THE MISSION OF THE SEVENTY (TWO) (10:1-9). Following Jesus' call to the three potential disciples Jesus now appoints seventy (or seventy two) disciples to go out two by two as messengers before His face preparing the way for Him. They too are fulfilling the prayer, ‘may your Kingly Rule come'. a A... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy two (seventy) others, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, to which he himself was about to come.' As He had previously sent messengers to the Samaritans so He now ‘sent forth before His face' messengers to all the pl... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to them, “The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the labourers are few, pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest.” ' This is the kind of statement that we might well expect Jesus to continually repeat, especially if He saw it as a kind of... [ Continue Reading ]
“Go your ways. Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves.” He sends them out as messengers of peace. They are to be like lambs in the midst of wolves, seeking to bring the wolves into oneness with themselves (Isaiah 11:6; Isaiah 65:25) but recognising that they might be ‘eaten'. There... [ Continue Reading ]
“Carry no purse, no food bag, no shoes, and salute no man on the way.” They are to go out in haste, trusting fully in God's provision, and not wasting time on conventional greetings which in those days could be long and time consuming, nor in idle chatter (compare 2 Kings 4:29 for a similar idea).... [ Continue Reading ]
“And into whatever house you shall enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.' And if a son of peace be there, your peace will rest on him, but if not, it shall turn to you again.” And whenever they enter a house they are to wish peace on the house. This parallels being like lambs. And if the inhab... [ Continue Reading ]
“And in that same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.” Once they have accepted hospitality they are to continue in that same house eating and drinking whatever they are given, accepting it as their hire as t... [ Continue Reading ]
“And into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you, and heal the sick that are in it, and say to them, The Kingly Rule of God is come near to you.” And whenever they enter a city and are received in friendly fashion, then they must eat what is set before t... [ Continue Reading ]
“But into whatever city you shall enter, and they receive you not, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust from your city, which cleaves to our feet, we wipe off against you, nevertheless know this, that the Kingly Rule of God is come near.” After they have made every attempt to evangelise a... [ Continue Reading ]
WOES ON THOSE WHO WILL NOT RECEIVE THE MESSAGE OF HIS DISCIPLES (10:10-16). Inevitably all the wolves will not respond, and we now recognise that Jesus' message is not only one of mercy but of judgment. His words here are severe. If His disciples are persistently rejected they are to shake the dust... [ Continue Reading ]
“I say to you, it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.” Once they had done this it would bring that city or town into a position where it would be seen as worse than Sodom in the day of Judgment. For with all its sins Sodom had not rejected the Kingly Rule of God. The... [ Continue Reading ]
“Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment, than for you.” Jesus then extended His... [ Continue Reading ]
“And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades.” The same condemnation comes on Capernaum (‘village of Nahum'), the home of Peter and Andrew, which was the most influential town in the area. It would appear that Capernaum in some way saw itself as especially ex... [ Continue Reading ]
“He who hears you, hears me; and he who rejects you rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.” Jesus then finishes off His condemnations by pointing out to His disciples that they are so much His representatives and one with Him that if people hear them it is as if they hear Him (c... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the seventy two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” ' The disciples returned rejoicing because they had been able successfully to cast out evil spirits. Perhaps they remembered the time when some of them had failed to do so (Luke 9:40). But now su... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SEVENTY (TWO) RETURN (10:17-20). The return of the disciples, rejoicing in their being able to cast out evil spirits in Jesus' name, leads on to Jesus confirmation of the defeat of Satan and of the fact that He has given them power over all Satanic forces so that they need not be afraid of them... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And He said to them, “I beheld (or ‘I was beholding') Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.” ' Jesus replied that it was what they should expect, for He their Master had seen (or ‘was beholding') Satan fall from Heaven ‘like lightning'. He was a defeated foe. ‘Like lightning' may refer to the spe... [ Continue Reading ]
“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will in any way hurt you.” The result of Satan's fall, whether seen as actually having happened or as potential, is that those who are in the Kingly Rule of God have authority ove... [ Continue Reading ]
“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” However, while they may rejoice in the spirits being subject to them they should not make this the main reason for their rejoicing, for it is theirs because of something in... [ Continue Reading ]
‘In that same hour he rejoiced (‘was thrilled with joy”) in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.” ' ‘In that same ho... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS REJOICES OVER THE FACT THAT HIS FATHER HAS REVEALED THE SPIRITUAL TRUTH OF WHO HE IS TO HIS DISCIPLES (10:21-24). As a result of His disciples' victory over the forces of Satan through the authority of His name, Jesus rejoices in what it is clear that His Father has revealed to them, otherwise... [ Continue Reading ]
