Luke 10:1-20 Laborers and the Lamb’s Book of Life
Good morning! Turn with me to Luke chapter 10, we’re going to look at verses 1-20 and that’s on page 868 in the pew Bibles.
I don’t know about you but I was praying that the Lord would take it easy on us this week, because I’ve been feeling a little beat up. We’ll see I guess.
Let’s look at those verses and we’ll jump right in.
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “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. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 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.’ 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.
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.
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.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your 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. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Let’s pray.
Chapter nine began with Jesus sending out the Twelve, two by two, into the villages where Jesus had already been and chapter ten begins with Jesus sending the seventy-two, two by two, into the villages and towns where He hadn’t yet gone but was going to on His way to Jerusalem.
These seventy-two went out and returned and then there is no other mention of this group except maybe in Acts chapter one where they would have numbered a part of the 120 disciples that had followed Jesus from His baptism by John in the Jordan River.
This is important for us to be aware of because this group had no lasting special office in the church that was any different from any other disciples.
But here this group was given a special task by Jesus and there are some things we can learn from Jesus’ instructions to them.
The Twelve were sent out to gather what Jesus had sown. The seventy-two were sent out to till the ground in preparation for Him.
Riggenbach wrote that, “The seventy-two disciples are to be regarded as a net of love which the Lord threw out in Israel.”
Two different metaphors, to be sure, but beautiful pictures nonetheless.
Jesus stuck with the farming metaphor.
First Jesus tells them that 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.
Here is something important for us to remember: Laborers pray for more laborers to labor alongside them. Spectators pray for laborers to do the work for them. Jesus says, “be laborers and pray for more laborers.”
The fields were ripe for harvest, people were ready for the Good News but there weren’t enough people bringing it to them. This condition still exists today. Be a laborer and pray to the Lord of the harvest for more laborers.
In verse three Jesus tells them, “Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”
Do you know what a lambs natural defense is? No, because it doesn’t have any.
Ken Davis used to tell a story about growing up on a farm and having sheep. There was a particular sheep that he didn’t like for some reason so one day he thought he would jump out and scare the sheep as it walked by. So he hid around the corner of the barn and when the sheep approached him he jumped out and yelled, BOO!
Do you know what the sheep did? He died, that was his natural defense.
It’s funny but that exactly where we are without Jesus, totally powerless. He sent the seventy-two out with a reminder that they were completely powerless and they were being sent out in the midst of those who would devour them if given the chance.
And He sent them out in haste, they were to go to the villages and towns in a hurry, preach the kingdom of God, heal the sick, rely on the benevolence and hospitality of those who would listen, warn those who rejected their message, and then report back to Jesus.
4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 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.’ 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.
Sodom was a city in the Old Testament that was known for its out of control sexual immorality and complete lack of even a single righteous person and along with the city of Gomorrah was completely destroyed y God with fire and brimstone from heaven.
I’ve actually visited the site and there is hardly anything there but brimstone. Archeologists have found evidence that the city burned both from the top down and the bottom up. It was completely consumed.
But Jesus says that it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Sodom than it will be for any town that rejects the gospel.
Jesus goes on to say, 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.
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.”
Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum were all towns around the Sea of Galilee that Jesus had done many mighty works and preached the Good News of the kingdom in but they rejected Him. Tyre and Sidon were pagan cities north of there on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea that had never heard the gospel and never claimed to know God.
But the measurement at judgment will be the same: did you accept or reject Jesus.
Jesus reminds us of this fact when the seventy-two returned.
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your 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. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
I think that this is a warning to the church. Maybe you cast out some demons, maybe you healed some people, maybe you raised an good family, maybe you have a nice house, maybe you make a comfortable living, maybe you restarted a dying church and now its full, maybe you did lots of great things in your town or your church, but don’t rejoice in that stuff, that power didn’t come from you anyway, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
This is a warning.
JJ vanOosterzee wrote, “What anyone does is a very deceiving standard for the judgment of his inner worth, one may cast out devils and yet himself still be a child of darkness.”
Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, my least favorite verses in the Bible.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
And Revelation 20:11-15,
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
And how can we know for sure, how do we get our names into the Lamb’s Book of Life, how can we be saved from that terrible fate described in Revelation?
Romans 10:8-13 says,
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
And to those who would be laborers sent out into the harvest:
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Those who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved, and those of us who are saved are also sent as laborers into the harvest, to preach the Good News and pray for more laborers.
Amen.
