Messengers of the King

In our text today in the early verses of Luke 10, Christ gives instruction to those he’s sending ahead (2-12,16) and then warns against unresponsiveness to the message (13-15). The specifics are unique to the situation, but when the instructions are distilled down to their essence, we find them applicable to our own situation as his disciples.

Jesus sends seventy(-two) ahead in pairs. (v. 1)

He commissions 72 (or 70) - There are old and reliable manuscripts that support both numbers, so we can’t be absolutely certain which is the original. - Some scholars also think there may be symbolism in the numbers, such as representing the nations of the world (“a view the Jews based on Genesis 10” -Leon Morris), or reflecting the number of elders that Moses appointed to help him as judges over Israel (Num. 11:16ff). While Jesus is portrayed in the NT as a second (and better) Moses, I don’t personally find these suggestions of symbolism compelling.

“Others” - While Matt. and Mark also have the sending of the 12 throughout Galilee at the close of Jesus’ focused ministry in that region (what we covered at the beginning of Luke 9), only Luke records this additional occurrence with sending out others. - Good news for you and me. You don’t have to be one of the select 12 apostles to do the work!

LeBron James-esque superhuman physicality isn’t required to play basketball. You don’t have to be rich and powerful or elected president, to be a leader. - God delights in using nobodies to accomplish his purposes. That way he gets the credit he deserves!

Acts 4:13 ESV

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

The context is that they were boldly declaring before the Sanhedrin, who were trying to silence them, the truth that…

Acts 4:12 ESV

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

And the further evidence of God’s power working through them…

Acts 4:14 ESV

But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

[title slide again here]

Jesus sends the 72… To go ahead of him into towns and villages. - They were to be forerunners, more like the role of John the Baptist than our post-death and resurrection mission and message — They spoke good news in anticipation of the kingdom of God coming near in Jesus. We speak good news of what Christ has already accomplished… while also looking forward to future completion of God’s kingdom purposes through Jesus.

In pairs - “Heralds were generally sent ‘two by two’” (Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary), and sending them out in pairs also “fulfills the OT requirement for two witnesses (Deut. 17:6; 19:15).” (ESV Study Bible) - The fact that there were 35-36 pairs of them, spreading out to announce his coming in various towns and villages, would indicate that Jesus had a very busy schedule ahead of him.

Ok, that sets the stage for the rest of the passage.

In what follows, Jesus instructs his messengers concerning the mission.

The specifics, of course, apply to them uniquely in this situation, but as Jesus prepares them for the mission, he gives them some instructions from which we might derive principles that still apply to us. The simplicity and straightforwardness is almost surprising, but needed and helpful.

The first principle arising from what Jesus tells his messengers is that…

The mission requires prayer. (v. 2)

Jesus begins his instruction with a metaphor, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few...”

When a rich harvest was ready, a large number of workers might need to be hired, or many family members coming together to do the work, so that the harvest could be reaped and none would be wasted.

So there is a sense of urgency about this task.

And even as these messengers themselves go out to do Jesus’ work, they are to be requesting (from God) more workers for bringing in those who belong to Jesus. - As we pray and labor, we do not trust in our own ability or determination or persuasiveness, but in the one who is “Lord of the harvest.” We trust in the sovereign will and sovereign intervention of our God as we obey him. We obediently labor in the field; he already knows the harvest. He does and he will bring his own into his fold (to switch to the oft-used sheep metaphor).

The patience of God in these last days and the opportunity for souls to be saved should bring us to our knees in earnest, dependent prayer to God.

Before moving on, notice that the implication: as members are harvested to become disciples of Jesus, they themselves become laborers in the field to be more hands as Jesus reaps still more followers.

It’s like one of those games of tag where anyone who is caught becomes a seeker along with the one who tagged him/her.

Again, the mission requires prayer because of overall urgency, our dependency, and God’s sovereignty. So Jesus tells them that their ministry needs to be soaked in prayer, for God will gather them in and turn them into fellow workers.

Secondly, Jesus tells them up front that…

The mission involves risk. (vv. 3-4)

If Jesus were going for emotional feel-good as he says “God your way,” I don’t think telling them he’s sending them out as lambs amongst wolves is the way to talk them up.

But the Lord is infinitely wise. He knows that acknowledgment of risk teaches us dependence on the Good Shepherd for safety, guidance, and provision. - Who will guard us from harm according to his will? Who will show us where to go according to his word? Who will give us grass to graze (meet our basic needs) according to his riches in glory? - Acknowledging risk keeps us dependent on Jesus for these things, not trusting in ourselves or trying to do it our own way.