“All things have been delivered to me of my Father, and no one knows who the Son is, save the Father, and who the Father is, save the Son, and he to whoever the Son wills to reveal him.” In His prayer/prophecy He now reveals that the Father has put all things in His hands, including full knowledge a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see,” ' Recognising this He turns to His disciples from His exalted state in the Spirit and says privately, “Your eyes are blessed at seeing what you have seen.” For they have seen in Jesus in thei... [ Continue Reading ]
“For I say to you, that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.” This was something that many wise men of understanding, many prophets and kings, have desired to see, and have not seen it, ha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ' A Scribe approaches Jesus to ‘test Him out'. This may signify an attempt to make Him make a false move, or it may be a sign of genuine interest and a desire to discover His ca... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TESTING OF JESUS AND THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN (10:25-37). We should note that this passage, and the parable it contains, follows directly on the idea of the previous self-revelation of Jesus. It gives us the clue that within it Jesus is revealing more of Himself. And this is confirmed b... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” ' In dealing with his question Jesus followed a favourite technique of the Rabbis and replied with a question. He asked him what he thought the Instruction (Law - Torah) of Moses taught on the matter. Note His emphasis on ‘writt... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he answering said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” ' The reply of the Scribe possibly mirrors a standard reply on the subject which was prevalent in Judaism, altho... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to him, “You have answered right, this do, and you shall live.” ' Jesus replies that his answer is correct and (in context) that if he does this he will find eternal life. At first this might seem as though Jesus is saying that ‘all he has to do is to do this and he will merit going to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” ' But the Scribe wanted to justify his coming to Jesus so he asked a crunch question, “And who is my neighbour?” ' He quite possibly saw this as a prelude to a long discussion, and even as a means of tripping Jesus up.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus made answer and said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” The picture would be a familiar one to all Jews. There was always a possibility when travelling the mountain road... [ Continue Reading ]
“And by chance a certain priest was going down that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.” As we see above this verse is central to the chiasmus indicating its central importance. It is thus to be seen as of prime significance in the passage. In the first place it was an example... [ Continue Reading ]
“And in the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side.” The lesson is doubly rammed home by then speaking of a Levite who did the same thing, for the same reason. Levites were cultic officials and served in the Temple as ‘servants' to the priests. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion,” When Jesus introduced a Samaritan into the story (possibly the Scribe was expecting a Pharisee next) he must have stiffened. He probably did not like the way this story was going. But g... [ Continue Reading ]
“And came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine, and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.” And the Samaritan took up the man and bound up his wounds, and treated them as best he could with what he had available, with oil and wine. The... [ Continue Reading ]
“And on the morrow he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend more, I, when I come back again, will repay you.' ” In the chiasmus this verse parallels, ‘You shall love God with all your heart --- and your neighbour as yourself'. Nothing c... [ Continue Reading ]
“Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbour to him who fell among the robbers?” And then having revealed the extreme generosity and compassion of the Samaritan Jesus asked the crunch question. “Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbour to him who fell among the robbers?” Notice... [ Continue Reading ]
And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, Go, and behave in the same way.” So he salvaged some pride by saying, “He who showed mercy on him.” If we think that was easy for him to say that we do not know human beings. By that he had admitted that a Samaritan could be his neig... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now as they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him.' The certain village is almost certainly Bethany, which was less than two miles (three kilometres) from Jerusalem (John 11:18; John 12:1), but Luke deliberately avoids mentioning it so... [ Continue Reading ]
AT HOME WITH MARTHA AND MARY (10:38-42). As Luke is building up to the eventual giving of the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1) we have seen how He has prepared for ‘Father' (Luke 10:21; Luke 11:11), and ‘Hallowed be your name, your Kingly Rule come' (Luke 9:52 to Luke 10:20). He has also given an example o... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet, and heard his word.' But while Martha was busy preparing the meal, wanting to give the Lord the best she could, Mary her sister sat at ‘the Lord's feet' and listened to His teaching. She not only received Him but also ‘heard His wo... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” ' Martha, however, was finding the burden of so many guests too heavy for her, and very much distracted (too distrac... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,” ' Jesus replies gently but firmly. The double use of her name, "Martha, Martha", indicates His caring attitude, as such a phenomenon does elsewhere (see Luke 6:46; Luke 8:24; Luke 13:34; Luke 2... [ Continue Reading ]
“But one thing is needful (some see it as ‘only one course of food is needful'), for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” He then points out that Mary is busy about something better, ‘the one thing needful'. She has chosen the better part. She has chosen to feed o... [ Continue Reading ]