The Way

Yesterday, as we began in 9:51, we were starting the second of three parts of Luke’s Gospel. Up until that verse, Luke’s narrative mostly followed Matthew’s and Mark’s. Up until now, we have read about many deeds that Jesus did…yes we also read of some of his teaching, but in this section we will read much more of it.

Jesus as teacher is what we will be dealing with, and for all the sermons I have heard, and all the classes I have taken, I still need to listen. Because in Jesus’ day, to learn from a Rabbi is not too merely “know what the Rabbi knows…it is to be like the Rabbi.” The idea of being a follower of Jesus, a disciple to use the fancy religious word, is to be like him.

We read in 9:51-53, the start of this middle-third, that Jesus has set his face to Jerusalem, and we will be with him on this way until 19:44. And we are, in a sense following Him on this way. He invited the following yesterday in three verses: 9:57. 59, 61. But Jesus pointed out yesterday how our following him was not to be a “Sunday recreational event,” but instead a life commitment.

Following him means we will come to forks in the road. Sometimes taking the path that follows him might be a decision as to something in your workplace, an event you attend or not, a group you hang out with or not, a policy you support, or not…sometimes it may be as to where you work (Luke 5:37). Following him comes in a myriad of ways, and what we learn today is that to follow Jesus…is also to be sent.

Read through the text and then I have a closing thought or two at the end.

10 After 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. 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.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

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.”

The Return of the Seventy-Two

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.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will

²¹ In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²² All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³ Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴ For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

We are all to be heralds of the gospel. One of the commentators I am leaning heavily on this Lent (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Luke, Bible Speaks Today Series) notes that Jesus did not send out the 12, but rather the 72. The numbers are important. The 12 would indicate the apostles, while the 72 would indicate the church…in other words all of us are sent to bear witness to Jesus.

We could talk a lot more about how we “bear witness” but let’s hold that off for another day. I want to press into the part where the disciples return. Jesus explains to them the point of this spiritual battle is they did not “do the things they did” in their own power. Yes they were obedient. Yes they went and proclaimed the Good News. Yet they were given authority (10:21-24). He is making them into his messengers. It is not about them (or us) running out on our own. We must allow him to make us and send us. We must, like those who have gone before us say, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20). This is the nature of one who is on The Way with Jesus.