Bible Study series: Luke 10:1-12. Now the circle of missionaries widens to include disciples who were not part of the twelve. Ordered to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near, they too were empowered to minister to people.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 10:1-12
1 After this, the Lord publicly appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him into every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He began to tell them, “The harvest is great, and the workers few. Therefore, ask the Lord so that he would thrust out workers into his harvest.
3 Go! Watch! I send you as lambs in the middle of wolves. 4 Do not carry a moneybag or a travel bag or sandals. Greet no one along the road. 5 Into whichever house you may enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6 And if there is a person of peace there, your peace will rest upon him. If it is otherwise, your peace shall return upon you. 7 Stay in the same house, eating and drinking whatever things are before you, for a worker is worthy of his wage. Do not go from house to house. 8 And into whichever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what has been laid out for you. 9 And heal those who are the sick there and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you!” 10 Into whichever town you may enter, and they do not welcome you, go out into its street and say, 11 ‘Even the dust from your town clinging to our feet–we wipe off against you. But know this: the kingdom has come near!’ 12 I say to you, ‘In that day it shall be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.’” (Luke 10:1-12)
Comments:
1:
Should the number be seventy, relating to the seventy elders of Israel (Num. 11:16-30)? Or are there seventy-two disciples, a multiple of twelve, the number of government? Most scholars settle on seventy-two.
The main point, which should not be missed, is that for Luke, lots of disciples have the calling to “do the stuff” or work miracles and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. Marshal sees the seventy-two as corresponding to the table of nations in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible in the third-to second BC) in Genesis 10; the LXX (Septuagint) lists seventy-two nations, not seventy (p. 415).
In this sending, Jesus never restricted the mission to Jewish hearers, as he did to the twelve (see Matt. 10:5-6) (Liefeld and Pao, comment on v. 1). Jesus is preparing for the Gentile mission, but this is later. The seventy-two nations in the LXX version of the Gen. 10 table may confirm this interpretation.
So do the seventy-two include women, who were following Jesus (Luke 8:1-3)? They followed him to Jerusalem, a dangerous place for Jesus and his close followers, and watched him die (Luke 23:49). They proclaimed the resurrection to the men who were cowering or at least skeptical or delaying checking the tomb on the third morning (Luke 24:10). Their following him all the way to his death and resurrection shows their courage, but does their courage translate to mean they were some of the seventy-two missionaries? I say yes, but if they were not, then they were missionary-evangelists to the eleven disciples (and others) hiding in a room in Jerusalem.
“sent”: this verb is apostellō (pronounced ah-poh-stehl-loh), and it is related to the noun apostle, but let’s not overstate things. It means “to send” and is used 132 times in the NT. BDAG, a thick Greek lexicon, says it means (1) “to dispatch someone for the achievement of some objective, send away / out” (the disciples are sent out: Matt. 10:5; Mark 3:14; 6:17; Luke 9:2; 10:1; John 4:38; 17:18). (2) “to dispatch a message, send, have something done.” Here it could be translated as “commission.”
Key point: the rabbinic text, the Mishnah, which is a collection of oral traditions finally written down in about 200 AD, but reflects traditions going back before the NT, says, “the one sent by the man is as the man himself” (m.Ber. 5.5 in Bock, vol. 1, p. 542).
Missionaries today who go out by themselves, one by one, take too many risks. They should go out two by two—or more. Safety in numbers, both physical and moral safety.
2:
“he began to tell”: In other words, Jesus is giving them sound and divine counsel for their commissioning. People need a clear statement of what their mission is. Call it an early mission statement, but this is deeper than a modern one. It talks about relationships with the listeners to the message.
“thrust out”: it comes from the verb that means, depending on the context, (1) “drive out, expel, literally throw out more or less forcibly”; (2) “without the connotation of force, send out, release, lead out”; (3) take out, remove, bring out, evacuate, lead on.” Most translations have “send out,” and they are certainly not wrong, but I still like the idea of thrusting out the performer or participant on to the stage, because he is too afraid to go onstage in his own strength. He has to nudged or even pushed. But if you wish to follow the second definition, “send out,” then you are in good company. It is a perfect synonym for apostellō (v. 1). I believe when Luke first-century native Greek speakers heard the Greek verb, they would have been startled. It would have hit them hard—the Father really wants us to go on mission! Let’s go!
