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.
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.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:1-20
AND....
35 And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36 He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” 38 And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.” Luke 22:35-38
I know that regarding the very last verse, the disciples almost certainly believed Jesus was pointing them to a shift that involved the "long awaited" violent warfare that would be involved in bringing a physical kingdom. They clearly understood later that this was not the case, but, in fact, it was much bigger than anything they had imagined. I believe Luke and God left this in there to highlight the shift in understanding when it came later. Obviously, Jesus already understood this. The bigger issue for me comes within the first two verses. What is this referring to? I have some thoughts. Some times I choose to share my thoughts in these "amongst yourselves" things, and sometimes, I do not. I will share my thoughts on this one, but as always, the desire is to lead off with thoughts, observations, questions, and convictions held by those other than myself....so......let's get cracking.
As last time, I will try to carry on the primary conversation on facebook since it lends itself to a more interactive back and forth. When the conversation ends, I will transfer all comments from facebook to this blog in the comments section for future perusal.
2 comments:
Danny McCarty
Sometimes God leads us to approach similar tasks in a different manner.
Kirk Walker
I think in the first verse He is saying that His work can be done through them without their own skills or talents, simply showing them His power. I think this was to build their faith in Him and not their own abilities. Then he says now that you see what I can do with nothing, go use your skills and talents with My power to do even more.
Patricia Delcamp
I think that Jesus wanted the disciples to do something that He wants all Christians to do. Trust and never doubt. Obey without understanding how it is going to turn out.
Lane S Lord
Obedience does bring blessings.
Jason Limbaugh
I think that the contrast between the 2 sets of instructions is resolved in this: that dark period for the disciples between the crucifixion and the resurrection. Though they were not genuinely alone, in a sense, they were. Jesus would be removed, and the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) had not yet been poured out.
When Jesus sent them out, telling them not to carry money or knapsack, he was in the world. Even if not there with them in immediate presence, he was present on the earth, directing their mission. Therefore, they did not need to worry. For example, I go many places and do many things without my earthly father, knowing and trusting that if I ever got into serious trouble, he would be one of the first on the scene to assist in my rescue.
It is also true that in between the crucifixion and the resurrection, they were watched over by the Father. But in their experience, they would feel very much alone. Utterly abandoned, actually. And, in some sense, they were abandoned. No teacher, no Comforter. The voice of God to them was about to go deafeningly silent, and they would have no direction; no power to discern the wilderness they would soon be navigating. And it would be thrust upon them in complete absence of expectation. Though Jesus had tried to prepare them, they didn't understand.
In light of this, Jesus said, "When I sent you out before, I told you not to worry about these things. But I am going away, and for a brief period, you will be left alone in utter confusion and darkness. During this period, your experience will be one of abandonment. And I expect you to respond to it as if you had been abandoned. I release you in mercy to do what you need to do to walk through what you are about to face. You will need some sense of security, something to lean on, and what you will lean on will be your own resources. I understand, and I give you permission."
It should not surprise us that Jesus communicated this to them cryptically. It was during the Last Supper that we are told how the disciples were completely cognizant of Christ's penchant for using "figures of speech" instead of saying things "plainly."
But they acted completely in line with Christ's word to them. We are told that Peter went back to making a living with his fishing business. It is probably safe to assume that the others did something similar.
The resurrection and subsequent outpouring of the Spirit, I believe, reinstates the former command and rescinds the latter.
Dennis Delcamp
So sorry I am just now posting a response. Crazy month. If anyone is still interested. ...
I believe there are primary and perhaps secondary purposes for this. I will only express what I believe are the primary ones.
I am struck as I read through the gospels how the disciples seem to be much more actively dependant on Jesus's discernment, explicit direction, provision, and protection. When they are with Him, He is the one who recognizes the situation and what needs to happen, He heals, He performs the miracles, He deals with the danger of demonic forces and He exercises authority over nature. They observe, follow, obey, and serve but very, very rarely do they participate beyond that. I think the key is that they have not been given the Holy Spirit in the way that they will be given it after the resurrection and especially after Pentecost. This distinction does not mean be completely dependant on God initially but on your own resources later. Instead, it shows how our role in the process of dependency on God shifts to that of a growing child who not ONLY depends on God for their provision and protection, but we are also to LEARN to recognize and discern the needs of others in real time and to meet them by our store house of His Holy Spirit. It is a more mature kind of dependency. An example is the parable of the three servants entrusted with certain amounts and held accountable for their stewardship. Also, the armor of God spoken of in Ephesians 6. There are many, many places that point that we MUST take an active role in the process of protection and provision for ourselves and the body of Christ. These above examples and others teach us that these choices are not automatically going to proceed from us but we must cry out to God for understanding them and to walk in that understanding. We must choose to be good stewards. We must choose to equip ourselves to fight and defend ourselves successfully. It doesn't just get dropped into our laps, but it is available to all of us as it was to Jesus because we have been given access to and can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
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