SEVENTY ARE SENT

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 9, 2020 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: September 9, 2020 from Luke 10:1-16

Theme: This passage shows us the offer of the kingdom through the Seventy whom Jesus sent.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Click HERE for the live-stream archive of this Bible Study.

We come now to a new division in the Gospel of Luke. It is the beginning of our Lord’s Judean ministry. It describes the few short months of our Lord’s activities as He made His way to Jerusalem to die on the cross for us. It’s a section that tells us of many of our Lord’s miracles and actions—beginning from Luke 10, and going all the way to the middle of Luke 19. And it’s a section that ends with our Lord’s triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem.

And in these opening few verses, we come to a story that is told only in the Gospel of Luke. It’s the story of how our Lord sent seventy of His followers out before Him—into the cities that He would come to on His way to Jerusalem—in order to proclaim Him to the Jewish people. They were proclaiming to the Jewish nation that the kingdom of God was now among them, and that their long-awaited King was coming to them.

As we read this passage, keep in mind that the mission of these seventy sent-ones was to declare the offer of the King specifically to the King’s people. Luke tells us, in Luke 10:1-12;

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. 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. 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. 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. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 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.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city” (Luke 10:1-12).

Now; it’s very important that we understand that this passage is giving instructions to a group of people who were in a completely different dispensation of God’s plan than we are today. Today, the Gospel is freely offered to the world—both to Gentile and Jew. It’s the offer of Jesus as the rejected King who is the crucified and resurrected Savior. But first, the authentic offer needed to be made of the King to the Jewish people—who would, at that time, reject the offer. As John told us in His Gospel, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believed in His name …” (John 1:11-12).

In verses 13-16, we see how our Lord anticipated the rejection from His own when He said before the Seventy;

“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. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (vv. 13-16).

But understand, dear brothers and sisters; the rejection of the Jewish people of their King—and their having handed Him over for crucifixion—was not somehow a surprise to God or a frustration of His plan. Rather, in His grace, it has resulted in the kingdom blessings now being offered to you and me!

All of this is important to keep in mind in looking at this passage. It is not a passage that is telling us about a mission that applies to us. It applied to the Seventy specifically—and only for a specific time and a specific purpose. It would be unwise and out-of-place for you and me to try to adopt the specifics of our Lord’s commands—in this passage—indiscriminately to ourselves. The Seventy were sent to announce the coming of the King to the Jewish people before He came to Jerusalem. Although some Jewish people received Him, the leaders of the Jewish people officially responded to this offer by rejecting their King; and now, the offer of God’s grace is made to the Gentiles—to “provoke” the Jewish people “to jealousy”, as Paul puts it in Romans 11:11. One glorious day, the Jewish people will once again see their King. And then, they will receive Him along with all the Gentiles who believe.

So; if you really want to understand the importance of this passage, don’t think of it necessarily as giving us instructions for evangelism in this current dispensation of grace. Rather, think of it as part of the story of how it was that God’s grace has come to us undeserving Gentiles—and as a reason why we can now spread the good news to all people!

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; even though this is a story of something that occurred in a completely different time than ours in the outworking of God’s grace, there are still—nevertheless—some lessons for us to learn from it.

First, let’s consider …

1. THE CALL OF THE SEVENTY (vv. 1-2).

Verse 1 tells us, “After these things”—that is, after the events we read of in Chapter 9 concerning the high cost of following our Lord—“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.”

Who were these Seventy? There were apparently many people who followed our Lord Jesus beside the Twelve. They should not be confused with the Twelve, because our Lord’s purpose for the twelve apostles was unique. The twelve apostles were called by our Lord to be His authorized eyewitnesses to the world after His resurrection. But these seventy others were called to bear witness of the Lord specifically to the Jewish people (as the Twelve were once sent to do (back in Chapter 9) before He came to Jerusalem. It’s interesting that there are Seventy (some ancient manuscripts have it that there were seventy-two); which may mean that the Twelve apostles had some share of supervision over six each. (Six multiplied by twelve is seventy-two.) They were sent in teams of two; so it may be that each apostle had supervision over three pairs each. And it’s interesting to note that we’re not told much of the details of what the Seventy were to go out and say. This may be because they—like the Twelve—had heard much of what the Lord had already taught, and thus knew what the basic message was that they were to proclaim.

And notice that they—like the Twelve—were taught that they were utterly dependent upon the Lord for their work. We’re told in verse 2 that 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.” They were to proceed with a sense of God’s absolute sovereignty; and that it is the heavenly Father—the Lord of the harvest—who raises His workers and gives forth the fruit of their labors. They went, not on their own initiative, but as a result of the Master’s call.

Now; that’s something we can take to ourselves. In this dispensation of the Lord’s work, we—like they in theirs—ought to pray that our sovereign God would raise up the workers for His harvest; and to go when He sends us!

