Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves

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 the 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 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."

- Luke 10:1-16

In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus had "set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face."  But because His face was set for Jerusalem, a Samaritan village refused to receive Him.  John and James Zebedee asked, "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.  As they journeyed, a man said to Jesus, "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.   My study bible tells us that only in Luke are the Seventy mentioned, but in the records of the early Church many of them are known.  Many became bishops, all are numbered among the saints of the Eastern Church.  Some of their names are known from Scripture (especially Acts of the Apostles and Epistles of Paul), among them Barnabas, Titus, Aristarchus, Sosthenes, Tychicus, Simeon,   Aristobulus.  My study bible says, "The record of their work is preserved in accounts handed down through the centuries from place to place, especially in those locations where they labored. . . . To tell the stories passed down in the Church concerning all of the Seventy would fill a book of considerable size."   These seventy are also Apostles, just as are the Twelve; and my study bible also points out that the instructions given to them are similar.  They may fulfill the type of the seventy elders appointed by Moses.  We see here that they are sent as messengers, heralds before Him, into all the places He's about to go on His way to Jerusalem.

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 the His harvest."   The first image we're given is that of the harvest. Jesus will use metaphors and teach in parables about those who enter into others' labor, giving us an understanding of the continual labor of the Church for this harvest.  In John's account of the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well, Jesus says, "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." 

 "Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves."  This is the tone of the instruction now, one that understands a need for watchfulness and discernment, while at the same time teaching about gentleness.  My study bible says, "Lambs speaks of the sacrificial life of the missionaries, their innocence, while the world into which they are sent is hostile and cruel."

"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."  Again, as in the previous instructions to the Twelve on their first mission, these instructions emphasize humility, but they also tell of the great power conferred upon them.  My study bible points out that "the missionary of Christ travels light, moving easily from place to place, and avoids superficial conversation."  It also notes that going from house to house implies looking for better accommodations.  We also notice something else, and that is the way this power works that is conferred upon them, the kingdom which they carry with them.  That is, the way in which it interacts with those whom they encounter.  Peace is wished upon a house, but it will not rest if a '"son of peace" is not there; instead it will return to the apostles. 

"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.' "  My study bible notes, "The gospel of Christ is not simply that there is a divine Kingdom somewhere, but that the kingdom of God has come near to us. It breaks into our lives through the work of Christ and His sent ones."   But again, we notice how this power is used and how it works:  where it is rejected, the work of the apostles is simply to "wipe off the dust" and move on; and yet, the message is delivered.

"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."  Finally, Jesus speaks of Judgment, which is not ours to give, but which comes in that Day of which He speaks -- also something that is not ours to know.  My study bible says, "Judgment is more severe against those who witness Jesus' mighty works, or hear His word but reject it, as in the case of these Galilean cities."  Again, there's a hint as to the way this power of this Kingdom works:  a rejection of grace bears a responsibility in the one who would have received it.

"He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  Here is a kind of pointer to the reality of that power; it's not merely the Apostles who are rejected.  In those who truly bear this Kingdom into the world is also Christ and the One who sent Him.  Therefore rejection carries a stronger weight than one would think at first sight.

Today's reading gives us a sense of the power of this Kingdom and how it works.  We have to think carefully about when and where grace comes into our lives.  Do we accept it?  Do we reject it?  If we look at the books of the Old Testament, especially at the many prophets warning of rejection of God's grace, of behaviors inconsistent with the salvation history of Israel, we see a kind of strong warning implying what this rejection really means for Israel as a people, and for her leaders who fail to uphold what it is to be "People of God."  Here in Christ's instructions to His Apostles, we have a kind of sense of how this grace borne into the world works within us and among us.  The Apostles themselves are told in Matthew's gospel, as an addition to today's teaching given by Jesus, that they are to be "wise as serpents and gentle as doves."  So while we understand the power in Christ's words and mission, in the Kingdom conveyed into the world -- as my study bible puts it, that which "breaks into our lives" -- it's up to us to simply be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, to "shake the dust off our feet" as rebuke (as opposed to calling down fire which the brothers Zebedee suggested in yesterday's reading!), and the wise discernment we're called upon to use, the watchfulness that is indispensable to lambs sent out in the midst of wolves.  But this is a spiritual Kingdom, and Judgment does come; it's just not ours to make nor know when its time will come.  A Kingdom is ruled by a King, His power is given out to those to whom He wishes to give it, it works in the way He decrees, and His Judgment remains His judgment, in His hands.  We are are told what we must do and how we must be.  My study bible notes that "Missionary endeavors are accomplished by God's initiative and power.  We pray to the Lord, and it is He who calls and sends out the workers.  We have the assurance, however, that the harvest is truly great."  We bear the marks of His grace, His healing work within us and among us, and we may carry that out into the world.  But the warning remains for our conduct:  humility is the hallmark, innocence the character, discernment and watchfulness always called for.  Can we live up to His teachings, even as we seek to bear this Kingdom into the world?