We’re continuing on our study in the Gospel of Luke.

Last week, we saw the start of a new section in the book in Luke 9:51 that will span all the way to Luke 19:44. This section is commonly referred to as the Travel Narrative.

Embedded in this bigger section is a small section that we’ll look at through the month of July, and by and large, this section is looking at the theme of discipleship in Luke. 

We’ll consistently see that Jesus is continuing to draw people back to the essentials of what it means to follow him: that simply is hearing and doing the teachings of Christ.

It’s believing that what Jesus says is true, but not in an intellectual way that knows the right answers, but in a way that lives as if what Jesus says is true.

Today we’ll look at the text in two sections:

1. The Mission of the Disciples (v. 1-16)
2. The Blessedness of the Disciples (v. 17-24)

The Mission of the Disciples

A few weeks ago, we saw Jesus send out the 12 disciples. This was the launch team, of sorts, and now he sends out more disciples. (We don’t know if the 12 are included in these 72, or if this is an additional 72). Just as he sent disciples ahead of him in the text we looked at to prepare people for the message of the Coming King, Jesus does it again, sending these 72 disciples to the places he was going to travel to.

And the first thing Jesus commands his disciples to do is to pray.

…“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. —Luke 10:2 

Jesus doesn’t start the mission with: “Go and come up with the best ministry strategy possible; line up all your answers to questions you may get from those you’re engaging with”, he starts the mission with the invitation to prayer.

Why? Because the Lord is the one who draws people to himself.

Prayer is integral to the work that he calls all of His followers to do. It’s not a separate thing from God’s Mission; it is in integral part of His Mission.

For Jesus, living missionally means living prayerfully. The two are not separate things but integrated pieces of a whole.

Jesus goes on when he sends them out warning that it won’t be easy. He says in v. 3…

3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. —Luke 10:3

Disciples will experience hostility as they are sent out to carry the message of the Coming King.

He tells these disciples as he did the 12 to travel lean.

4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. —Luke 10:4

Greeting no one on the road may seem odd to us; especially in light of the the parable we’re going to look at next week, but it seems that, as we discussed last week, there’s is a new level of urgency now with Jesus’ mission, as many scholars posit that this was about 6 months before His death.

Jesus tells his disciples to go out without a bunch of stuff so that they can be unencumbered.

He tell them to go and offer peace to a house, and it’s how they respond to this offering of peace to the emissaries of God’s Kingdom that their next move is determined.

Jesus says…

8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’  —Luke 10:8-9

If the town is open to receiving the ambassadors of the Kingdom, then it is equivalent to them receiving the message of the coming King.

That’s why Jesus says later in v. 16…

16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” —Luke 10:16

Receiving the messengers is receiving the King and His coming Kingdom. Rejecting his messengers is rejecting the King and His Kingdom.

But notice here, that the Kingdom is still there either way. A rejection of the Kingdom doesn’t mean one can stop the Kingdom in its tracks, it simply determines how one will experience the Kingdom.

Look at verse 10…

10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. —Luke 10:10-12

In his commentary on Luke, theologian Joel Green writes…

…the kingdom of God his presently at work to transform the world of these townspeople, but it remains to be seen how they will experience the actualization of God’s project: as restoration to wholeness or as judgment?—Joel Green, NIC: Luke

In verse 12-15, Jesus offers some geographic references, that for many of us mean nothing.

First he says…

12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. —Luke 10:12

In the Old Testament, sin of Sodom is kinda like the proverbial way to talk about the worst of the worst. Maybe like if somebody today were going to say that somebody was as evil as Hitler or Hussein or Kim Jong Un.

It’s a shorthand for the worst of the worst, at least as the OT is considered.

Then Jesus goes on and he says…

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. —Luke 10:13-15

Now all these towns are towns in Galilee which is where in the Lukan text before is where Jesus’ ministry is taking place. So, we can assume that generally-speaking, much of the ministry he did in Galilee resulted in people not having genuine faith in the Good News of Kingdom, which as we’ve seen time and time again is both a “hearing and a doing” of Jesus’ teachings.

This gets at the crux of one of Luke’s big themes: participation in God’s Kingdom is all about ones response to the good news of the King. But that response is not just saying a prayer in walking an aisle, it is hearing, receiving and then doing the word of God.

Which ties it all the way back to v. 2. Jesus says…

…“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. —Luke 10:2

Right respond to the Good News of the King always leads to involvement in the work of the Kingdom.

Unlike, the sending of the of the 12 back in Luke 9, we actually get a report from the 72 after they come back, and it’s here in this next section that we see the Blessedness of the Disciples.

The Blessedness of the Disciples

Like a child, proud that they succeeded in helping mom and dad, the disciples come back brimming with joy.

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” —Luke 10:17

“Jesus we did it!” They say.

And he affirms that what they said is real—that they have the authority to join Jesus in subjecting even the demons to His name.

18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. —Luke 10:18-19

Jesus seems to be drawing imagery in here from Isaiah 14, when Satan was cast down because of his desire to be God…

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. —Isaiah 14:12-15 (ESV)

Jesus picks it up and now says that he has a prophetic vision that Satan will fall once again. Or maybe put differently that he sees in the future that Satan will fully be defeated, and that defeat is starting now with the Kingdom-work his disciples are doing.

Does that mean they could walk on snakes and scorpions? And that we can too?

Well, not exactly.

Some commentators note that this is likely a reference to earthly powers.

Throughout much of the Gospel, one of the great misunderstandings is that Jesus is going to come and free the Jewish people from Roman oppression. But that’s not what happened. Jesus freed Israel from the greater enemy, Satan. So the prophetic vision he has here is not a prophecy about toppling the Roman Emperor, but rather toppling Satan.