The modern harvest is also great. And for the bulk of humanity today, keep the message simple. But in the western world, where the web and science and skeptical philosophy dominates, we need to clear away the mental debris with some explanations as to why the kingdom of God should be accepted as a little child would accept it. That is, a little defense of the faith to clear away objections may be needed. Recently an older cousin sat next to me at a eulogy service before it started and asked, “How many religions are there in the world?” I wasn’t catching on that he was being skeptical and implying that Christianity was not so great or unique, without his actually saying so. Things happened fast at the eulogy service, so we were interrupted, and I didn’t look him up and reply, but see this post for the basic differences between Christianity and other religions:
Ten Big Differences between Christianity and Other Religions
“Lord”: this is high Christology.
Never be afraid to preach Jesus is Lord to the exclusion of other lords and gods. Peter stood before the august Sanhedrin, the highest court and council in Judaism, and said there is no other name under heaven by which people must be saved—Jesus (see Acts 4:12). I for one will never abandon him during his bold statement that could have cost him his life.
“his harvest”: it is his harvest, not a generic one. He will send you to the greatest need. Listen to his voice for where that is. Recall that Paul and his team wanted to go into Asia, but the Spirit would not let them (Acts 16:6). And then Paul and his team wanted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit would not allow them, either (Acts 16:7). We don’t know why the Spirit said no, but Tychicus and Trophimus, part of Paul’s team later, were from Asia (Acts 20:4), so maybe they preached in Asia (greater Turkey) at a later date, or they shared the gospel with other fellow Asians, who spread the word there in the next generation. We don’t know for sure, but it makes sense, based on the logic of history. The gospel got to Asia eventually.
3:
“Watch!” this has often been translated as the older “behold!” I like “behold!” but I updated it. I also like the warning aspect. “Watch!”
It is the storyteller’s art to draw attention to the people and action that follow. Professional grammarians say that when “look!” (or “watch”) introduces a character, then he or she will play a major role in the pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-coh-pea) or section. Alternatively, when a verb follows “look!” then a significant act is about to take place and the person or people are less significant (Culy, Parsons, Stigall, p. 21). The missionaries are about to be like lambs in the middle of wolves, so the act of persecution and opposition is more important than characters walking into the middle of Luke’s story.
“lambs in the middle of wolves”: this extra-sharp and even startling contrast between gentle animals and large predators speaks of opposition and persecution. Be ready for it.
4:
“greet no one”: This verse speaks of the intense urgency of the mission, because in a short time they would arrive in Jerusalem, and he was destined to die, as he had predicted (Luke 9:21-27; 43-45). Don’t extend your greetings to be chatty and sociable, as if you have time to spare. Urgent! This strong urge refers to Elisha’s command to Gehazi in 2 Kings 4:29). Marshall says that Middle Eastern greetings at that time were long and time-consuming (comment on v. 4).
As for the sandals, Jesus seems to say not to take along a backup pair.
Missionaries today, if they want to take supplies with them, should use wisdom. After all, the seventy-two were speaking to their own country in their own language. I see nothing wrong with preparing for a long-term mission, because v. 4 must be read in its context: on the road to Jerusalem, on the road to his crucifixion (Luke 9:31, 51). Urgency.
5-6:
This mission trip was a faith journey. When they arrived in a new town, the custom of hospitality demanded the inhabitants of the town welcome strangers, something like this:
One missionary says, “Let’s go into this town.” The other says, “Okay.”
They arrive and go to the well to draw up water. Then someone in the town sees them. “Hey! You’re travelers? New?” “Yes.” “Come into our house.” They enter and say at the very start, “Peace [shalom] be on this house.” If a person of peace (literally “son of peace”) lives there, then their greeting of peace will remain or rest on him. Now what if the household is resistant to the traveling pair, once the head of household learns of their mission? Then the greeting of peace will return on the missionary pair.