Knowing the risk also keeps us wary, alert. We’re not actually playing tag on the playground, and even as we aim to be Christ’s hands in the harvest, there is a great enemy of the Good Shepherd, who seeks to snatch and devour workers and would-be followers.

The other part that I’ve coupled in here with this matter of risk is found in verse 4, where Jesus is essentially telling them to…

Travel light in order to hurry. - You won’t be staying anywhere long, and you don’t need to be weighed down by extra belongings. No moneybag, no bag for extra belongings, not even an extra pair of sandals. And don’t waste time with greeting people on the road (in Eastern cultures, greetings could be fairly involved and time-consuming). Jesus isn’t telling them to be rude or that there is no place for evangelizing individuals (which we now tend to call personal evangelism), but he had a specific mission for them at this point in the particular places he would be going. (Were they perhaps also more populated? Perhaps. We are not told.)

So there’s risk due to opposition and there’s risk in not having control of your provision, but in a good way, this traveling light requires further dependence to trust God not only for safety but also for provision (which comes in the form of hospitality from those who respond rightly to the kingdom).

In post-cross evangelism we are not instructed to travel quite so light for the purpose of haste. Jesus instructed them accordingly in Luke 22 (35-38 - this time to take a knapsack and money pouch and even a sword), basically in preparation for ministry that would be much more long-term when he was gone.

Much of disciple-making, especially in hardened cities and hard to reach places, takes time and diligence. In fact, most in our own circles believe that the best methodology for advancing the gospel is church-planting in communities. The local church then becomes the source for mature and established believers who can carry on spreading the kingdom (see Eph. 4).

Perhaps some other time we’ll have deeper discussions on modern missiology. For now we need to keep moving in the text, but if I may add just one more thought here regarding traveling light in this life: As citizens of a higher and better kingdom, we are only sojourners here, even like Abraham. So while we may yet please God in owning a house and car (or two), we certainly waste time an energy on things that will not last if we try to amass earthly possessions. Many of us do well to consider traveling lighter in this life and to hold our earthly possessions with wide open hands before God. “Whether I have these or not, God, I have you, and that is enough.”

Again, the reality of risk leads us to further dependent prayer. We pray for Christ to harvest former enemies and transform them into followers, fellow laborers. And we pray, not for God to make us rich in this world, but to provide for our needs.

Jesus continues: As you go, you will find that...

Some will respond positively. (vv. 5-9)

In their urgency and dependency, Jesus gives them an indication of how they will know who those are who are responding positively to the message: When they greet them with “peace be upon this house” (not an abnormal greeting), the responsive ones will evidence their receptiveness with hospitality.

Such a one is called a “son of peace” (v. 6) and I can’t help but conclude that this means these are the ones who are responding positively to the message of the kingdom drawing near. These are people of faith.

Jesus’ followers might say something like, “We come with news that the Messiah has come and is making his way here… to you!” The positive response of a son of peace is, “Well, that IS good news. Please stay with us as long as you like to spread the word in our town.”

To the unresponsive, your blessing of peace will figuratively “return to you.” Jesus has much more to say moments later about such people.

And these ones who respond positively (as we see in vv. 7&8) will be the ones whom God uses to provide for the basic needs of the missionaries while they are briefly staying in that town/village. Jesus instructs his missionaries then that they may eat whatever is offered to them (no need to be picky at this time about other dietary restrictions according to Jewish law and custom) and that they should just stay in whatever house welcomes them (not seeking out better accommodation or anything, because they won’t be staying long).

In such a location where they have received a warm reception (by someone who shows them such hospitality), Jesus tells them to perform healing miracles (in his name and by his power, of course) to draw attention to the message that they bring: “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” In other words, Jesus is on his way here, and more than that, he is the long-awaited Messiah.

Jesus tells his messengers that in some of the places they are going to, the people there (at least someone there), will respond hospitably to those who are coming to announce Jesus and the inauguration of his Kingdom in a new way on earth.

But, Jesus says, they can anticipate that there will be other locations where not a single person or household will receive them.

Many others will reject. (vv. 10-12)

Based on the indication of Scripture, those who repent and trust in Christ alone as the means to enter God’s kingdom are few by comparison to the many who reject that free gift of grace.

