The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places He planned to visit. These were His instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.”
“Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house. If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay. If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you. Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, Well wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’
Luke 10:1-11
We don’t have any parallel passages in other synoptic gospels to compare this section with this time. But is this passage somewhat familiar to you? Do you think you have come across this before?
Let me remind you.
One day Jesus called together His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then He sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. “Take nothing for your journey,” He instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.” So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.
Luke 9:1-6
- Did you pick up on the similarities when you read through the sending of the seventy two ?
- Did you feel like you had read something similar before?
I thought it may be fruitful to look at the differences and similarities between the sending out of the twelve and the sending of the seventy two.
I don’t know for sure if there is something in this before I look at it, but it strikes me as interesting that the two sendings are either contrastive or mirror images of one another with some contrastive features.
I will leave you to look at it at the same time I do. See you back here for the next Gem. Where is here? Well somewhere on the road between Ginae and Sychar I figure but keep looking for me until you find me.
However there is step better than that: Keep searching for Him until you find Him.
“and you will search for Me and you will find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Every time you feel like doing the wrong thing but choose to do the right thing, you are growing!
Joyce Meyer
Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it.
Anon
Sometimes the completion of a task is beyond the capability of the person you were when you started. You’ve got to keep growing to finish.
Paul Scanlon
Christianity is a lifetime commitment, not just a weekly pit stop.
Jarrid Wilson