Then, notice the specifics of …

2. THE COMMISSION OF THE SEVENTY (vv. 3-12).

First, we see their conduct. Our Lord tells them that their conduct is to be gentle. He said in verse 3, “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.” Those who whom they would make the offer of the kingdom would sometimes be vicious and would reject it. Eventually, they would crucify their King. But those who went out to proclaim the kingdom were to be gentle and meek in their manner of doing so. We’re to be the same. We don’t go out to force the message of the gospel on people who don’t want it. We go out with a willingness to suffer for our message—not to bring suffering upon others.

And what’s more, the Seventy were to go out in a humble and peaceable manner. In verses 4-6, our Lord told them, “Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 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.” They weren’t to try to gather up a lot of supplies; because as the King’s ambassadors, they had a right to expect that the King’s subjects would provide for them. And they were to be on-point and direct about their mission, because they were under orders. They were not coming with a message of hostility, but of peace; and so they were to bring a blessing of peace. In this day, we don’t go out expecting unbelieving people to support us. But we do bring a message of ‘peace with God’ to them.

And they were to be receptive and gracious. In verses 7-8, our Lord tells the Seventy, “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.” They weren’t to go around from house to house—trying to find the best arrangements they could get. Instead, they were to be humbly receptive and respectfully grateful. This ought to be our manner too when we—in our time—minister the good news to unbelieving people.

So then; that was to be their conduct. Now, notice what was to be their message. In verse 9, Jesus tells the Seventy who enter into the cities and places that He was about to go, “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” The Lord Jesus gave a special power of healing to the Seventy which authenticated their message. And as they ministered healing to people, they were to tell them that the long-awaited promises of the prophets of old was about to be fulfilled. The King was coming with the offer of the kingdom; and they should prepare for Him and welcome Him. Their message, and the authority they had in giving it, was different from ours because they served in a different era of God’s redemptive plan and for a different purpose. Ours isn’t a message that the King was coming to offer the kingdom. Our message is that the King was crucified and raised from the dead, and by His death and endless life, He offers forgiveness and cleansing to all who believe on Him.

Now; our Lord knew that He would be rejected as the King. So He gave instructions about the message that the Seventy was to give in that case too. In verses 10-11, He said, “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.’” They were to tell the Jewish people—to whom it had been announced that the kingdom was near—that the kingdom that they rejected had come near. And do you notice that they were to brush even the dust off their feet? Many see that as a visible expression of contempt—that they brush the dust off their feet ‘against’ them in judgment. But the actual wording in the original language, the word ‘against’ (as in an act of protest) doesn’t appear. In the case of those who rejected the kingdom offer, it may be better to see this not so much as an act of protest as, instead, an act of complete compliance with those who wanted them to leave. It would be as if they said, “If you don’t want the kingdom we have been sent to offer to you, then you don’t have to have it. We will leave. We won’t even take any of your dust with us. But just know that the kingdom—that you say you have hoped for but have now rejected—has come near you.” And in this, we too can take a lesson. We don’t force the message of the gospel on anyone. If they don’t want to hear it, we politely leave. (But we can know that the Holy Spirit can change their hearts at any time!)

So; Jesus told them what their conduct was to be, and also what their message was to be. And now, finally, notice what He tells the Seventy about their expectation. With regard to the cities that rejected the kingdom offer, Jesus said in verse 12, “But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.” Imagine that! Sodom was destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven; and Jesus was saying that it would be better off for Sodom than for the kingdom-rejecting city!

Look also at verses 13-14. Jesus said with respect to Jewish cities, “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. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.” Tyre and Sidon were pagan Gentile cities; and yet, if they had heard the kingdom offer and had been given the blessing of Jesus’ mighty works in their midst, they would have repented. He goes on to speak in in verse 15 of the city in which He had done His most prominent works: “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.” Why? Because they did not repent when the King was in their midst.

Jesus seems to send this group of Seventy out to make the kingdom offer—knowing that the offer would be officially rejected. And yet, He graciously made the offer anyway. In verse 16, He says to the Seventy, “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” And this word to the Seventy is something that we can apply to ourselves. Our message is a different one—for a different era—than theirs was. But it is, nevertheless, the invitation to receive the same Lord Jesus—not as the King to be immediately enthroned but rather as the Savior to be humbly believed on. And those who reject our message don’t reject us. They reject the Savior. And more; they reject the One who sent Him.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; as we read on, we find that—after the Seventy returned—we’re told;

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. 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” (vv. 21-22).

So; this passage shows us the offer of the kingdom through the Seventy whom Jesus sent. But what a remarkable plan of grace it was that stood behind this message! The message of the King that was offered to the Jewish people was hidden from those to whom it was sent. Those who thought themselves “wise and prudent” didn’t want Him. And yet, instead, the King—as Savior—is revealed to “babes”. As Paul puts it in Ephesians 2:11-13;

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:11-13).

And what’s more, He hasn’t forgotten His precious Jewish people. One day, they will be brought near and restored too! What a great plan from such a gracious God! What a Savior!

EA