the disciples ministered (cf. 1Ti 6:6). They were to establish headquarters in a village and not waste time moving around or seeking more comfortable housing.
The Kingdom of God - One must understand that there are two phases to the Kingdom of God. The first phase is the invisible, internal Kingdom of God and which He later described as "in your midst” (Lk 17:21-note), the Kingdom in which the King reigns in the heart of the person who has accepted Jesus as Messiah. To proclaim the Kingdom of God is to preach the Gospel, to proclaim the good news of salvation, explaining how one can enter the Kingdom of God. When the King returns on "the day that the Son of Man is revealed," (Lk 17:30-note) the heart of every person will also be revealed as to whether they sought the kingdom of "self" or the kingdom of the Savior!
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteThey do not receive you
The short answer for what to do when they reject the message is to walk away!
We need not run into any excess of riot. We need not openly oppose true religion. We have only to remain cold, careless, indifferent, unmoved, and unaffected, and our end will be in hell. This was the ruin of Chorazin and Bethsaida. And this, it may be feared, will be the ruin of thousands, as long as the world stands. No sin makes less noise, but none so surely damns the soul, as unbelief.
As Albert Barnes wisely said "False repentance dreads the consequences of sin; true repentance dreads sin itself."
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. Why did Jesus tell the 72 to pray earnestly for laborers instead of focus on being laborers?
Because Jesus recognized the need for a million laborers, instead of just 72. Also, our priority should always be prayer. That is where we get our marching orders, as well as set in motion God's plan.
2. Why carry no money or spare shoes?
To not be distracted by stuff that needs our care. Also, it's my opinion that allowing others to care for you makes you more vulnerable, which in turn makes the Gospel about putting ourselves in the care of Jesus/God more real to others.
3. Why greet no one on the road?
Apparently, greetings in that culture were drawn out affairs. Jesus did not want them to have any distractions. He was heading towards Jerusalem for the final time, and the time had grown short.
4. Why say, "Peace to this house!"
It was a customary greeting. I also think that Jesus was giving them power to bring peace.
5. What does it mean that your peace will rest upon a son of peace? What does it mean that the peace will return if there isn't a son of peace there?
I think that Jesus is indicating interaction with the spiritual world here. I speculate that the 72, by bringing peace to the house were actually directing angelic beings as guardians of peace. Otherwise, if there wasn't some kind of spiritual interaction, I have no idea how they were imparting peace (and perhaps taking it back).
6. Why remain in the same house, and not stay in several houses?
To not cause jealousy among the town, and to not be distracted by looking to upgrade their living conditions.
7. What is the message that "The kingdom of God has come near to you"?
Jesus has come and He is going to redeem the world. This was the beginning of Christ's kingdom come to earth.
8. What is the message that "Even the dust of your town . . ."?
Apparently, this had meaning to the people of that time. For example, it was common for certain pious Jews to wipe the dust off of themselves after traveling through Gentile territory. It was a message to the people of that town that they were a defiled people.
9. Why is not receiving that message imply more guilt than the horrible people who lived in Sodom?
For sure, the biggest sin we can commit is to reject the message. I think that Matthew 12:31 is fitting here: "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." It's my opinion that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is rejecting Jesus message (to the end of our lives).