72


Luke 10:1-12
1After 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. 2And 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. 3Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But 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.’ 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Back at the beginning of chapter 9, Jesus sends The Twelve (disciples) out into the world to share His mission with the Jews. At that time they were located in the area of Galilee which was a Jewish community. The number 12 represented the 12 Tribes of the Old Testament and the mission at that sending was to the remnant of those tribes. Now Jesus sends 72 missionaries out into the region of Samaria. The number 72 is the traditional number of the non-Jewish peoples in the world just as 12 is the number of the tribes of Israel. The choice of this number indicates the ultimate universality of Jesus’ saving mission. Already, the work of Christ is for the whole world.

Jesus also sends them with fairly explicit instructions. They need to know they are entering enemy territory. They will be rejected and possibly treated poorly. They are also free to move on when that rejection happens. Most startling for this group of Jewish guys is that they are told to eat whatever they are offered. That would have been an anathema to these guys. They were used to eating only that which was deemed “clean” by the Old Testament laws they followed. But in this case, they need not worry about whether the food set before them is “clean” or “unclean” according to Pharisaic standards. The Gospel is extending out to the Gentiles. In Acts 10, Peter is given even more intense instruction in this fact as he is given a vision of unclean animals and told to “kill and eat”. In that moment he is forced to face his own prejudices and change his thinking. With this mini-mission, that process is already begun by Jesus Himself.

The message of the 72 is clear; “the kingdom of God has come near to you.”  That’s all they have to say.  It’s an important message because Jesus Himself is nearby and this is an amazing chance to come into His Kingdom as a believer. Jesus even invokes the name of Sodom, that town that was notoriously burned to the ground by God Himself because of their great wickedness. Those who choose rejection are more to be pitied than even the folks of Sodom! It’s a strong message and one that is sure to bring controversy.

Our message to the world today hasn’t changed at all. The Kingdom of God is near to everyone and all are welcome to receive the forgiveness of sins that comes with faith in Christ Jesus. But so too is the world ready to reject that message and us right along with it. But we aren’t excused from delivering that truth nonetheless. Jesus blood still saves and we are bound to share that with our world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more