The kingdom of God has come near to you

 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.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'   But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. 

"Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."

- Luke 10:1-17

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village. Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."   And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

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.  Jesus appoints seventy men to go out as missionaries; that is, apostles.  We note that, like the Twelve, they are sent out two by two.  They are sent out before Him, and as such they will go out to every place where He will go on His way to Jerusalem, preparing the people with good news of the Kingdom.  Although not as well known as the Twelve, these Seventy were true disciples, true apostles, says my study bible, whose labors carried the message of their Lord throughout the Roman Empire and beyond out into the world.  Among them were many who are prominent in the tradition of the Church, and their histories in each place they went became notable.  One of them was Barnabas.  He was a Jew of the tribe of Levi, born in Cyprus to wealthy parents.  He is said to have studied under Gamaliel with Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul the apostle.  He was originally called Joseph, but was named Barnabas (Son of Consolation) by the apostles (Acts 4:36), as he had a rare gift of comforting people's hearts.  When everyone else was terrified of Saul, he sought him out and brought Paul to the apostles.  Barnabas was the one first sent to Antioch with Paul.  But a dispute over Barnabas' cousin Mark, whom Paul didn't have faith in at the time, but Barnabas wanted to take on a missionary journey.  Later they were reconciled (Colossians 4:10).  Barnabas, according to many accounts, was the first to preach in Rome and Milan, but was martyred in Cyprus, and buried by Mark at the western gate of the city of Salamis.  Another prominent apostle among the Seventy was Titus, whom Paul called his brother (2 Corinthians 12:18) and his son (Titus 1:4).  Titus was born in Crete and educated in Greek philosophy.  But after he read the prophet Isaiah he began to doubt the value of what he had been taught.  After hearing the news of the coming of Jesus Christ, he joined others from Crete who were going to Jerusalem to see Him for themselves.  After he heard Jesus speak and saw His works, the young Titus joined the disciples who followed Jesus.  He was baptized by the apostle Paul and worked with and served this great apostle to the Gentiles.  He traveled with Paul until Paul sent him to Crete, and made him bishop.  My study bible tells us that it's said that Titus was in Rome when St. Paul as beheaded, and he buried the body of his spiritual father before returning home.  In Crete, Titus converted and baptized many people, governing the Church on that island until he passed at the age of ninety-four.  There are many less prominent people among the Seventy who nevertheless are mentioned several times by St. Paul and who became bishops in various cities.  Simeon (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3), for example, was the son of Cleopas (the brother of Joseph, the betrothed of the Virgin Mary) succeeded James as bishop of Jerusalem.  Barnabas' brother Aristobulus (Romans 16:10), preached in Britain and died peacefully there.  Those mentioned here are representative of the Seventy, who planted the Church throughout the world.  Many became bishops, all were apostles and foundations of the Church, as my study bible puts it.

Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  My study bible points out that Jesus says we are to pray not only for the harvest of converts to Christ, but also for the laborers who will reach them. 

"Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves."   To call them lambs characterizes the sacrificial life of the apostles, and of all those who follow Christ, the Lamb of God.  The wolves are those who seek to frighten and devour those who follow Christ (John 15:18), whose predatory aggression knows no peace.

"Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you."  Matthew's Gospel reports Jesus as saying, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  Here the Good Teacher explains exactly which behaviors constitute such a disposition.  My study bible points out that twice here Christ commands the apostles to eat whatever is offered to them.  It has a twofold significance.  First, they must be content with whatever is offered, even if it is little and simple.  Second, the gracious reception of others' hospitality takes precedence over personal fasting or ascetic dietary disciplines.  It notes St. Cassian the great Desert Father, who says that when he visited a monastery, the fast was always relaxed to honor him as a guest.  When he asked why, the elder replied, "Fasting is always with me, but you I cannot always have with me.  Fasting is useful and necessary, but it depends on our choice, while the law of God demands charity.  Thus receiving Christ in you, I serve you with all diligence, and when I have taken leave ofyou, I resume the rule of fasting again."  In this way, my study bible tells us, the ascetics would obey Christ's command here and His command that we not "appear to men to be fasting" (Matthew 6:18; see also Romans 14:2-6; 1 Corinthians 10:27; Hebrews 13:2).

"And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"  Here is the gospel message.  It's not merely that there is a Kingdom in the future, but rather that this kingdom of God has come near. 

"But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city."  What are they to do with those who reject them and reject their message that the kingdom of God has come near?  They are to wipe off the dust of the city from themselves as a rebuke, and to re-iterate the message.  But Judgment, we note, belongs to God, and that day refers to the day of Judgment.

"Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades."  My study bible points out that judgment is severe for those who reject Christ after experiencing His grace.  By contrast, those who have never known Christ due to genuine ignorance are without sin in that regard (John 15:22-24).  Instead, these are judged by their God-given conscience (Romans 2:12-16).  We recall also Christ's response to the question posed by James and John in yesterday's reading, about bringing fire down on the Samaritan town which would not receive Christ.  Jesus told them, "The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."

"He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  As even a little child received in the name of Christ bears His image (9:46-48), so those who carry the message of Christ into the world also bear His image and name within themselves. 

What we understand of power we can derive from these Scriptures, and Jesus' teachings to His apostles as He sends out the Seventy.  They are to be humble and courteous, never "trading up" for better housing or accommodations, accepting all that is put before them as gracious gifts of their hosts -- whoever will receive them.  But when they encounter places which reject them and will not receive, they are to wipe the dust from themselves in rebuke and go to the next place.  There is a distinction implied here, between those who are sons of peace and those who are not.  Their peace is a kind of greeting, a blessing, a part of God's grace in the world which is acting in them and upon them and being brought to others.  They bring the Kingdom with them, and those who reject their good news are refusing to receive that Kingdom and Christ Himself.  All of this is simply an ongoing action awaiting the time for Judgment.  All things are in God's hands and await that day.  And although we speak and read today of these first Seventy who are sent out before Him on His journey to Jerusalem, in a very true sense this is the time in which we still live.  The message goes out, the Kingdom lives within us and we may bear Him and His name within us and among us, and there are those who will reject and even persecute those who love Christ and accept His will, His life, His mission, and His message.  We await that day, the day of Judgment, as all of this is in the hands of God and judgment is not up to us.  We may walk away from those who reject, even "wiping the dust" from ourselves, but our lives must be merely about living this gospel and being true to what He has taught us.  To learn to be wise as serpents and simple as doves is still a part of the mission.  To learn humility above all, and true graciousness, must be a part of this mission, as from all these come real justice and right-relatedness among people.   His power remains His power; it may work through us, we may bear it within ourselves, and certainly that power is at work in the message and remains through that day of the Judgment, but it is not ours as personal possession or property.  It is, rather, the grace in which we may participate, for which we pray -- and the peace He gives to the world.  Let us be a part of this Kingdom in the world, and live it as He taught us.