Sunday Praise & Worship 10:00
Christian Education - 10:00 - Casual Dress - Loving Childcare
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Sermon Notes for Luke 10:1-4, 8-11, 17-24 Key Verse: Luke 10:19: “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.”
This passage from Luke’s Gospel is remarkable for its focus on the ministry and role of the followers of Jesus, not after Jesus’ crucifixion, but during his own ministry. Jesus appoints and sends 72 “others” in groups of two as a prelude to his own arrival and as an advance sign of the nearness of the kingdom of God, as workers into the harvest field of the Lord of the harvest. This missionary group expands on a similar sending story in Luke 9:1-6 paralleled in Mark (6:7-11) and Matthew 10:9-15), which involves only the twelve disciples.
Luke alone tells the story of this second, expanded commissioning and sending of the 72 missionaries. It is similar to the other stories of Jesus’ sending the twelve in that he sends them (1) 1n pairs, (2) with few provisions, (3) entrusting them to the hospitality of strangers (with explicit instructions for how to warn those towns who would not welcome them), in order to (4) proclaim the kingdom of God, heal the sick and to drive out demons.
Besides expanding on the size of the missionary team and the instructions for cursing (or warning) unwelcome towns, the Luke 10 story includes a description of the celebration between Jesus and his followers at the close of this missionary journey, when they were reunited. And whereas, at the outset of the Luke 9 version, Luke reports that Jesus gave power and authority to the disciples, Luke mentions Jesus’ granting of authority to overcome all power of the enemy at the close of the story in Luke 10, when Jesus is full of Joy through the Holy Spirit as the 72 return to him with excitement.
Luke 10 also mentions specifically three towns that would reject the 72: Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, three neighboring towns on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus spent much of his ministry. Along with cursing these towns for their obstinate refusal to acknowledge God’s presence and power in the miracles the 72 perform, Jesus tells the disciples that whoever rejects them rejects both Jesus and “the One who sent me.”
Jesus also says that whoever listens to the 72 would be listening to Jesus. And here is the remarkable thing: Jesus could have gone to these towns himself—but he sent his followers ahead to minister not only his message and power, but also his presence. On this Easter Sunday, we celebrate this authorization, empowerment and commissioning as a pre-resurrection resurrection.
Now, in a post-resurrection time, we stand far-removed from the physical presence of Jesus Christ. Yet when we examine this story, we celebrate that even during his earthly ministry, Jesus empowered and relied on his followers to communicate his presence and message through exhortation and healing. Then as now, his followers are the proof and the presence of the resurrected Jesus in a world starving for good news and the healing only Christ can provide. You are a follower of Jesus Christ. He has given you authority to overcome all the power of the enemy. In your life, Christ is risen indeed.
Questions for Reflection
1. Paul
of Tarsus described his own encounter with the resurrected Jesus on the road to
Damascus (Acts 9) as similar to that of the other Apostles (1 Corinthians 15:8).
When and how have you encountered Jesus the Messiah?
2. Compare
Luke 10:16 with Matthew 25:31-40. What doe these verses imply about where to
seek the living Jesus in our time? According to these standards, how is Christ
inviting you to experience his living presence in your life today?
3. What
do you make of the instructions about dependence on other people to host the
missionaries? Why do you think these instructions about dependence on others
were so integral to the mission? What application do they have in your life as
you follow Jesus? 4. How has the Holy Spirit filled you with joy today?
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