Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:16-20
But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
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.
2 Corinthians 4:5-6
For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
1 Timothy 4:11-13
Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but show yourself as a model to those who believe in word, conduct, love, faith, and purity. 13 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
We come now to the 9th chapter here in our study of Luke. The context of what takes place here is in a sense true to the chronology even though Luke does leave out something that Mark includes. Between the miracle of Jairus’ daughter being brought back from the dead and our text for this study, Jesus goes back to His birth town of Nazareth. There He had been rejected and nearly killed because of the message that He preached earlier in His ministry. They thought they had arrived, they felt that they were the chosen people because they had this great prophet of God right in their own town. Jesus at that time preached a message that showed that they too would be rejected because of their lack of faith, disobedience and ritualistic worship. They were depending on their heritage and Jesus destroys that thought with the message He preached on how God rejected unfaithful Israel in Elijah and Elisha’s time. You can read the 2 Bible studies I wrote on this section in Luke 4:16-30 linked here in this study.(Jesus Teaches In His Hometown Of Nazareth. and The People In Nazareth Respond To Jesus’ Teaching.)
It is after this that we pick up the chronology of Jesus sending out the twelve Apostles. We must keep in mind that this event is somewhere in the middle of Jesus’ ministry. Somewhere between 18 to 24 months into the ministry of Jesus we see Him send out these twelve for the first time. There is only about a year and a half left in Jesus’ life before He goes to the cross so this is a preparation for what is to come. These 12 men, minus Judas plus Matthias, will be the group to carry on the ministry of spreading the Gospel and it is here that we will see them go out with the power that God gives them for their eventual commission after the ascension of Jesus. Let’s look at our first point as we open up the 9th chapter.
1.Jesus empowers the twelve for the work of the ministry.
Look with me at Luke 9:1 And calling the twelve together, He gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.
Every person that ever preaches, teaches, ministers, mentors or is used in any area of Christian ministry must always remember that they are not to go in their own power. It is not in our own personal abilities that we go to share the Gospel and it is never in our own ability that we involve ourselves in ministry. Notice here that Jesus calls the twelve Apostles to Him and then gives them power and authority over all demons and to heal diseases.
I think we must never take this portion of Scripture as the normative for every believer. To many people throughout history and in our time have made claims to having this power and authority. They have made the claim but have never been able to show this to be true. What was done here was for a specific reason and a specific time. This was done to these twelve men only and was not to be the norm for every believer.
I know there would be many arguments against this so I want to address a couple of those here. Many people would say well what about the 70 that Jesus sends out just 1 chapter over? In Luke 10:8-9 Jesus instructs the 70 that 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.’
Jesus sends these 70 out for a specific reason and a specific purpose. Most people including these 70 focus to much on the miraculous manifestations but that was not the point. In Luke 10:1 it says that He sent these 70 to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.
This was never the normative action for all believers of all time. These examples of the 12 and the 70 were done for specific reasons. Yet they would have the power to heal and authority over demons but they were also to preach. Remember this has been a major theme throughout Jesus’ ministry that we have seen over and over again. This will be very apparent as we conclude this study.
The other area I want to point out that will become and argument against this is at the end of Mark’s Gospel. Mark 16:9-20 has been debated often because in the oldest manuscripts of this book these verses are not there. This has concluded to many that these verses were added by a scribe that would have including this to add context to what happened. If you stop at verse 8 of that chapter, Jesus had risen, the grave was empty so there is no diminishing of the Gospel message. These verses being excluded is not even a new argument even though the earliest manuscripts were discovered after the translation of the KJV. I encourage you to do a study of this on your own but I do hold to what the oldest manuscripts show us which excludes these verses. I say all of this because this is an area that is brought up often from what Mark 16:17-18 says. It says And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 and they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Nowhere do we find in Scripture that every believer has these signs to validate their status as a believer. What we do have is the fruit of the Spirit, gifts that are from the Spirit and the power to fulfill the Great Commission.
I say all of this to show that what we see in the sending out of the twelve Apostles is for that time and for a specific reason that we will see as we move through this text. This moves us now to our next point.
2.Jesus sends the twelve out to spread the Gospel.
Look with me at Luke 9:2-5 And He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; nor have two tunics apiece. 4 And whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. 5 And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
Here we clearly see that they were not to just have some healing services but they were to preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God. Jesus set the example as He went throughout the many cities and villages. He went to preach and teach the people and while He was there, He would heal the sick. This validated His claim as the Son of God and now the disciples would do the same to validate their association with Jesus.
I always like taking us back to Jesus’ words in Luke 4:43 where He says “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”
The plan of God would lead Jesus to the cross to be the propitiation for us but while on Earth Jesus was to be preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. This too was the disciples focus and also should be ours.
Jesus gave the disciples some instructions as they went out in Luke 9:3-5. He says first in verse 3 “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; nor have two tunics apiece.
This seems to be very odd to us. It would seems to us that we need to be prepared with as much as we can take. Jesus here seems to be teaching them a lesson that they obviously still needed as well as we do often too. It was a lesson of trusting Jesus no matter the circumstances. This could take us back to what Jesus say in Matthew 6:31-33 that says Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Again this is not the norm but was only a lesson to trust in what Jesus commands them to do. Later Jesus says this in Luke 22:35-36 “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Not a thing.” 36 And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword should sell his garment and buy one.
The lesson is to trust in Jesus because they all would eventual face severe persecution and death for spreading the Gospel. If they could trust Jesus in this, they would know that they would be empowered to face even more difficult times.
Jesus continues in His instruction in Luke 9:4-5 by saying And whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. 5 And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
This account in Matthew says in Matthew 10:11 And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave.
They were to find a place to stay of someone that was welcoming and willing to receive them not those that were looking for some type of gain. In Matthew’s account Jesus continues by saying in verses 12-15 Now as you enter the house, give it your greeting. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you leave that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
The idea is to not allow people to abuse your message or your compassion. People in that time and ours will take advantage of nice people. They think that they can push those people to do what they want for a price. Jesus here warns them and tells them to leave and show them a sign of rejection from God by shaking the dust off of your feet as a testimony against them.
So we have the empowerment and the instructions which leads us to the event of the twelve actually going out without Jesus. Let’s look at our last point and verse for this study.
3.The Twelve depart in the power of the Lord Jesus.
Look with me at Luke 9:6 And departing, they were going throughout the villages, proclaiming the gospel and healing everywhere.
Essentially the twelve apostles go out to do the work that Jesus had been doing. They depart in the power given to them. They go with nothing of their own, depending solely on God’s providence. They have seen God work through God incarnate and now they will go out in this same power. This is a preview to what they will be doing as the Church age begins. I know the question always comes up as to whether Judas had this same empowerment since he was a betrayer and the ultimate hypocrite?
I definitely do not think we have enough evidence to say that he did or didn’t. Some may argue that he couldn’t have done miracles because he was an unbeliever and others may say that God can and will use whoever He desires to perform miracles. I do know that Luke 9:1, Matthew 10:1 and Mark 6:7 specifically says that Jesus gave this authority and power to the twelve. Along with what we see here in verse 6, it seems to me that he was given this power and authority even if he never used it. I do not think we can be clear and this is really just a trivial question that I think we must not give much attention towards.
The point is that Jesus is now empowering others as He will to all believers give power to be witness as Jesus says in Acts 1:8 you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the end of the earth.”
We will look at how the spreading of the news of Jesus reaches Herod and also we will look at the results of the work of the twelve when they return from their mission to evangelize in our next study.
Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Disciple's Direction 