In a replay of what He did with the twelve (Lk 9:1-6), Jesus sends out a large group of disciples to proclaim the kingdom of God.  He sends them to prepare the way for Him as He travels to Jerusalem.  In so doing, He teaches us that there is urgency in proclaiming the good news; that there are few workers to meet a great need; that we are privileged to know and proclaim His message; and that God – the Lord of the Harvest – is sovereign over salvation. 

There is nothing better in this life than to be accepted by God, and God rejoices when His message is heard and believed.  Those truths should motivate us to go into the fields and work in His harvest.

1-12
Jesus appoints seventy followers as an advance team to go to the cities where He will travel on His way to Jerusalem.  The large number sent out speaks to the large number of towns and villages Jesus plans on visiting as His ministry winds down.  He sends them two by two likely to satisfy the Mosaic requirement for two witnesses to testify to any truth (Deut 19:15), and – more practically – for protection, fellowship, and accountability.

Depending on the translation, the number mentioned in verse 1 is either 70 or 72.  Both numbers are listed in manuscripts and there’s no way to definitively know which is accurate.  Ultimately, which is correct isn’t important because both have essentially the same symbolic meaning.  That both are in the seven family means they represent ‘the whole’.  There seems to be a connection with Genesis 10 where exactly 70 (or 72, depending on translation) names are mentioned, representing the world at the time.  Interestingly, seventy is also the number of Jacob’s family members who moved to Egypt (Gen 46:27), the number of elders who served Israel with Moses (Ex 24:1) and the rough number of religious leaders that make up the Sanhedrin (alternatively listed as 71 or 69).  The number of men Jesus sends is not random.

If the tie-in to Genesis 10 is correct, the number of disciples points to the good news being for all the world.  It’s a preview of what will happen in the church age after Jesus ascends.  The gospel isn’t just for Israel, it’s for all nations.  

Jesus gives essentially the same instructions to this group that He did to the twelve.  They are to take nothing with them – no extra clothes, no sandals (which likely means they aren’t to take an extra pair with them, not that they are to travel barefoot), no moneybag, nothing that a traveler on a journey would normally take.  They aren’t to greet anyone along the way, either.  In short, they are to go in a totally dependent state and go urgently, with no time for anything that’s not on mission.  [Not to read too much into the passage, but if we have the correct eternal perspective on the shortness of life and the life and death issues at stake, shouldn’t we act with the same urgency in reaching the nations with the gospel that Jesus urges here?]

Jesus speaks two truths to the group that are revealing.  He first tells them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”  This isn’t entirely clear, but what He seems to mean is that there are many people waiting to hear and respond to the good news of the kingdom.  That would go along with a nation that’s been waiting thousands of years for the Messiah; its people will be very receptive to the message.  It’s also possible, however, that He simply means there are many people in need of hearing the good news whether they’re ready to respond or not.  That the laborers are few could mean that believers will always be vastly outnumbered by those needing to believe (few find the narrow way to life compared with those who travel the broad way to destruction – Matt 7:13-14), and so the number of laborers will always be smaller than those waiting to be harvested.  Here again, though, He may also mean that few believers are willing to go into the harvest in the first place.  Regardless, the instruction Jesus gives as a result – and it’s worth considering that He says this to followers about to go into the harvest and so His instructions might be different if He were talking to those who weren’t – is to pray to the Lord of the harvest that He’ll send more laborers. 

Several points about this verse are important to notice.  First, whether the small number of laborers points to Christians versus non-Christians or to willing Christians versus non-willing Christians, the responsibility for believers is the same.  We’re to go into the harvest.  Second, whether the plenty of the harvest points to people in general who need to hear the gospel or to people who will respond to the gospel, the lesson is also the same; there’s a great need.  And lastly, we have a responsibility to remember who is Lord of the harvest – it’s not up to us to ensure the success of the harvest, simply to work in the fields – and to pray to Him to continue to send laborers.

The second truth Jesus tells them is that He sends them as lambs in the midst of wolves.  While the harvest is plentiful, it doesn’t mean there aren’t dangers and opposition.  They go in the power of Jesus, but they go to a world hostile to His ways.  As such, they are essentially defenseless apart from His power.  They go totally dependent on the strength and provision of God.  That’s why they take nothing with them – it forces them to depend daily on God.

As part of that dependence, they are to count on the hospitality of those they minister to.  Whatever house they enter first, they’re to stay there as long as they’re in the town (meaning they aren’t to shop around for the best place to stay).  They are to eat whatever is set before them (which could mean they aren’t to worry about clean versus unclean foods – although presumably this would only come into play if they are in the house of a gentile).  They are also to give a blessing of peace to the owner of the house.

As they go, they are to proclaim the kingdom of God (the same mission Jesus gave to the twelve and the same mission He has said is His own – 4:43, 8:1, 9:2) and heal the sick (which we find out later includes casting out demons).  The power to heal is to give credence to their message.

