Knowing The Word in Luke 10:1-12

Luke alone tells the story of the sending of the 72, which is not to be confused with Jesus sending the Twelve in chapter 9, but is part of a larger strategic movement. These paired men are advance teams who are scouting out the places Jesus intends to visit. There is much work to do and Jesus wants more help. Jesus bids them to pray that even more people will join in for the spreading of the gospel message. They will have to rely upon God. Jesus encourages urgency. “Don’t tarry or get distracted.” Greetings in that day were much more complicated than a simple “hello,” and his disciples cannot tarry. They are to accept hospitality for free and not move about where they will be further entertained into the late hours. They deserve what they are given but also urgency calls them to keep things simple. Because some will be in Gentile territory, Jesus tells them to relax the food laws. This is the first indication that these laws will be abolished. Shaking the dust off one’s sandals used to set the Jews apart from the Gentiles, but in the New Covenant, all are brought together in Christ. This action communicates symbolically that those who reject Jesus have placed themselves outside the people of God. It also says they are not simply rejecting two itinerates but the very kingdom of God. While Sodom (in Genesis) rejected the messengers of God. These villages are rejecting even more.

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.

Prayer:

O Lord help us to be masters of ourselves that we may be the servants of others.

Sir Alexander Henry Patterson, 1884-1947