Luke 10:10-16 (3)

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-Let me invite you to turn to Luke 10 in your Bibles.

We’re going to attempt to cover Verses 10-16 this morning.

We began our study of this event...

…two weeks ago, now...

…with Jesus appointing the Seventy...

…to Go out ahead of him...

…Proclaiming the advent of the Kingdom of God...

…and bearing witness to that message...

…with those beneficial signs and wonders...

…of healing, demon exorcism, etc.

-We also saw in that first sermon...

…how Jesus had told them up front...

…that He wasn’t sending them out to do an easy task.

He told them:

The scope of the harvest was more than they could achieve

They could expect to face hostility while they labored

-Last week, we focused our attention (primarily)...

…upon Jesus’ instructions regarding their methodology.

If you’ll remember, we tried to...

…draw out the universal principles for ministry...

…upon which the particulars...

…had been based.

-We concluded with Jesus telling them...

…how they were to interact...

…with the people and towns...

…that recieved their word.

(Those are on Sermon Audio if you need them)

But, this morning...

…we’re going to see...

…How they were commanded to respond...

…to those who rejected that same word.

What we’re going to see, in summary, is...

…that, the response to the preaching of the Seventy...

…is what God is going to use...

…as the primary criteria in their Judgment.

Alright, let’s read our text...

…beginning in Verse 5.

Luke 10:1–16 (ESV)

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.”

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Pray

-Before we jump in at Verse 10...

…let’s read a couple of verses over again...

…in order to highlight the contrast...

…that Jesus is making with them in Verses 10-11.

Luke 10:5 (ESV)

5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’

Luke 10:6 (ESV)

6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.

Luke 10:8 (ESV)

8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.

Luke 10:9 (ESV)

9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

Then, in contrast he says this:

Luke 10:10 (ESV)

10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you...

...Here’s what you do:

Luke 10:10 (ESV)

10 ...go into its streets and say,

“streets” = broad road/main road

Out in the busy, open part of town...

…and say...

Luke 10:11 (ESV)

11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you...

-Now, if you’ll remember...

…Jesus had given this same instruction...

…to the Twelve, concerning their evangelism...

…in those exclusively Jewish towns, as well.

It was a bit more descriptive, though:

Luke 9:5 (ESV)

5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

i.e., a “witness” against them

courtroom language

language of judgment

Remember, what we read about this gesture, back then:

Mike McKinley explains its Hebraic roots:

Wiping dust from one’s feet was a custom that Jews employed to communicate their disdain when leaving a Gentile region; it was a “warning” sign of rejection and condemnation — McKinley

Philip Ryken makes the application to our text:

If in a particular town no one showed the evangelists any hospitality, they were to take their message to the streets and give a spiritual object lesson.

Shaking the dust off their feet was a sign of rejection and exclusion, even condemnation.

It meant that the people of that community were outside the people of God, that as far as God was concerned, their town was foreign soil — Ryken

-This was an action...

…that the Apostles carried forward...

…into the Great Commission as well:

Acts 13:44–46 (ESV)

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

Acts 13:49–51 (ESV)

49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.

50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.

Acts 18:5–6 (ESV)

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

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-Now, notice something else in our text...

Notice, that they weren’t told to, either:

Call down fire from heaven to destroy them

Beg, plead, and manipulate, and entertain.

Modify the message to make it more palatable.

Try and present it in a way...

…that might be a little easier on the ears.

They were simply told to...

Preach

Attest

And, when rejected...

Give the symbolic warning...

Leave them with the truth...

What was that?

Luke 10:11 (ESV)

11 ...Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’

In other words...

...”it was within your reach.”

But you wouldn’t reach out and take it.

So, we’re moving on to find those who will.

Our interest is in...

Wheat… not Tares...

Sheep… not Goats!

-Now, look at Verse 12.

Jesus tells the Seventy...

…what that day in court will look like...

…for those who reject their proclamation.

And, here too...

…the principle is universal:

Luke 10:12 (ESV)

12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

What day?

Well, Jesus stated it clearly to the Twelve:

Matthew 10:15 (ESV)

15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

-Now, just think about what this is saying.

Not all eternal punishment will be the same in degree!

This tends to make us uncomfortable...

…but it isn’t a novel idea:

Luke 12:47–48 (ESV)

47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.

48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

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That brings us to a second scandalous thing...

…that Verse 12 is saying:

2. The pagan population of SODOM...

(what were they known for?)

(What sin in particular?)

…will fare better in Judgment...

…than the folks here in our text!

For a First-Century Jew, Samaritan, or Palestinian...

…that would have been SCANDALOUS!

What fate had the Sodomites suffered...

…in their temporal Judgment?

Destruction by fire!!!

It’s just assumed, that...

