Jesus instructs and sends out seventy disciples
10
📚After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to go. 10:1 Only Luke records this sending out of disciples other than the twelve chief disciples. The instructions Jesus gave them is similar to words He spoke in other places.⚜
2 📚Therefore he said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the workers are few. So pray the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth workers into his harvest. 3 📚Go your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 📚Carry neither purse, nor bag, nor sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
10:4 Matt 10:9-10. The Lord was on the way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), and the journey had to be accomplished speedily.⚜
5 📚And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 📚And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 7 📚And stay in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.
8 📚“And whatever city you enter, and are received, eat such things as are set before you. 9 📚And heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10:9 Note on God’s kingdom at Matt 4:17.⚜
10 📚But whatever city you enter, and are not received, go out into its streets and say, 11 📚‘The very dust of your city which sticks to us, we wipe off against you. But be sure of this, the kingdom of God has come near you.’ 12 📚But I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day 📖 for Sodom, than for that city.
13 📚“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented a long time ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 📚But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment, than for you.
15 📚“And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to hell 📖!
16 📚“He who listens to you listens to me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me”.
17 📚And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us through your name”.
18 📚And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
10:18 The casting out of demons signified that the kingdom of God was near and that Satan’s eventual defeat was assured. Compare Matt 12:22-29; John 12:31. Notes on Satan at Matt 4:1-11; 1 Chron 21:1.⚜
19 📚See, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing at all will harm you.
10:19 Jesus gave them authority over both literal snakes and scorpions and snake like and scorpion like demons. The chief enemy was Satan himself. See Mark 16:17-18; Ps 91:13; Eph 6:12; Jam 4:7; 1 Pet 5:8-9; Rev 12:10-11.⚜
20 📚However, do not rejoice because the spirits submit to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven”. 📖
10:20 The fact that they were saved and had eternal life was to be their reason for rejoicing, not the fact that they were able to display some authority or power.⚜
21 📚In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and educated, and have revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for so it seemed good in your eyes.
Jesus reveals His deity
22 📚All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. And no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him”.
10:21-22 Matt 11:25-26. Christ’s joy is mentioned in only two other places in the Gospels – John 15:11; 17:13. See what made Him happy – God reveals His truth to simple and humble people and not to the high and mighty.⚜
23 📚And he turned around to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see. 24 📚For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see them, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear them”.
The parable of the good Samaritan
25 📚And suddenly a certain lawyer 📖 stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 📚He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
10:26 Jesus did not ask this because He wanted information, but to cause the man to speak out what he thought.⚜
27 📚And he answered and 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”.
10:27 This is an excellent reply. See Matt 22:36-40. The verses he quoted are from Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18.⚜
28 📚And he said to him, “You have answered rightly. Do this, and you will live”.
10:28 Merely knowing or quoting the truth of God does not bring eternal life to anyone. Compare Rom 2:13; Jam 1:22-25. The man had not practiced the truth he knew. We know this because he tried to justify himself (v 29), and because, as other men, he had sinned (Rom 3:23). If men did practice perfectly the two chief commands of the law, they would live, but they do not. Not a single person (except Jesus) has all of his life loved God with all his strength, etc, or his neighbor as himself.⚜
29 📚But he, wanting to justify himself 📖, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”
30 📚And Jesus answered and said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers, who stripped him of his clothes, wounded him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
10:30 Jerusalem was about 800 meters above sea level and Jericho was about 27 kilometers away and about 250 meters below sea level. Jerusalem was the city of God the great King (Matt 5:35). Jericho was the city under a curse (Josh 6:26). The steep and rocky road to Jericho provided good places for robbers to lurk. This world is a very rocky place, and Satan and his servants are out to take away all that men have (John 8:44; 1 Pet 5:8). They have stripped man of the righteousness God originally gave him, wounded him grievously and left him half dead – possessing physical life but dead spiritually (Gen 2:17; 3:1-5; Eph 2:1-3).⚜
31 📚And by chance a certain priest came down that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 📚And so too a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked at him and passed by on the other side.
10:31-32 Notes on priests at Ex 28:1. On Levites see Num 1:47-50. Neither of these two loved his neighbor as himself. On another level we may say that priests and Levites (representing the Old Testament system of law and sacrifices) cannot really help a sinner robbed and wounded to death by Satan. See Acts 13:38-39; Rom 8:3; Gal 2:16; Heb 8:7-8; 9:9-10; 10:1-4, 11.⚜
33 📚But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 📚and went to him, and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 📚And the next day when he was leaving, he took out two silver coins, gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend extra, I will repay you when I come again.’
10:33-35 Notes on Samaritans at John 4:4-9. The Jews looked down on them and refused to have anything to do with them. This one showed what love means, what it means to be a neighbor. Evidently Jesus means that a neighbor is anyone we might meet, even a stranger, whether or not of another race, nation, colour or religion. The spiritual application of these verses answers the question in v 25. The man in the parable was dying and could not do anything to preserve his life or give himself new life. He was completely helpless. Compare Rom 5:6; 8:7; Eph 2:4-5. The Samaritan may speak to us of Christ Who was despised and rejected of men (Isa 53:3), and was even called a Samaritan (John 8:48-49). The Lord Jesus does for helpless sinful men what they could never do for themselves – save them and give them eternal life (Luke 19:10; John 3:16-17; 10:27-28).⚜
36 📚“Now which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to him who fell among the robbers?”
37 📚And he said, “The one who showed mercy to him”. Then Jesus said to him, “Go, and do the same”.
10:30-37 Only Luke records this parable. On the surface it shows what is meant by “neighbor” and “love”, and answers the second question of the law expert (v 29). But there may be a deeper spiritual application which answers the first question (v 25). If the answer to that question is not suggested by this parable then Jesus did not really give an answer to it to this man at all, which would seem surprising. But in making spiritual application it may be unwise to press the details too strongly. See notes at Matt 13:18-23.⚜
10:36-37 In our attempts to find deeper spiritual truth in this story let us not forget the application Jesus made to this expert in the law. This application is very practical. God demands that we actually show love to all. We must be ready to help those in need, regardless of who they are, and not just discuss the meaning of Christ’s parables (Matt 5:43-48; John 13:34; Rom 13:8-10; Gal 6:10; 1 John 3:16-18).⚜
Jesus, Mary and Martha
38 📚Now it happened, as they were traveling along, that he entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
39 📚And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his words. 40 📚But Martha was distracted with much serving, and came to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to help me”.
10:40 Mark 4:38. She was rebuking the Lord Jesus, little knowing that He had a heart that cared for the whole world and desired the highest good of everyone. She was thinking only of physical work and her involvement in it. Her words mean “Pity me. I am working so hard, and you are keeping others from helping”.⚜
41 📚And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 📚But one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her”.
10:41-42 Jesus did not mean that physical work, the preparation of a meal, etc, was useless and unnecessary. He was simply putting the emphasis where it belonged – He was to be with them for only a short time and had much truth to teach them. Mary seized the opportunity, Martha let other matters keep her from it.⚜