Renewalists like this idea of speaking peace and blessing on to people, and then their speech remaining on them. Speaking out is important to Renewalists. There is power in speech (see Prov. 15:4; 18:21).
“person of peace”: literally “son of peace.: “This is a Semitic idiom; those who express in their own life that of another or some quality are called ‘son of’ that one or thing. ‘Sons of peace exude peace, and their character will determine their destiny. Refusing to greet others on the way will cause these followers to stand out; this instruction reveals that the greeting of peace is not simply a conventional greeting but an eschatological wish” (Garland, comments on 10:5-6). Acts 10:36 says: “The message he [God] sent to the sons of Israel announces the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” Liefeld and Pao write that the “son of peace” describes “not only a person’s character but also the destiny he is worthy of. Such a person would be open to the kingdom message” (comment on vv. 5-6).
Biblical peace speaks of more than just the absence of war. It can mean prosperity and well-being. It can mean peace in your heart and peace with your neighbor. Best of all, it means peace with God, because he reconciled us to him.
This word in Hebrew is shalom and means well being, both in the soul and in circumstances, and it means, yes, prosperity, because the farm in an agricultural society would experience well being and harmony and growth. The crops would not fail and the livestock would reproduce. Society and the individual would live in peace and contentment and harmony. Deut. 28:1-14 describes the blessings for obedience, a man and his family and business enjoying divine goodness and benefits and material benefits.
Do I Really Know God? He Is the God of Peace
7-8:
These verses speak of having the courtesy to remain in the first house that invites the traveling pair. And they eat what is before them, even if it is unleavened bread and a simple milk product, like butter, and deficient wine. As they go outside the house to proclaim the kingdom and heal the sick, and they see a bigger house, they should not “jump ship” and go for the richer household that would serve the missionaries meat and delicious foods and better wine. Leaving the poor house for the rich one is rude. Also, the words in these two verses speak of the urgency of the mission. They shouldn’t house hop, from one house to the next, picking and choosing where you stay, because they wouldn’t be staying in the town long enough to be picky. Jesus sent them ahead of him, where he was about to go.
9:
“heal”: the verb is therapeuō (pronounced thair-ah-pew-oh, our word therapy is related to it), and it means to “make whole, restore, heal, cure, care for.”
As soon as the people were healed, the missionary pair was required to say that the kingdom of God has come near to you (literally “upon you”). The Greek tense indicates that the kingdom, yes, has come near, in part, but it has not come in its fulness until the Second Coming. Even only its partial glory was displayed on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). Healing is just one more indicator that the kingdom of God has drawn near. God is on the move, restoring the flaws in humanity, due to sin, the world and the devil. So the kingdom manifested in healing is here in part, and the kingdom manifested by Jesus’s transfiguration is here more clearly, but the kingdom in its fulness will be manifested visibly and with finality at his second coming.
“those who are sick”: it means, depending on the context, primarily those who are “weak” or “sick.” The NIV translates it in this way, as it appears throughout the NT: weak (most often), sick, weaker, crippled, powerless, unimpressive, weakness.
“the kingdom of God”: What is the kingdom? As noted in other verses that mention the kingdom in this commentary, the kingdom is God’s power, authority, rule, reign and sovereignty. He exerts all those things over all the universe but more specifically over the lives of people. It is his invisible realm, and throughout the Gospels Jesus is explaining and demonstrating what it looks like before their very eyes and ears. It is gradually being manifested from the realm of faith to the visible realm, but it is not political in the human sense. It is a secret kingdom because it does not enter humanity with trumpets blaring and full power and glory. This grand display will happen when Jesus comes back. In his first coming, it woos people to surrender to it. We can enter God’s kingdom by being born again (John 3:3, 5), by repenting (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:5), by having the faith of children (Matt. 18:4; Mark 10:14-15), by being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son whom God loves (Col. 1:13), and by seeing their own poverty and need for the kingdom (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20; Jas. 2:5).