…eternal judgment will be worse than the temporal!

But, Jesus is saying that...

…it won’t be as bad as what...

…the folks who reject this preaching...

…are going to face!

How do we make sense of this?

It seems like a much lesser crime than Sodomy, right?

Why the greater severity?

Well, we read it already:

Luke 12:48 (ESV)

48 ...Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Jesus explains this concept more clearly, in...

John 15:22–24 (ESV)

22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin...

24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

The greater the light...

…the greater the transgression.

And Jesus, is...

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)

3 ...the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature...

And the Seventy, are proclaiming (revealing) Him!

Consider the vivid language...

…of the author of Hebrews, in...

Hebrews 10:28–29 (ESV)

28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God...

That’s exactly what’s happening in our text.

-Now, watch how he pronounces judgments...

…in keeping with this principle...

…in the verses that follow:

Luke 10:13 (ESV)

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.

Again, there's a contrast being made...

…between these two sets of towns.

Tyre and Sidon were infamous OT cities.

They were infamous for being...

Wealthy

Arrogant

Wicked

God had promised, through the prophets...

…that He would destroy them in their pride...

A promise which he had already kept...

…by that time in history.

Chorazin and Bethsaida, on the other hand...

...had been granted the privilege...

Hearing the Christ preach

Beholding myriads of signs and wonders

It would certainly have been assumed...

…that God favored those two cities...

…much more than he did Tyre and Sidon.

Calvin wrote this about it:

There was not one of them who did not look upon the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon as abominable despisers of God.

It is, therefore, no small heightening of his curse, when Christ says, that there would have been more hope of reformation from those places in which there was no religion, than is to be seen in Judea itself. — Calvin

I know that’s sobering...

…but see where he gets it from:

Luke 10:13–14 (ESV)

13 ...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.

Again, why?

Because Chorazin and Bethsaida...

…are rebelling against much greater light!

We see the same principle...

…being broadened out in Jesus’ warning...

…to the Jews, in....

Matthew 12:41–42 (ESV)

41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

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Again, the greater the light of Revelation...

…that’s being rejected...

…the greater the guilt.

And, we who have had the privilege...

…of growing up in the afterglow...

…of the Christian West, where...

God’s word has been so readily available

There are churches on every corner

We have almost limitless time and resources (explain)...

...had better take these warnings to heart!

We are very similar to the final town in Verse 15:

Luke 10:15 (ESV)

15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

This may be even harsher language...

…than what it appears to be at first.

It’s reminiscent of the Judgment...

…pronounced upon the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14.

That Judgment which, so many assume to be...

…is a reference to the very fall of Satan.

Isaiah 14:12–15 (ESV)

12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!

13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.

Why invoke such vivid imagery against Capernaum.

Why is it singled out like that?

Well remember, Capernaum...

…was Jesus’ base of operation...

…for most of his “Great Galilean Ministry”

Calvin says this:

It was indeed an inestimable honour, that the Son of God, when about to commence his reign and priesthood, had chosen Capernaum for the seat of his palace and sanctuary.

And yet it was as deeply plunged in its filth, as if there had never been poured upon it a drop of Divine grace.

On this account, Christ declares, that the punishment awaiting it will be the more dreadful, in proportion to the higher favours which it had received from God — Calvin

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You see, up until this point...

…Capernaum had been (by far)...

The. Most. Favored. Spot. On Planet Earth!

But, for the most part...

…they had profaned that grace.

And...

Sodom

Gomorrah

Tyre

Sidon

And probably...

Egypt

Assyria

Babylon

Media

Persia

And, maybe even Greece...

Would all fare better than them...

…on the great day of final Judgment...

…because of that!

And again, here’s why that’s...

Just

Right

True

Good:

Luke 10:16 (ESV)

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.”

Remember, that he’s speaking to the Seventy.

Not:

Peter

The Twelve Apostles

These are not the writers of the Scripture...

They were just missionaries...

…sent out by Jesus...

…to deliver a message...

…that Jesus told them to deliver!

And, in so far as they...

…faithfully deliver that message...

…they are speaking the Words of Almighty God!

They have no inherent authority...

But insofar as they accurately proclaim the Words of Christ...

…they Speak with the authority of Christ!

Ryken says this...

…and we should all take it to heart:

To reject a royal messenger is to reject the royal person of the king who sent the messenger.

This is almost always a serious mistake, but never more so than when the King is the Sovereign Lord of the entire universe. — Ryken

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Brethren, make no mistake about it...

This is the position we are all in today...

…every time we encounter the Scriptures.

We today, “have the prophetic word...

…more fully confirmed”

How are we going to respond to that light?

We had better respond with...

Repentance

Faith

Obedience.

Do we need the Spirit of God to do that?

Let’s ask for his help.