Under the current circumstances, when they are not received, they are to go publicly into the streets to denounce the faithless community and show them with a dramatic active metaphor that they are proving themselves unfit for the kingdom. - Pious Jews would shake the dust off their feet when leaving pagan lands in order to indicate a desire not to taint God’s holy land with the sinful godlessness of pagans (the notion of the holy land being part and parcel with the OT Jewish belief system). - These towns that are inhospitable to even greetings of God’s peace (from Jesus’ messengers) show the depth of their godlessness.

In the same breath of issuing the warning (we see also in v. 11), they are yet to proclaim that “the kingdom of God has come near.” - Even in the church age, one application of this to us should be clear: When it seems to us that someone is rejecting Christ, we should still share with them the good news as well as warn them of the serious consequences of such rejection. (Even in such truthfulness, we do not need to be rude, but can be direct in a way that is gracious and kind in our speech. cf. Col. 4:6)

Following that instruction, Jesus laments the seriousness of the decision they are making: For dramatic emphasis, he makes a comparison to a city that in Jewish tradition became synonymous with the most godless city in memory—Sodom. He states that it will be more bearable on judgment day for Sodom than for those who reject God’s invitation into the kingdom through Jesus. - While some believe that there are different levels of punishment, even in hell, I take this to mean not that the punishment itself is different (eternal condemnation in hell), but that the knowledge of having been so near to the truth without receiving it will forever torment them. - This should be a severe warning to those of us who grow up in Christian households and grow up in a church that is genuinely centered around the gospel. Imagine standing before Christ at the judgment, and the horror of knowing that now it is too late, but in all that time that you were exposed to the truth, you rejected it for the lie that you are your own master and have no need of God or of submitting to him.

What verse 12 already indicated, verses 13-15 hammer home.

The unrepentant will be judged. (vv. 13-15)

As Jesus speaks of those who might reject, that leads naturally for Luke to mention those who had already done so. In these verses, he quotes Jesus’ pronouncement of woes upon some of the cities in Galilee who had seen and heard so much of Christ’s work and teaching, but had largely been unresponsive to the coming of his kingdom.

Chorazin and Bethsaida were two cities on the northern side of Galilee where Jesus did a great deal of ministry in the region. Bethsaida was the site near which Jesus fed the 5,000. As for Chorazin, it is only mentioned here so we might rightly conclude (even as John’s gospel tells us), that there were many more miracles and things Jesus performed that are not recorded for us. Apparently Jesus did mighty works there as well.

Tyre and Sidon were cities to the northwest of Galilee, along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and were infamous in the OT as unrighteous cities (referenced in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Amos).

Jesus says that if they had experienced what these cities have seen, they would have repented long ago. That is a harsh criticism indeed. - Evidence of contrition often was demonstrated in their world at the time by… “‘Sackcloth and ashes’ were characteristic of mourning, which sometimes expressed repentance.” -Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Lk 10:13. “‘Sackcloth’ is rough cloth made from goat’s hair; “ashes” were either placed on the head (2 Sam. 13:19) or sat upon (Job 2:8; Jonah 3:6).” -ESV Study Bible.

“He also singled out His adopted hometown, Capernaum, which had been a site of His miraculous works. The message was clear: those cities (no doubt representative of others as well) were to be more severely judged than pagan cities, such as Tyre and Sidon (cf. Sodom, v. 12) which did not have the benefit of the Lord’s miraculous works and words.” -John A. Martin, “Luke,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 233.

Jesus asks the rhetorical question, Will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. - “After the exercise of the judgment, Hades is the place where the unrighteous reside (Luke 16:23; Rev. 20:13-14). (Bock, 1005) Rather than perfect rest in the presence of God, those who reject will suffer eternal separation from God, residing in a place of torment… called Hell. The afterlife options are one or the other.

Finally, the closing thought from our verses today will also serve to conclude our message this morning. In v. 16 Jesus underscores the disciples’ authority as his representatives. - How do we apply that to our situation as well?

We represent the King. (v. 16)

If we are Christ’s disciples, his followers, then we are also his workers, his messengers. - That means that in everything, we represent the King.

When we proclaim Christ, people are either receiving or rejecting the word from God, not from us. It is not a personal acceptance or offense to us… they are receiving or rejecting God. And we trust in his sovereign will to draw his sheep to himself. We need only be faithful to obey his call ourselves and then to be his messengers to others.

Take a deep mental breath and consider the seriousness of the responsibility, and the privilege of being the bearers of his image and message. - We represent the King in our manner of life, and we are the official bearers of his message.

And in that endeavor, there’s no substitute for knowing him, abiding in him. (John 15)

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