10 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’
________________________________________
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
(NRSV)
As I mentioned on Sunday, chapter nine of Luke signals a turning point. Whereas the first 8 chapters seem to highlight the miraculous work of Jesus, especially in fulfilling the Isaiah passage, with the beginning of chapter nine the emphasis turns more to the sayings of Jesus, as well as the involvement of the disciples in the ministry. Chapter nine begins with the sending of the twelve, here at the beginning of chapter 10 that ministry is expanded as Jesus now sends out the 70. The allusion to Moses appointing 70 elders is clear and keeps with Luke’s general theme in presenting Jesus as a prophet like Moses. Beyond that, it’s difficult to discern any additional meaning to the number seventy (which has been the subject of much speculation, though little real research stand behind most of it). Anyway, the general point of the story seems to be Jesus’ expansion of his ministry to the outcast and the lowly.
Two things jump out at me. First, is the recognition that even though their message is one of peace, one that offers healing for the sick and good news for the poor, there will be those who reject this peace. They go as lambs into the midst of wolves. Yet even in the midst of this rejection, they are to have confidence that the kingdom has indeed come near. That seems significant. In a day and an age where success is something measured by statistics and visible growth, Jesus seems to be saying that success in the kingdom is about something different. Even when met with rejection, the kingdom is still successful. It doesn’t depend on the same indicators that we depend on.
The second thing is a warning against pride. Or at least that’s how I take it. These 70 people had been privileged with great power. It would have been easy to let the results of that power get to their heads. The minute we forget that it’s not about us, we become in danger. As Christians we have been given much. But we have been given this not for ourselves, but for others. We rejoice not in the gift, but the giver. And we desire to help others encounter the giver of all good gifts.
I suppose if there’s one thing that would be good to think about as we read through the different Scriptures this week it would be, “How can we help others recognize the kingdom of God in our midst?”
No comments:
Post a Comment