November 4, 2021
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Luke? Here’s today’s reading:
Luke 10 (NIV)
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road...........Continue Reading
Again Luke finishes this chapter with a reminder of priorities and keeping God first even over the things that seem so important and our definition of justified to put before God like service. However, like in the parable we see when we approach everything with the basic rule of ‘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.’ We see service to others as important but the Lord still comes first.
Must have been such a precious time for the apostles to be hearing these lessons Jesus was teaching and even more importantly showing them so that they may spread this Gospel after His death with so much more passion and conviction having been blessed to see it firsthand.
“Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.””
Luke 9:62 NIV
https://luke.bible/luke-9-62
I’ve never understood this—why a man couldn’t return to say goodbye to his family—please explain.
Hey Suzanne please see my comments under chapter 9 where these verses are given and let me know if it helps
It is interesting that Jesus sends out 72 here when at first He sent out the 12. It should be the nature of ministry that numbers grow and people are discipled and then they are trusted and empowered for ministry. Notice too that He gives more instruction around them going as well. How excited they were to find God so faithful in allowing them to do what they did. It would certainly provide greater confidence for them to do something like this again as well as to train others to do the same.
And it would have been shocking for this expert in the law to have a Samaritan show understanding about the true nature of a neighbor and how available we should be to take care of each other. The priest and levite had better things to do.
And as Jesus ended the last chapter talking about the singularity of focus He calls us to, this chapter ends with an example of just that. How easy it is to be distracted by the activities and service of the Christian life and not take time to spend with Jesus. If we are to do the stuff of the Christian life, we need the power and mindset that Jesus would provide. And there’s nothing like time with Jesus to get that. It is similar to the fact that Jesus so consistently spent time with His father…..
Jesus sends out 72 more. Kingdom getting bigger! Jesus begins there commands with Pray. Ask The lord of the harvest. So joyful I’m part of a church that Always prays before moving in ANY circumstance. Lambs amount wolves. Just like these apostles that’s who we are today. I stand corrected. Previously mentioned about apostle returning rejoicing about demons sumbmitting. It was the 72 sent out. Verse 21. So glad the gospel is easy to understand and not the educated, rich and powerful that only receive it. But simple men like me. It’s for everyone. I didn’t live in that day so I don’t understand the hate the Jews had for the Samaritans. And today, what does it matter what your background is for who you’re helping. If God puts someone in your path in need, help them! Love the story of Martha and Mary. Are we too busy?!?
Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and there was usually tension between them and the kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam, the Northern KIngdom’s first king, established various places to worship in keeping people from going to Jerusalem to worship. This lead to many false priests as well as false worship. When the Northern kingdom was exiled to Assyria, many of the Jews in the Northern area intermarried with Assyrians and they then caused a lot of headaches for the Southern kingdom as they returned to rebuild Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day, they were still considered half breeds and worshipped in their own places and did not honor the temple of Jerusalem. They also only followed the Torah (first 5 books) and rejected the prophets and poetry portions of the Old Testament.
Luke 10
When reading about Martha and Mary, it reminded me of the men waking Jesus in the boat and Jesus saying, “where is your faith?” I have been thinking a lot about the flesh and the spirit lately. We are so concerned with the flesh: our needs here on earth, danger, health, daily tasks, the behavior of others, they consume our mind and divert us from walking in the spirit, walking in faith. (I am in no way saying that I have conquered these thoughts and concerns, just that I recognize that I should not be so consumed with them!)
Luke 8-10