What a lot of things the Lord demands of His people! We read about Jesus sending out these seventy-two disciples, telling them what to do. A lot of times we tend to take God's commands and apply them to ourselves. Maybe these are commands for us as well as for the seventy-two. Maybe not. I don't know that, but I do know this. It looks impossible to do what God commands here in Luke 10. Let's look at our Lord's commands to his seventy-two disciples. We'll use our normal Law/Gospel format. We will look at the Law statements, what God requires of the disciples, and the Gospel statements, what God promises and does.
In verses 1-2, the Lord tells the disciples to go. I suppose that's a Law statement. He tells them where to go, as well. They don't go for a long walk on a short dock. They go to the neighboring communities. Is there a Gospel statement there? The fact that the Lord sends the disciples should be comforting. He does not send people to their destruction. He sends them to accomplish something so we can assume he will work in and through them.
In verse 4 the Lord tells the disciples not to provide for themselves. They are not to worry about money, food, clothes, previous lodging arrangements. Are we safe assuming a Gospel statement here? The Lord is going to provide all his disciples need. I think that's a Gospel statement we can assume safely.
So far we might be fairly comfortable. If the Lord sends us to our neighboring communities and says we will be cared for, so be it. At least for a little while we won't worry about it. Fair enough. What do we see next?
In verses 5-6 we see that the disciples are to impart peace to homes that believe. There's our Law statement. When the disciples enter into a home they are to give the home God's blessing. This doesn't seem to be the way most of us think about granting a blessing. If I sneeze, you might say, "bless you" but you hardly think God is going to pour out some spiritual blessing as a result of what you say. I don't think that either, or I would be sniffing pepper so as to receive blessing upon blessing. No, the disciples are actually supposed to impart God's blessing to the homes that believe. Is anyone here ready to do that? Maybe we'd like to do it. But we aren't ready to do it. Nobody has given us reason to believe we can. At least it never showed up in the books on evangelism that I used to read. But what we see in verses 5-6 is that God does actually pour out his blessing when the disciples proclaim it. There's our Gospel statement. He requires the disciples to bless others. That's Law. But the Lord gives a real blessing, that which the disciples could never do. That's Gospel.
We'll have to think about that one for a while, won't we. Is the Lord commanding us as he does the seventy-two? That's up for debate. But I do know this. The Bible says that God's Word is powerful and active. It says the Word of God accomplishes what God intends to accomplish. If we bless someone in the name of the Lord, maybe we need to start expecting that the Lord is blessing that person through us. Words have meaning, after all. But we'll have to hold that one and work with it later.
Verse 7 moves us back to what we read in verse 4. The disciples are to take what people provide for them. Again, this makes the assumption that God will provide for his servants. God's provision seems to include food and other hospitality, as the disciples are to stay in the place where they are received. This must have taken some courage. I know I've had times, and you probably have too, when I don't know quite where I'm going, what I'm doing, how long it will take, and how the Lord will provide. But I have seen, like you have, that the Lord always does provide in one way or another.
Let's go on to verse 9. The disciples are to heal the sick. Now there is no evidence that the seventy-two were physicians. There's no evidence that they were not physicians, but there is no reason to think Jesus gathered seventy-two people who were physicians. The disciples don't heal the sick because they know how. They heal the sick because God knows how. That's the Gospel! When we pray, we don't pray because we know how to change people. We pray because God knows how to change people. And we see in verse 9 that the disciples are actually able to heal the sick because God is able to heal the sick.
Along with healing the sick, the disciples are to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near. There's a requirement, a Law statement. Is there a corresponding Gospel statement? The Gospel here is unstated but it is crystal clear. What are the disciples proclaiming, after all? They are proclaiming the kingdom of God, the very message that our Lord has given, the message that says the Father has appointed the Son to deliver the world from death, hell and the grave! There's the message. It's the same message we have preached ever since. This is how God's Word is going to go out and bring His blessing. This is how God heals people. This is one of the ways God provides exactly what his people need.
In verse 11 we see that the disciples are to reject those places that reject them. They are to go boldly into the neighboring towns but when they are rejected they are to leave. Graciously? Maybe not. The disciples wipe the dust off their feet on the way out. They give a sign of God's rejecting the people who are rejecting them. Rather than giving God's blessing to a believing home, now the disciples are leaving those who reject God in their sin. There is no Gospel in this. There is only Law. When people reject the blessing of God they are obligated to be perfectly holy as God is perfectly holy. They are bound in their sin with no relief. They have no hope. They are done for. This is a sobering command indeed.
Looking ahead, when the disciples come back, amazed that they were able to impart blessings, heal the sick, cast out demons, and proclaim the kingdom of heaven, Jesus gives them more authority. He says they can (notice, can, not should, can) walk on serpents and scorpions. Let's don't try that, certainly not on purpose. God in Christ has given the disciples authority over evil. He overcomes all the power of the enemy. He did it for the disciples through his life, death, and resurrection, even though he hadn't completed it yet at that time. God in Christ protects his people from all harm. But there's one thing that Jesus says is more important than all that. This one thing is what the disciples are to rejoice in, not that they are given authority, not that they are walking in power on this earth, not that demons are subject to them. The disciples are to rejoice because their names are written in heaven. There's our Gospel. There's the reason for great rejoicing.
Now, what do we take away from all this? I'm going to ignore the whole debate about whether we are to be like the seventy-two. It doesn't matter to what I'm going to say now. But from this passage here's what I do know fits. First, there is very little that the Lord commands and we actually think we can do. Going, eating, staying, speaking, and leaving. It's all superficial stuff, though we would really miss it if we weren't able to do it. In ourselves, we don't do anything we recognize as truly important, though. We just walk here, say this, walk there, eat lunch, say that, walk somewhere else.
Second, all the things we recognize as important are things our Lord does through us. If the Lord imparts his blessing to someone it is not because of us. If he heals some illness it is probably not because we are supernatural. If he encourages someone in Christ it is not because of the goodness of the messenger he sends, it is because of the power and love of Christ himself. Whatever our Lord does which we recognize as important is his own doing, not ours.
Third, when God sends his people to accomplish something, he will make sure it happens. When the Lord says to make disciples by baptizing and teaching, he will bring it to pass. When the Lord says we will have fellowship with him, a participation in his body and blood, through the bread and wine, he will see that it happens. When the Lord says faith comes through hearing the Word of God he will make sure he creates faith as his Word is proclaimed. God actually does accomplish what he sends his people to do.
Fourth, what we recognize and try to count as worthy services to God are NOT the services the Lord tells us to rejoice in. We don't see it right. But God does. His priorities are right. Mine are warped.
Would you like to rejoice? You can rejoice not because you can impart peace, overcome devils, heal the sick, and do all sorts of amazing things. Those are truly amazing, but there is something even more amazing, something we can NEVER do ourselves, something that is so wonderful we could never fully grasp it. For those of us who believe Jesus did what the Bible says, who believe Jesus is who he says he is, who can confess this common faith in Jesus' perfect life, death, and resurrection on our behalf, our names are written in heaven. We have a home. We are recognized by God. We are safe, secure from all harm, not just now, but forever. We receive by faith what we could never do. Our Lord has written our name on his hands, on his feet, in his side. He has called us by name, and that name is his own. He has given himself to us and for us. He has placed his name on us when we were baptized into his name. He has made us to have a living participation in his body and blood. And he has done all this on our behalf. It is not our work. It is the Lord's work. This is the Gospel.
(10.20b) "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com
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