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."

 

- Luke 10:1–16 

 

Yesterday we read that it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the 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.  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."  Here my study Bible comments that 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.  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."  Lambs, my study Bible notes, speak of the sacrificial life of the apostles and of all followers of Christ.  The wolves are those who seek to frighten and devour those who follow the Lord (John 15:18).  Note the humble behavior that Christ prescribes, and which is in keeping with the understanding of oneself as a lamb.  There is no ostentation in dress, wealth, or possessions, including no ostentatious greetings.  The offering of peace is a hallmark of what it is to be a lamb of Christ.  It's also important to understand Christ's guidance that this peace may not be received by all. 

"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."  Here Christ commands these Seventy apostles twice to eat whatever is offered to them.  My study Bible says that this has a twofold significance.  First, the apostles must be content with whatever is offered -- and that is even if the food is little and simple.  Second, the gracious reception of others' hospitality takes priority over personal fasting or dietary disciplines.  These commands remained true for the religious who would follow in the Church, as it does today.  My study Bible cites St. Cassian the Desert Father, who noted that when he visited a monastery, the fast was always relaxed in order to honor him as a guest.  When he asked why, the monastic 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 of you, I resume the rule of fasting again."  In this way, my study Bible continues, 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.  Let us also remark that these practices are a continuation of Christ command for humble behavior.  

"And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"  My study Bible notes that the gospel message is not simply that there is a Kingdom in the future, but 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.  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."  My study Bible comments that judgment is severe for those who reject Christ after experiencing His grace.  In contrast, it says, those who have never known Christ due to genuine ignorance are without sin in that regard (John 15:22-24), ad are instead judged by their God-given conscience (Romans 2:12-16).  

 

 My study Bible has a rather extensive and informative article on the Seventy who were appointed to go out as missionaries; that is, as apostles.  Although they are not as prominent as the Twelve, these Seventy carried out their missions with fervor and enthusiasm.  In the Tradition of the Church we know that they remained true to Christ and their calling, and fulfilled a vital role in the spread of the gospel.  Also, these were not random choices or accidental volunteers but they were true disciples and apostles, whose labors, my study Bible adds, carried the message of Christ throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.  There are various lists of the Seventy, but all are remembered in the calendar of the Church.  January 4th is the day they are all commemorated as a group, and there are records of them that were to be found from place to place, preserved in the centuries that followed.  This is especially true of the locations where they labored.  One of these Seventy was Barnabas.  He was a Jew of the tribe of Levi, born in Cyprus to wealthy parents.  He is said to have studied together with Saul of Tarsus (later St. Paul) under Galiliel.  He was originally named Joseph but called Barnabas (Son of Consolation) by the apostles (Acts 4:36), as he had a gift of comforting people's hearts.  When everyone else was afraid of Paul, Barnabas sought him out and brought him to the apostles, and Barnabas was first sent to Antioch with Paul by the apostles.  They separated over the issue of taking Mark, Barnabas' cousin, on a missionary journey, but later reconciled (Colossians 4:10).   This is just one story of the Seventy, and there are many more recorded in the Church history.  Others among them were Titus, whom Paul called his brother (2 Corinthians 12:18) and his son (Titus 1:4).  Originally from Crete, trained and educated in Greek philosophy, Titus began to reconsider his education after reading the prophet Isaiah.  He joined other venturing to Jerusalem to see for themselves, having heard of Jesus Christ.  Titus joined those who followed Him, and was baptized later by the apostle Paul, serving in his ministry to the Gentiles.  Eventually Paul sent him to Crete and made him a bishop.  Said to have been in Rome at the time of the beheading of St. Paul, in the Church it was told that he buried the body of Paul, his spiritual father, before returning home, where he was later martyred in Cyprus.  Many of the names of the Seventy are found throughout the New Testament Scriptures, such as Aristarchus (Acts 19:29; Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24); Sosthenese (Acts 18:17; 1 Corinthians 1:1); Tychicus (Acts 20:4; Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:12; Titus 3:12); Simeon (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3), nephew of St. Joseph the betrothed of the Virgin Mary; and Aristobulus (Romans 16:10), who preached in Britain and died there.  Many of these became bishops in the Church in various places of the Roman Empire, from East to West, North to South, and including Jerusalem.   Christ's sending out of the Seventy is yet another mark of the turning point that has come in His ministry.  As He has now twice warned the disciples of His coming betrayal and death, and even more importantly, He has now "steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem" (see yesterday's reading, above), so He also appoints this new group of Seventy to be sent out as missionaries, as apostles.  It shows us this paradoxical movement of the Kingdom, that even where it is being rejected, it is also sent out, and spreads, and the seeds of the gospel are to be planted everywhere.  This is a kind of movement always replicated, always expanding -- perhaps even in the sense that a relatively "new" frontier is here on the internet where the seeds of the gospel continue to be planted.  Note that Christ tells them that as they preach, they are to say, "The kingdom of God has come near to you."  In this we rest assured that the Kingdom is not merely to be found in one place or another, but is also truly within us and among us.  We are temples of God, as St. Paul says, and so the sending out of the Seventy, in addition to the Twelve, is a way of spreading the Kingdom out into the world and the Empire, beyond the borders and boundaries of what was already known in the birthplace of the Church.  So, even as Christ and the disciples are rejected, and as Christ heads steadfastly to Jerusalem and His Passion, the gospel expands, the Kingdom is taken to the ends of the known world.  This is a movement we should always imitate, always renewing, always necessary.   For the kingdom of God is with those who carry it into the world, wherever they are sent.