It also includes the Great Reversal in Luke 1:51-53, where Mary said that Jesus and his kingdom were bringing to the world. The powerful and people of high status are brought low, while the humble and those of low status are raised up. It also fulfills the reversal in 2:34, where Simeon prophesied that Jesus was appointed for the rising and falling of many. It is the right-side-up kingdom, but upside-down from a worldly perspective. Jesus would cause the fall of the mighty and the rise of the needy, and the rich would be lowered, and the poor raised up. It is the down elevator and up elevator. Those at the top will take the down elevator, and those at the bottom will take the up elevator.
Back in Isaiah’s day, a myth said that a Canaanite deity (Athar) tried to overthrow Baal, the king of the gods. Baal threw him down from heaven, and now Athar rules over the underworld. Isaiah depicted the fall of the king of Babylon with highly charged poetry which paralleled Athar’s overthrow.
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations! (Isaiah 14:12, NIV)
Here Jesus is picking up the imagery and proclaiming that Satan is overthrown by the coming of the kingdom of God. The disciples, by proclaiming the gospel and expelling demons, get the privilege of throwing Satan down.
Jesus’ point in 10:9 is that the kingdom program has begun to demonstrate the initial phases of fulfillment. In confirmation of this inaugurated picture, 10:17-18 Satan is seen falling from heaven as a result of the mission’s healing ministry … A key characteristic of this phase of the kingdom is its function to ‘rule’—the exercise of God’s saving power upon humans in the face of opposing forces. (Bock, p. 1000)
Revelation 20 shows Satan overthrown forever. Here, in Luke 10, it is the already and not-yet. The kingdom has already come in part at his First Coming, but not yet with full manifestation and glory and power until his Second Coming.
Bible Basics about the Kingdom of God
Questions and Answers about Kingdom of God
Basic Definition of Kingdom of God
1 Introducing the Kingdom of God (begin a ten-part series)
10-11:
These verses teach the missionaries what to do if the town does not welcome them. Yes, the townsmen break the custom of hospitality, but the consequence of their rudeness goes deeper. The missionaries are supposed to go out into the street—probably the central street going through the middle of the town—and proclaim that the town’s people’s judgment is their own responsibility, by the custom of wiping or shaking off their dust clinging to the disciples’ feet.
Wiping or shaking the dust off of their feet is what Jews did when they left pagan territory, so they could remove the ceremonial uncleanness. But the ceremonial uncleanness is not the point here because the seventy-two disciples were going into Jewish towns and villages, or at least that is the presumption, since they went out ahead of Jesus, as he was going to Jerusalem to die (Luke 9:31, 51). Instead it means “you—not we—take responsibility for your decision!” It signifies that rejecting the kingdom of God is deadly serious. Nehemiah shook the dust out of the fold of his garments when he made the returning Israelites give back the property and children who were sold into slavery, in a promise that apparently required the shaking. “In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied! (Neh. 5:13, NIV). Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet to the Jews in Pisidian Antioch when they rejected the kingdom, and then the pair left for Iconium (Acts 13:51). In Macedonia Paul spoke to the Jews about Jesus the Messiah, but they rejected and mocked him. “When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them: ‘Your blood be upon your head! I am clear! From now on I shall go to the Gentiles!’ (Acts 18:6, my tentative translation).
Then the missionaries are supposed to make it clear that, despite the town’s rejection of them, the kingdom of God has come near. Nothing will stop the kingdom, even when this or that town rejects the missionaries. No one today has to follow the ancient custom of shaking or wiping off dust from the feet.
“kingdom of God”: see the comments at v. 9 for more information.
12:
The people of the town where the missionaries went had more light and opportunity than did the people of Sodom. The towns were about to experience the ministry of Jesus, while Sodom never got that chance or that much light. So this verse and the others, next, reveal that God’s judgment is rendered based on the light that people had and how they followed moral law in Sodom’s case or God’s kingdom principles and power as in the current towns when Jesus was alive.
Let’s explore that issue more deeply in the next pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-coh-pea) or section.
GrowApp for Luke 10:1-12
1. Why is the kingdom of God unstoppable, even when people reject it?
2. What do you do when your audience (your friends or family, for example) is callous towards your mission?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
For the bibliographical data, please click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 