If a household or city doesn’t receive them, they are to publicly rebuke it by going into the street and pronouncing a curse and symbolically shaking the dust of the town off their feet.  Jesus says that at judgment it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that city.  The tie-in with Sodom is interesting.  Sodom was punished for its debauchery and godlessness but remember that it specifically tried to mistreat the angels who visited it – the Sodomites showed no hospitality to them.  That the cities who reject the disciples of Jesus will be judged more harshly shows that the sins are similar – lack of receiving God’s messengers – but the sin is worse because these messengers are specifically delivering Jesus’ good news of the kingdom of God.  This statement has to make an enormous impact on those who hear it since Sodom is the standard of godlessness and judgment.

13-16
Jesus uses the statement about Sodom to launch into a condemnation of the current Galilean cites that haven’t responded to His ministry.  He mentions Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.  Apparently these are cities where He has ministered – we know Capernaum is essentially His home base – but they have not repented even as they’ve witnessed His miracles and healings.  Since they’ve not responded, it will be harder on them at judgment than it will be for Tyre and Sidon (well-known gentile cities that were objects of judgment in the Old Testament).

Jesus’ statements about the three cities (along with what He said in verse 12 about the cities that reject the disciples) point to several truths.  One, there are degrees of judgment.  Not all who stand before God on the final day without Jesus’ righteousness will be judged the same.  God knows all hearts and all actions and will judge accordingly.  Two, it is much worse to hear the truth and reject it than to live godlessly without hearing the truth at all.  The Galilean cities will be in worse shape because they directly rejected the Messiah even after hearing His words and witnessing His power.  Three, the good news forces a sober choice.  If it’s accepted, the hearer is accepted by God.  If it’s rejected, the judgment is worse than if the hearer hadn’t heard the gospel at all.  Exposure to the gospel brings salvation or greater judgment.  Four, it’s a measure of God’s sovereignty that He knows what would’ve brought Tyre and Sidon to repentance.  That’s an amazing and sobering truth and one that’s difficult to get our minds around.  If God knows what would’ve caused them to repent, why didn’t He provide for the works that would’ve accomplished it?

Verse 16 explains why rejection of the message is so dire.  The one who listens to the followers of Jesus actually listens to Jesus, and the one who rejects the followers of Jesus actually rejects Jesus AND rejects the One who sent Him.  The gospel message is the message of Jesus.  To reject it isn’t just rejecting a way of life; it’s directly rejecting Jesus, the Son of God.

17-20
The seventy return with joy and give a glowing report.  They say even the demons were subject to them in Jesus’ name.  Jesus answers them by saying that He was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.  This isn’t entirely clear but seems to mean that the disciples’ power over demons is a precursor to the day that Satan will be fully defeated.  The kingdom of God on earth is the beginning of the end for Satan and the cross will ensure his defeat.  His doom is so sure that Jesus has already seen what it will look like.

This leads into what Jesus says in verse 19.  The followers of Jesus have nothing to fear.  Nothing in the enemy’s arsenal can hurt them.  He says they can tread on serpents and scorpions without getting hurt (clearly meant figuratively) and that they have authority over all the power of the enemy.  This is an enormously encouraging truth.  As believers, the enemy can attack us and put obstacles in our path and make life hard, but he ultimately has no authority over us (…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world – I Jn 4:4).  Our authority is over him, not vice versa (we never have to sin; we aren’t slaves, we’re free).

That they can cast out demons is not what should cause the group to rejoice (even though – in fairness to them – that has to be one heck of a rush).  What they should celebrate is that their names are recorded in heaven.  Nothing is more worthy of celebrating than our salvation.  EVERYTHING is secondary to it.  We should live a life in awe of the gospel and in awe of the Redeemer who provided it and in awe of the God who allowed us to hear it and believe it.  That we are His should continually motivate us to thankfulness and joy.  [At any given time of the day, an entirely appropriate prayer is, “I’m so glad I’m Yours.  I’m so glad I’m free.  Thank You, Father, for making me Yours.”] 

21-24
Jesus now publicly prays and rejoices that God has made the truth of the gospel evident not to the wise and intelligent (people who think they have no need of redemption) but to babes.  Jesus has said in other places that we need to approach the kingdom as children understanding our total dependence and need.  Here He says that those are the people God’s been pleased to reveal the kingdom to.  Jesus rejoices because the good news of the kingdom has been heard and accepted.  It’s a picture into His heart that this is what causes Him to rejoice.

He then says that ALL things have been handed over to Him by the Father; that no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son, unless the Son has revealed it to them.  In saying this He claims equality with God and sovereignty over salvation.  NOTHING is outside of His sovereignty and that includes those who accept Him and His message.

He ends by telling the disciples (and us) that they are privileged to live when they live.  They have seen the promised Messiah and heard His message.  These are things the OT prophets and kings longed to see (I Pet 1:10-12).  As believers armed with the gospel, we live in the best time in world history.  What was promised from Eden until Christmas was fulfilled in Jesus, and living in the church age with the full scriptures means we are the most privileged of all God’s followers.

Thoughts
We are to go because there is a great need and few workers to meet it.
We are to go in utter dependence on the Lord of the harvest.
We are to go understanding the dire ramifications of the message we proclaim.
We are to go in confidence because nothing the enemy can do will stop us.
We are to go rejoicing because we are His.
We are to go knowing that He rejoices when His message is proclaimed and believed.