His reason for sending them ahead of Himself :-
the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
He knew and told them exactly to whom He was sending them to :-
He was sending them as lambs among wolves. He knew they would be ridiculed and persecuted. He knew that many will not listen to them and instead ignore them. He sent them inspite of all these
His instructions to them :-
Luke 10:4-11 NIV
[4] Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. [5] “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ [6] If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. [7] Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. [8] “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. [9] Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ [10] But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, [11] ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’
Let us examine verse four. Why did Jesus tell them not to take a purse, bag or sandals with them? Jesus did not tell them, "Do not wear sandals!" but "Do not take sandals along." Obviously they had to wear a pair of sandals so as not to hurt their feet.
In today's context, when we take money with us we will be distracted from our mission and we will want to apportion some of the time, meant for mission activities and evangelising, to do shopping. Then if we have a bag with us our concentration will be on what we can take back home from there as collector's items. Things that we cannot get in our country. Finally if we had an extra pair of shoes, we would not think twice but would happily travel from place to place, which Jesus did not want them to do. Look at verse 7. There Jesus told them not to move around from house to house. He actually wanted them to stay put in one place and do what He instructed them to do and tell them that the Kingdom of God is near. He wanted them to stay with those they reached out to and ensure that they were spiritually growing, to help to build up their faith and not just heal and move off to another location and leave the poor ones with more questions in their minds. It will be another classic case of church planting but zero growth.
Then going back to verse 4, Jesus told them not to greet anyone on the road. Why did He say that? Was He telling them to be rude and arrogant? In the first place, why did Jesus send them out? He did not send them on a holiday or for site seeing. His main purpose was to tell people that the Kingdom of God is near. When your loved one is in trouble and if you are on your way to rescue him or her, would you stop on your way to talk to anyone? Would you stop to chat with them or tell them hi and bye? No you wouldn't. You would rush to rescue your loved one from danger. Here, the mission Jesus was sending them for is far more important. They were sent out to warn and save souls from eternal death. Therefore He did not want them to talk to anyone and waste time. He wanted them to be focused; to stay on task.
Who were the seventy two? Before sending them out Jesus would surely have empowered them just as we see in chapter 9 verse 1-6. It was the same scenario then. Jesus empowered the 12 apostles and sent them out two by two, to cure diseases, to heal the sick, drive out demons and to tell them that God's Kingdom was at hand. He gave them the same instructions, to stay in one place. These seventy two, could have been those whom the twelve stayed with and reached out to. Each pair would have stayed with a small community of twelve or more and cured diseases, healed the sick, driven out demons and told them that God's Kingdom was at hand, and they would have helped the community to grow in faith, to repent of their sins and prepare for God's Kingdom. Thus we get the figure of seventy two. How can we be sure that Jesus empowered the seventy two? Look at verse 19. Here when the seventy two came back and told Jesus how the demons fled when they mentioned Jesus' name, Jesus told them, " I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you!" Wow! What a revelation we have and that from the mouth of the Son of God Himself.
Then the bible in Luke 10:1 says that He sent them out ahead of Him, to every town and place He was about to go. Jesus was about to go to the very places He sent them to, later on. Why did Jesus need them to go before Him to heal the sick, to cure diseases, to drive out demons and to tell them that the Kingdom of God is at hand, if He Himself was going to go there? Couldn't He, as the Son of God done all these by Himself? Yes, He could have, but Jesus was not only God and man but He was also a dedicated and practical teacher. He wanted His disciples to gain confidence in God and in themselves, that they can do all things with God's power, when He was not physically with them. Moreover, He had the most important task of teaching His core group all that was needed to make them leaders of the Church after His resurrection and accession. He had the task of preparing them for what was to come, His crucification. Therefore obviously He needed the seventy two just as He needs us, believers, now to prepare the world for His second coming.
Notice that Jesus cursed Capernaum , Chorazin and Bethsaida in verses 12 to 15. It was because the Jews there were living in compromise. Archaeological evidences (http://www.wordofgodtoday.com/cursed-city-chorazin/) prove that in their Synagogues were embedded the statue of Medussa and other pagan symbols and idols. Jesus had been preaching there most of the time but the people refused to let go of their ways and repent. Just like in His days, people are still living in sin and compromise in our days all around the world. Now it is getting worse with the global internet age.
Later on in Luke 17:26-37 Jesus would tell of how the situation in the world would be when He returns again. People would be so preoccupied with their own career advancements, merry making, their compromises and their affairs, just like in the days of Noah and Lot, that they would have no time for God. It is happening now already. People are unconsciously becoming the slaves of the media, internet and their devices such as smart phones and tablet PC's
When Jesus Himself tells us that 'The Kingdom of God is at hand!' we better believe it. He sent the seventy two out with an urgency and with the same urgency He behooves us now to warn the world to let go of its compromises and turn to Him.
Traditionally speaking the Jewish bridegroom will go and see his wife to be, pay the bridal price to secure her and after that will go back to make preparations to bring her to his house. After making all the preparations to receive her, the groom will not delay in coming. That was the URGENCY which Jesus was signalling.
Yes, He, Jesus is the bridegroom. We the believers (the church) are His bride. When He came to the world to turn all men (and women and children) unto Him ( and away from the devil) He wanted to get this message across...that He would pay the price for our sins on the cross, resurrect, ascend into heaven and prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3 NIV "My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.") and He is coming quickly to bring us to His house. Who Other than the Bridegroom Who paid the heavy price on the cross to redeem us has the authority to claim us? No one else. Jesus will not tarry.Therefore the time is NOW! Repent and believe in Jesus. He is coming soon to take us home.
Jesus said, "I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me!" (John14:6) Jesus is not a liar. No one on this earth has ever made that bold statement. Check it out if you doubt.
Our duty as believers is to warn people and save them from spiritual death. We need to move with the same urgency. We have been empowered and we need to use the authority given to us by Christ. Let him who has ear, hear and act...act fast...Because Jesus IS coming SOON! Sooner than you think.
Mary Augustine
