I have to be honest; I had never heard or read this passage
of the Bible until about 2 weeks ago. I
was reading the Gospel of Luke in its entirety as research for a paper I was writing
on the Theology of Chaplain ministry.
The Gospel of Luke records the most about Jesus’ ministry while he was
on earth, and as I was reading, I had no recollection of ever hearing this
story in Sunday school, taught from the pulpit, or reading it on my own. Several things stuck out to me on which I
thought I could reflect.
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. 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. Go your way; behold,
I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no
knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter,
first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace
will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 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. Whenever you enter a town and they
receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them,
'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' Luke 10:1-9 ESV
First off
all, this must have taken some planning on Jesus’ part. I know that he is omniscient and omnipotent,
but while on earth, he chose to deny himself use of those attributes, so I
think he had to make a plan just like you or I would. Who were these 72 people. If 12 of them were the apostles, that leaves
60 other people who were vital to Christ’s ministry who have gone down in history
as being unnamed. Principle: Serving Christ does not always get you remembered, but we do
it anyway. I wonder if he has specific duo’s in mind, if he numbered them
off gym class style “1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2……” of his they got to choose. It says that they went to all the cities that
he was planning to minister in, so this shows that Jesus put forethought into
his earthly ministry. Principle: Have a plan, random ministry is
rarely effective ministry. Jesus sends
them out saying “There is a lot of work
to do, and not a lot of people to do it, oh yeah, you are going out as sheep
with the wolves.” I don’t know about
you, but when I minister for Christ, I want to think that with Christ on my
side, who can stand against me!! But Jesus
himself said, you are pretty much going to be helpless and vulnerable. This reminds me of a quote from Henri Nouwen’s
book In the Name of Christ. In it he says of his ministry to the
disabled people of Daybreak, one of the L’Arche Communities, “These broken,
wounded, and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of my relevant
self and forced me to reclaim the unadorned in which I am completely
vulnerable, open to receive and give love, regardless of any accomplishments.” Ministry
is not about what I can do, it is not about me at all, it is about the people
to whom you minister, and ultimately about God.
Christ sent these 72 people out for the benefit of the people they
were going to come in contact with. I
think it was also to stir up excitement for when Jesus did come to that town,
people would want to see Jesus. Take
nothing with you – Translation: God will
provide for your needs. Speak to no
one on the road – Translation: Go with a
sense of purpose, and do not get distracted before you get to where HE has sent
you. Where ever the disciples went,
they were to be peaceful. Don’t stir up trouble, remember blessed are
the peacemakers. Eat what they give
you – Be gracious and thankful. Heal
the sick and proclaim the coming kingdom.
Christ gave them the gift of healing and they were to use it. We
are to use whatever gifts we have been given for his glory. We are also to proclaim that Christ is coming
back, and that he is coming soon.
Go ye an do likewise - have a great weekend, and happy lentening.
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