Luke 10:1-24—“Proclaim Jesus Christ”
1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 5 But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ 12 But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were 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 tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. 16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
17 Then the seventy 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 give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
23 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”
Introduction: There are many people who say that the church needs to become more modern. They say we need to get rid of all the old stuff, and follow the fashions of this modern world, and adapt ourselves to meet the needs of the modern day. In my own church, they tell me that we need a band, and a nice building, and some public relations, if we want to be big and influential. But look at this example of how Jesus sent his disciples out to announce his coming.
In this passage we read in verse 1, “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.” Notice that these men did not go out on their own initiative, or because they thought it was a good idea. They went out because Jesus appointed them to go. So it is with us today. In Ephesians 4:11-12, we read. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” In both these passages the emphasis is upon the fact that it is Jesus Christ himself who has appointed his messengers to go and proclaim him to the world and to the church. Those who go out to proclaim Jesus Christ never do so because they think it’s a good idea, but because Christ has called them. That’s why St. Paul says to Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.” [1 Timothy 4:14] Timothy did not take the office of minister upon himself, but he was appointed by Jesus Christ, and his appointment was recognized by the elders of the church. That’s why true ministers feel as St. Paul did when he said, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” [1 Corinthians 9:16]
In verse 2 of this passage, our Lord tells us why he is sending them out:“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” There are many who need to hear the message of the coming of Jesus Christ, and God has chosen the means of preaching to bring people to himself. God could have chosen some other means, such as speaking directly to people in visions and dreams, or logic or reason, but he has instead chosen the means of preaching as the way of bringing people to himself. It is as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” And so, Jesus tells us that preachers are necessary to bring in those who are to receive salvation.
But then, our Lord tells us that we don’t need anything when we go to proclaim him. In verses 3 and 4, we read, “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.” It’s interesting that later on, our Lord tells us that this is not an eternal command for all time, and that now we may take the things if we have need of them [St. Luke 22:36] Nowadays, we think that we need all sorts of things to proclaim the Gospel, but Jesus is teaching us here that we need nothing to preach the Gospel. Yes, things may be useful, and they are not sin, but they are not necessary. Even a place to live or food to eat are not necessary, because God can provide them as well. We read in verses 5 through 8, “But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you” To tell you the truth, I can’t even imagine doing such a thing in modern America. We call pastors, and promise them support, and provide for them. And this is a good and godly practice. Yet, I know a Vietnamese man, who many consider to be a holy man, and people bring him everything he needs—food and money and clothes. No, I’m not saying that he really is a holy man, but, Jesus our Lord was telling his disciples and us that when we go to proclaim him to the world, our primary concern should not be how we shall be supported. Too often we are concerned with being safe and secure, when in fact, there is no safety in this world. He tells us in verse 3, “I send you out as lambs among wolves.” He knows that there are dangers out there, and that there is no real security in this world if we preach Jesus Christ, for if we do so, people will seek to destroy us.
In the case of sending out the seventy, he gave them miraculous powers to heal the sick, but these were given that the people might hear the message of the coming of the kingdom of God. And then he tells them not to waste their time. In verses 10 and 11, he says, “But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’” While this command is directed at the seventy, it applies to us as well. Sometimes we waste our time nagging people, when we should be spending our time proclaiming Jesus as the Savior. It is as St. Peter says in 1 Peter 3:1, “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives.” Yes, believing wives should tell their husbands the Gospel, but having done so, it is not their responsibility to speak of it day and night, but live a life which is worthy of Christ, that their husbands might be convinced of the truth of the Gospel in their lives.
Having said that, there is no excuse for those who reject the proclamation of Jesus Christ. He says in verses 12 through 15, “But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were 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 tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.” These are harsh words. Fire from heaven rained upon Sodom for their sins, and Jesus is saying that it will be better for them than for those who reject the message of Jesus Christ. Some may object and say that this judgment is too harsh, but those who lived in Sodom did not know nearly as much of Jesus, and had never seen his miracles, while those in Israel had heard his words and seen with their own eyes the power of Christ.
But we have the promise that when we go, we do not go alone. We go as he has sent us, and we proclaim the words that he has given us, and so he says in verse16, “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” Think about this for a minute. Here, today, when I proclaim the words of Jesus Christ, it is not I who is speaking—Jesus himself is speaking to you. Yes, I as a man can and do make mistakes when I speak, but when I speak the words of Christ, it is not I, but Christ Jesus speaking to you. When you listen and pay attention to those words, you are listening and paying attention to Christ Jesus. Or, if you reject the words of Jesus that I proclaim to you, you are not rejecting me, you are rejecting Christ.
The seventy return, and they seem almost surprised, as we read in verse17 “the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’” It’s almost as if they didn’t believe that they were going out in the name and power of Christ. But that is exactly what happened. In verses18 and 19 we read, “And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” He is here declaring that we go in the power and authority of Christ, and that we have the victory over all the power of the enemy.
But as great as this is, Jesus goes on to say to us, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” [verse 20] Our Lord is reminding us that what is important for us is the he our Savior, and that he will never let us go or desert us. In his words, our names are “written in heaven.” If such is the case, how could we be lost? It is not the wonders that are done, or even those who are converted to Christ that should convince us of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but that he has promised us that we have eternal life if we trust in him.
At this point Jesus rejoices. Sometimes Jesus is portrayed as being like a stained glass window, or a force, but he is a human being as well as God, and as such, he rejoices. We read in verse 21, “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit.” Our Lord takes joy in our salvation, when we come to him. And so he continues in the same verse and says,” I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.” That is, it is not the people of this world who think that they are smart and wise who receive Jesus as their savior. They don’t need a savior, because they already think they know everything. But rather, it is those who are humble, and who recognize their need, and who do not have the things of this world, who can come to Jesus Christ. And as he says at the end of this verse, “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.” It is God’s will that the humble, the people who are nothing in this world, should come to him through his Son. And, we have the assurance that this is exactly what will happen, as he says in verse 22, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” No one can come to God unless they come to Christ, and no one can come to Christ unless Christ reveals himself to him. And that is why we preach the Gospel, that God might use the preaching of the Gospel to bring people to a knowledge of himself.
So finally, he says to his disciples, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.” Many people would like to inherit eternal life, or at the very least solve their problems, but they search in vain for the solutions. But the Lord is telling us here that he has the words of life, and in him is the life. The problem with people is that they want to be prophets and kings, but they are not the ones who are to be saved. Christ has proclaimed himself to the world, and those who come to him, whether rich or poor, slave or free, male or female, Jew or Gentile, and the humble people who trust in him shall receive salvation.
And so we, who trust in Christ, proclaim him to the world. We may not have all that others have, but we have all that really matters—the precious good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. And God uses this simplest of means, the proclamation of His Son, to bring his people to himself.
Amen.
