Luke 10 - Do You Do Things For the Lord or With the Lord?
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Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
As Jesus is nearing Jerusalem, he spends more time equipping his disciples for when he will be gone. He spent time with the 12 disciples and sent them out to do the things he did. Now he sends out 72 disciples, in pairs of two. In this case he sent them out to the places where he was going to go. They were doing reconnaissance missions.
Jesus says the famous phrase,
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. "
I think we could probably say the same today with how many unreached people groups there are in the world. Jesus also commanded them to pray for the Lord to send out more workers. Prayer is such a vital part of preparing the harvest field and the harvesters.
“Can you picture the distress of a farmer when he sees his fields golden with harvest, and there are no servants to gather that harvest in? It was such an agony that filled the heart of Jesus as He looked out on His harvest field.” (Morrison)
Like the twelve, Jesus instructed them to travel lightly and bring only a minimal amount of things with them. If they found a person of peace they were to stay with them as long as they would put them up. Just as Jesus healed the sick, they were to do the same thing and then say, "The kingdom of God has come upon you."
If they were not welcomed in a town, they were not to stay and beg for an audience. They were to shake the dust off their feet, as a sign that they were leaving this town behind and not taking any bit of it with them. The kingdom of God had come near, but they were not interested in it. It was on them.
Jesus gives a stern warning that it will be more bearable for Sodom on that day than those towns. We remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis 19, where the wickedness of these towns was so appalling to the Lord that the sun completely burned down the whole city and its inhabitants. Only Lot and his two daughters made it out.
Jesus rebukes the towns of Bethsaida, Capernaum, and Chorazin. For if the miracles that were being done there, were done in the towns of Tyre and Sidon, those towns would have repented, as evil as they were. Tyre and Sidon town in Phoenicia in the Old Testament.
"Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Like the other disciples when they returned from their mission trip, the seventy two came full of joy, excited that even the demons submitted to them in Jesus' name. Note it was Jesus' name that had all of the power and authority and still has today.
I like this idea of the "person of peace". Sometimes we try to convince someone who is not a person of peace, and it usually goes badly for us. I have found that people of peace for me are willing to listen to what I have to say, as I listen to them as well. When we find and meet "people of peace" they are open doors for the gospel. They are people God gives us favor with!
Jesus affirmed that he had given them power and authority over all kinds of agents of evil, but they should be more overjoyed that their names were written in heaven.
What does it mean that their names are written in heaven?
This is very similar to the book of life.
"Revelation 20:15 declares, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” The Book of Life, in this context, is the set of names of those who will live with God forever in heaven. It is the roll of those who are saved. This Book of Life is also mentioned in Revelation 3:5; 20:12; and Philippians 4:3. The same book is also called the Lamb’s Book of Life because it contains the names of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus (Revelation 13:8; 21:27)." - GotQuestions.org
Jesus then gives thanks for those who are able to see the truth of who he is. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit when he thanked God for hiding these things from the wise and learned and revealing them to the little children. Jesus also said that the only ones he chose would come to him for salvation, which were the ones the Father brought to him.
Then he told the disciples how blessed they were to see him. There were many kings and prophets that had wanted to see what they did, but they were not as blessed.
Jesus rejoiced that unlikely people were taught of God and used by Him. The babes were the seventy; simple believers who received real wisdom from the revelation of God.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
On another occasion, an expert in the law tried to trip Jesus up by asking him, "What must I do to inherit eternal life." Instead of answering the question, Jesus asked him a question. He acknowledged the teacher knew the Law, so what did he think. The man answered,
‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Technically speaking this was true. The only problem is we don't always do this. But the man continued to press Jesus by asking him, "Who is my neighbor?" By asking the question it was clear the man had an agenda. Most likely he was going to distinguish between Jews and Gentiles. Many Jews assumed this commandment applied mostly in within the Jewish community as they co-existed together.
So Jesus told him a story. The story was about a man who went from Jerusalem to Jericho. This was a steep descent and there were many twists, turns, and craggy rocks, which robbers could hide behind. It was like walking through a crime ridden, gang infested inner city in our country.
Jesus does not say what nationality this person is, but it some ways it doesn't matter. The man gets mugged and robbed and is left on the side of the road to die. A priest came down the road and made sure to go to the other side of road so as not to have to deal with the man who was half-dead. Then a Levite came and did the same thing. But a Samaritan approached the man and rather than avoiding him he took pity on him.
The word for "pity" here means "compassion" or "empathy". The man did not just feel sorry for the man but did something for him. Not only did the Samaritan cleanse and disinfect his wounds with oil and wine, but he put him on his donkey and took him to the nearest town. He found an inn and cared for him throughout the night.
In the morning he gave the innkeeper two denarii, which was equal to two days wages. In our day this would be about $300. And he also added that when he came back he would pay for any extra charges. Jesus asked an obvious question, "Who of these was his neighbor?" The expert in the law said, "The man who had mercy on him." Jesus told him to, "Go and do likewise."
So that raises a question. Was Jesus saying that if we care for people on the side of the road we will inherit eternal life?
First of all it is important to understand what the bible means by the term "eternal life". Some call it, "the eternal kind of life", which begins the day you come to faith in Christ.
It is a mistake, however, to view eternal life as simply an unending progression of years. A common New Testament word for “eternal” is aiónios, which carries the idea of quality as well as quantity. In fact, eternal life is not really associated with “years” at all, as it is independent of time. Eternal life can function outside of and beyond time, as well as within time.
For this reason, eternal life can be thought of as something that Christians experience now. Believers don’t have to “wait” for eternal life, because it’s not something that starts when they die. Rather, eternal life begins the moment a person exercises faith in Christ. It is our current possession. John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” Note that the believer “has” (present tense) this life (the verb is present tense in the Greek, too). We find similar present-tense constructions in John 5:24 and John 6:47. The focus of eternal life is not on our future, but on our current standing in Christ. - Got Questions.org
Therefore we can see that as this man obeyed the Spirit of the Great Commandment, he would experience the eternal kind of life. It wouldn't save him but it would show him the kind of love God had for him.
For those who are still troubled with the possible inference that good works is how we inherit eternal life, which could be extrapolated from this parable, can read this article. It is well written.
I do find this quote by Charles Spurgeon very helpful.
“Let it never be forgotten that what the law demands of us the gospel really produces in us.” (Spurgeon)
At the Home of Martha and Mary
Luke ends with the short story of Mary and Martha, two sisters who opened up their home to Jesus. They were the sisters of Lazarus Martha is concerned about many things, yet Mary sits at Jesus' feet ready to digest his every word. Martha is upset that her sister is making her do all the work by not helping. So she asks Jesus about it, and he says,
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
It is interesting this short story comes on the heels of the commentary above on faith vs. works. After all, Martha was providing hospitality for the Lord. Why was Mary sitting and doing nothing the better thing in Jesus' eyes?
Martha did nothing wrong in working hard for Jesus – that was good. Her problem was that she became distracted with much serving. She was distracted from Jesus.
Being a pastor, I find I can be doing so many things for the Lord ,I forget about the Lord in the midst of my service for him. It is pretty much at that point all human effort. But if I partner with Jesus and love people with the same love that He has for me, I am doing what is better and it will not be taken from me.
Do you do things for the Lord or with the Lord?
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