Episode Transcript
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Josh. And I'm Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: And today on read in the Gospel, we are studying the event Jesus sends out the 72. This is found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter ten. And we're going to start at verse one and read all the way to verse 24.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 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. Go your way. Behold, I'm sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
Whatever house you enter, first say, peace be to this house, and if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you and remain in the same house, eating and drinking. What they provide for the laborer deserve his wages.
Do not go from house to house.
Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you, heal the sick in it, and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you.
But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 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.
I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Woe to you, Corizon. 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. But it would be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. 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. The 72 returned with joy, saying, lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 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. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your name is written in heaven.
In the same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one who knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Then turning to the disciples, he said privately, blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desire to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.
I love this passage, the sending out of the 72.
And it fills me with joy that Jesus used this group.
These were followers of him. It wasn't the Twelve disciple, that core group, but these were another group that Jesus had been instructing and counseling. And he sends them out, and they are doing some of the same things that the disciples, the Twelve disciples did as well.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: In fact, they are sent out. That means they are apostles. They have been trained for a while, and now they are being sent.
[00:05:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I think verse two is a text that I use so much. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: This is a very radical perspective.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: We believe that we live in a Western society that is becoming more and more secular. But Jesus Christ said, look around, the harvest is plentiful. And sometimes we see just the nunners or the nuns, that section of the society that do not believe in anything, are not association with any form of religion. And we see how fast they are growing and we get discouraged. But Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful, and Jesus knows everyone's hearts, and the Holy Spirit goes ahead and prepares the way for us.
And we really have to see in any person a potential member of the kingdom of God, a potential follower of Jesus Christ. And if we see this, we are going to experience that plentiful harvest.
What I also like in this verse is this idea that when Jesus Christ sent them and presented that radical perspective, Jesus said, it is true. You are 72 of you. You are going six times more than the first twelve I sent.
But please pray while you go and you preach the gospel and perform miracles. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send many more workers in the vineyard.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: I've used this prayer many times in my life, in my position as church leader, when someone has moved or someone can no longer hold a position in church, and we've had a need. And we pray to the Lord of harvest to send laborers, and he's never not delivered. And it's a wonderful testimony for me that God will send laborers to the harvest. And my prayer is always, God, send laborers to the harvest, but make me one of them. Don't leave me behind me. Let me go as well.
So they're sent out, and they're not supposed to take anything with them.
No money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. So they're supposed to just go out there.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: They are not supposed to depend on others. Yeah, because no money bag, that means don't put your trust in your money. No knapsack. Originally, the Greek word refers to the bag carried by the beggars who are dependent on other people's mercy. So no knapsack means do not depend on others to finance you, to sponsor you.
Do not carry sandal. It refers to the extra sandal is not barefoot. Do not carry an extra sandal pair of sandals. Do not greet anyone on the road. Refers to do not waste your time in talking to friends.
Your purpose is to go straight to the villages that I send you.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: But Jesus did rely on the villages, the places where he sends them to provide for them, to provide housing, to.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: Provide food, because the Holy Spirit went ahead and prepared those people's hearts, and some were already sons of peace, ready to receive them. This is how, in the economy of God, there is a synchronization between two different categories needing each other, because all of us are called to be part of the circuit of grace. All of us have to give in order to receive.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: Yeah. So he goes out, they do this, and they come back successful, and they come back with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. This is a wonderful response. They get to see God at work, and they come back with this testimony to share. This is something that we, too, can have part in, in going out. But. But I think there's something very important that Jesus shares in verse 20. He says, nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
I've been around a number of people who have had experiences with the Spirit world, demon possession, things like that.
And it's easy for them to get on and talk about how powerful Jesus is and talk about spiritual encounters and things like that.
And the topic usually drifts away from God. It drifts to the power of Satan and what Satan's doing and the focus leaves from where it needs to be. And so I think there's a lot of wisdom in verse 20 that we're to focus that our names are written in heaven.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: In the Book of Life in heaven. Yeah, that book of Life of which Moses talked when he said to God, remove my name from the Book of Life. The same Book of Life that is referred in Revelation, that the names of those who are being saved are written the Book of Life in God's prek knowledge. Way ahead.
And this is a good response to the question, what should we do to have our names written in the Book of Life?
Just respond to God's invitation to follow him.
Be trained as disciples and go out and preach the Gospel, and your name will be written in the Books of life in heaven.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: So what does this tell us about God? This passage.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: This is part of Jesus'Master plan of evangelism.
It tells me that when God the Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit made a plan, this plan of redemption before the foundation of this world, they have designed a way to have Jesus Christ first go and preach the Gospel, choose a couple of disciples, train them, send them, and to multiply that number of disciples initially were chosen. Twelve and maybe other twelve and twelve and twelve until the total number was 84. The twelve plus this 72 are 84. That means seven groups of twelve disciples. It is very clear Jesus Christ has a plan, and I like to see God, or I see God in this passage, as a God of planning.
And we should do the same in our lives as well as in our small groups in our churches. We should have a very clear master plan for spreading the Gospel and inviting people to come into the kingdom of God.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: So it's not just some random, what are we going to do today? It's a more deliberate plan of sharing with others.
[00:13:44] Speaker A: Yes, we have to develop some strategic skills, like in the military, to expand the kingdom of God. And this is what Jesus Christ did.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Some might call that manipulation or brainwashing. Is that what we're trying to do here?
[00:14:00] Speaker A: No. Sharing the Gospel is free. It is an invitation to come into the kingdom based on my story, based on who God is, and everyone is free to respond or to reject.
We do not manipulate anyone's will or mind or so.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Yeah. So everyone has the choice to make of whether they desire to follow Jesus.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Absolutely.
We cannot force someone to come into the kingdom of God. God will never accept that. It has to come from the heart. The transformation should be from inside out. It should be based on love. That is the best foundation for our response for God and love cannot be manipulated, at least not for long term.
[00:14:57] Speaker B: Yeah, let us pray.
Father God, we do not want to go out and do things the wrong way. We don't want to go out there lifting up ourselves or seeking benefits for us.
But we want to go be deliberatE, be led by you to share the good news of Jesus to those around us.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: Father I pray that we will be methodical, that we will spend time, that it's not just a by chance moment of witnessing, but we have deliberate plans to get out and to share the good news that Jesus is coming again.
I pray that you help us to develop these, even if they start small, wherever they go, that you will always be present in Jesus'name. Amen. Amen.