We come along to the 10th chapter in the Gospel according to Luke for this study. It seemed to me that I was never going to get out of the 9th chapter because of so much content that needed to be looked at. In fact it took us 13 studies to get through that chapter. In the 9th chapter we have seen that Jesus made a shift in His ministry. He did not change how He was to minister, His goal was still to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal many throughout His journey, but He changed the area or region of His ministry. Luke 9:51 says Now it happened that when the days for Him to be taken up were soon to be fulfilled, He set His face to go to Jerusalem.
From that point Jesus began to make His way to Jerusalem which would eventually take Him to the cross. I want to point out that there is a good bit that has happened between Luke 9:62 and Luke 10:1. In fact the contents of all that happened is recorded in John 7:1 to John 10:21. Not much time has passed in these chapters but there has been many great times of teaching and healing. There were many conflicts from the Pharisees that looked to find a way to turn the people against Jesus. Once again it was not yet time for Jesus to die and many times Jesus slips away into the crowd.
During this time there is a lot of confusion concerning who Jesus is because the Pharisees were saying that Jesus was demon possessed and others were saying that He was a prophet. The time of Jesus going to the cross is around 6 months away as we begin to look at the 10th chapter. In this study we are going to see how Jesus uses 70 other disciples to go in the surrounding areas to minister in the same way that the 12 did. It would be in the power of God and for a specific purpose as Jesus plans.
In the Luke context Jesus had just finished with the section on what being a true disciple or follower was really about. There were probably many more that did not continue to travel with Jesus like the 3 that we looked at in the last 2 studies of chapter 9. With this long intro to help us bridge together what is going on let’s now look at our first point for this study.
1.The MISSION of evangelism.
Look with me at Luke 10:1-2 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2 And He was saying 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.
We notice again as we did when the 12 disciples were sent out, that what happens here is not some foundational act for all believers of all time. You can just take a tour through the book of Acts and see that not all believers had some special power to heal or to do ministry in this format. What we see here is for a specific purpose once again that the text makes very clear.
We notice at the beginning that the Lord appointed seventy others. They did not decide to do this on their own, they did not go in some power or authority of their own, they did not seek to do this and ask God to bless them in this act but Jesus clearly appoints these 70 and only these 70 at this time to go ahead of Him. Jesus appoints these 70 to go out on a mission.
Notice also that we do not know even one name from this group of seventy. We do not have them show up as the 70 later on or in the book of Acts, we have no information of who these seventy are so we will not spend time trying to speculate to who they are. Instead what I want us to see is the mission that this group had and really the motivation for why they are sent out.
We know they are going ahead of Jesus and then we see that *Luke 10:2 says And He was saying 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.*
These words seem very similar to what He says in John 4:35-38 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. 36 Even now he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
Paul even says in 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
*This is the idea that evangelism is like a harvest where you sow and reap produce. The mentioning of this as He sends the seventy out must be understood as the primary focus of their sending out. There are many aspects of what they will be doing but the primary focus is to spread the message of the Kingdom of God that John the Baptist preached and that Jesus has continually preached.*
So Jesus sends the men out just like He did His 12 disciples and as we will see the instruction that He gives to them is similar to what He gave the twelve. He also warns them of the opposition that they will encounter along the way. This leads us to look at our next point.
2.The MISFORTUNES of evangelism. Look with me at Luke 10:3-7 Go! Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no money belt, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the way. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him, but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.
The beginning of this statement could seem very unloving and uncaring. But again this idea is that you can not expect the pagan world to love the message that you have. We will look at the message in our next point but for now we see that Jesus tells them that I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
*This is the reality of evangelism. It will not always be easy, it will not always be times of great harvest. There will be opposition, there will be persecution and hatred toward us for what we are doing. In fact no other religion in the world is persecuted to the extent that Christians are and I believe firmly that it is because Satan hates the truth, the world hates the truth of their sinfulness and with that they lash out towards Christians.*
Jesus goes on to tell these seventy the same thing He told the 12 just months before, Carry no money belt, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the way. In other words trust God to take care of your needs while you are doing the work of ministry. I said this back in chapter 9 and I will say it again, this does not set a standard that we are to just be lazy and ask God to take care of us. This was an instruction for them to not take anything and trust that God will take care of their needs. Also they would have no time to worry with personal items instead they needed to be focused on the mission given to them by our Lord.
Jesus wants them to know that there will be those that may be in opposition but there will also be those that are accepting of them. Look with me at Luke 10:5-7 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him, but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.
To the one that is accepting to them they must bring about peace upon them but to the ones that are not accepting to them they are to move on. But Jesus does make a point to tell them not to keep on jumping from house to house. If they find those that are peaceful, giving and caring then they are to remain there during this brief time away from their homes.
This will lead us now to look at our last point about the message that they are to give while in these places and cities. Look with me at our last point for this study.
3.The MESSAGE in evangelism.
Look with me at Luke 10:8-12 And whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But in whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off against you; yet know this, that the kingdom of God is at hand.’ 12 I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
This section is not set as an example of how to do evangelism for all time but is the reality of what Jesus was trying to accomplish in this moment. I do believe there are principles that we can take from this section into evangelism for today. Clearly we see that if someone is open to receive the message that they were sending out then they were to heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
This was not some healing ministry that served as the standard for us to go by when reaching people for the Kingdom of God. All of this has to placed in the context that these seventy were doing what they were doing as they prepared to way for Jesus to come through these places. This was common for Jesus to do in fact we can remember back at Jesus doing this as He is going into Samaria back in Luke 9:52-56. There we saw an example of people that did not accept Him there at that time. But here he makes it clear that if they accept them then heal the sick and let them know that the Kingdom of God has come near to them. Jesus sends these seventy to prepare the people for His coming and to show that He has the power to heal not just because He is there but also through others. This is a definite sign of the power of God and His Messiah.
But there would be those that did not want to have any part of this also. Jesus says to the seventy in Luke 10:10-12 But in whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off against you; yet know this, that the kingdom of God is at hand.’ 12 I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
Here’s where many people will try to turn away from this type of preaching. They do not want to hear of the God that will reject people for their disbelief, they do not want to hear of the God of wrath and anger. But the message is clear that yes, we are to preach the Good news of the Gospel but along with that we must make clear that if you do not come to accept the message of the Gospel then there will be wrath and damnation. Jesus tells them to go out in the streets to proclaim this message. This is not some private conversation between the rulers of the city and these disciples but this is a condemnation of the reality of their disbelief and their rejection of the message of the Kingdom of God and His Messiah.
This idea of rejection and condemnation will carry us into our next study but for now we must understand that these seventy were sent out to evangelize but the results were not dependent on their abilities but on God’s sovereignty. Have you turned from believing that you can get to Heaven on your own. I pray today that you can turn from yourself and turn to the Savior. Don’t be one of those that falls into the hand of the wrath of God.
Disciple's Direction 