The serpents and scorpions then represent earthly rulers that are not aligned with the vision of the Kingdom.

That might be why we later see Jesus say…

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. —Luke 12:4

If you were planning on going barefoot out on Tyler Givan’s property later, please don’t. But you can rest assured that if you are a disciple of Christ—one who hears and does the words of Jesus—no earthly ruler or authority can cause you the ultimate harm. This should bring us great comfort.

Yet, Jesus says, this isn’t even what it’s all about.

He says in v. 20…

20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” —Luke 10:20

Brothers and sisters, if we can, I’d like to just park here for awhile.

We say it all the time here: Your Identity Precedes Your Function.

That’s exactly what Jesus is telling his disciples here.

He is telling them, that the Kingdom work they have the power to do—as awesome as it is—is not what they should be rejoicing in.

They should be rejoicing in the fact that their names are written in the Book of Life. They are on the guest list for God’s future eternal celebration, and notice, it has nothing to do with what they’ve done, but rather it’s based the truths King Jesus has revealed to them, and the one-time redemptive work Christ is about to do.

The stuff they do for God is not nearly as important as the position they have in Christ.

And don’t forget this is at the outset of the mission of the church. If there’s ever a time to get out and get to working, it’s now. But Jesus still tells them that their entire ministry and the whole ministry of the future church can only flow out of rejoicing in who we are in Christ, not the things we do for Christ.

This is a vital truth for us in today’s culture because we live in a world that says you have to earn your love, your status, your approval. 

It’s a world quite literally built on finding our identity or lack thereof through quantifying the things we do with 1’s and 0’s, on the front end we call them likes.

It’s a world built on performativity, busyness, metrics, and money.

A world building on doing, rather than on being.

And this lie attacks us in so many ways.

Some of the things that ping around in my end all the time:

• I am not doing enough at work, or at home, or as a pastor.
• I just don’t measure up
• I’m not successful enough
• I’m not helping enough at my kids school, or in the neighborhood

Those are all based in lack, but there’s the dark side of me that demands more with all it’s shoulds:

• I should be healthier
• I should be pray more, share the gospel more, or share the Gospel more
• I should be kinder to my children and my wife

There is just a barrage of things coming at me all the time that says, “Surely, I need to do more stuff and then I’ll be enough.”

I know these are not just the things I hear…I know you hear them to. And we know that in some sense the people in Jesus’ day heard it to (we’ll look next week at a lawyer who “tries to justify himself” as the text says).

These lies confront all of us in different ways and in different times or stages of life, because they are lies that pervade the kingdom of darkness.

But Jesus’ Kingdom is radically different. It’s the only Kingdom in history that says, let me do the work on your behalf, you just rest in it.

Friends, if you are here today and perhaps you’re burned out, exhausted, depressed, anxious, maybe you’re constantly snippy with your roommate or spouse, maybe there’s a low grade hum in the background of feeling like a failure, or maybe you just feel off.

One of the first questions that over the last few years that I always have to ask first is: what does God think about me right now? And do I believe that to be true?

Or to flip it around, what are the things that I am saying about myself right now, and are those things the same thing God says about me in His Word?

What are some of those things that He says about you?

Jeremiah 1:5 – Known by God

John 1:12 – Child of God

John 15:15 – Friend of God

Romans 6:6 – Free in Christ

Romans 8:17 – Heir with Christ

Romans 15:7 – Accepted by God

1 Corinthians 1:2 – Holy

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Temple of the Spirit

1 Corinthians 12:27 – Body of Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17 – New Creation

Galatians 3:27-29 – United with Christ

Ephesians 1:5 – Adopted as Sons & Daughters

Ephesians 2:10 – Masterpiece

Philippians 3:20 – Citizen of God’s Kingdom

Colossians 2:9-10 – Complete in Christ

1 Peter 2:9 – Chosen by God; His Very Special Possession

Dear friends, don’t rejoice in things you do (whether that be ministry or your job or as a mother), rejoice in the fact that your name is written in the book of life.

Now of course, the important nuance is that when we rejoice in that reality, it automatically leads to doing things that honor the LORD. The two go hand in hand.

It’s like turning on a faucet; if the water doesn’t come out, then there’s actually a clog in the line, which means something is askew in resting in our identity.

True communion with God always draws us into Kingdom work, because it is drawing us into Christ’s work that He’s already doing.

In these last verses, we catch a glimpse of the Triune God (Father, Son, and Spirit) that we are communing with—the very God that we are being drawn up into when we rest in His presence.

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” —Luke 10:21-22

Jesus says here that nobody knows God the Father apart from know God the Son, Jesus Christ. This ties us back to our text earlier, when we saw Jesus pronouncing judgment on those who reject His message. This is because it is through Him that peace (shalom), wholeness, restoration is found. One cannot submit to any god, but the Triune God.

And notice that Jesus rejoices—he is elated, brimming with happiness—that the Good News of the Kingdom has been revealed to those around him.

And then in what is a sweet moment of tenderness that we get to catch a glimpse of…

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” —Luke 10:23-24

Can you imagine that? Jesus stares you straight in the eyes, he’s smiling from ear to hear (remember it says he, rejoicing in the Spirit, said) and he looks at you and says, “You are blessed. What your eyes see right now makes you amongst the Blessed Ones. The ones who are a part of my future Kingdom. Not because you can do cool stuff for me, but because I have revealed myself to you.”

It’s hard to truly believe it, isn’t it? It at least is for me.

Everything in the fiber of my being just wants to earn it, not because I want to work hard, but because if I’m honest, it seems too good to be true.

How on earth could a God who is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, love somebody like me who is judgmental, harsh, angry, and stingy on love?

The answer is through the Redemptive work of His Son.