This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. The English Standard Version supplies the verses with the heading “Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two.”
Some translations say that Jesus sent out seventy, not seventy-two. According to footnotes in the translations and according to commentaries, the early manuscripts are split evenly between the two numbers. So, it’s up to the translators to decide whether to say seventy or seventy-two.
That’s one of the things I love about Bible translations and commentaries. They honestly admit differences. But I’ll leave that for another place.
Of the four gospels, only Luke speaks of Jesus sending out seventy-two disciples to do what he had earlier sent out his inner circle of Twelve to do: [1] pronounce peace, meaning announce the coming of the kingdom of God; and heal people, including casting out evil spirits from people.
Why did Jesus commission the seventy-two? And why does Luke tell us some things which Jesus told them not to do, and to do?
Jesus and the evangelists lived at a time when the land was under Roman occupation and was governed by cronies of the occupiers, the oppressors. Anything they said and did could be considered seditious and result in their being beheaded – as happened to John Baptist. [2]
So, to reduce risks of unwanted attention by those in power, they said many things in code, using symbols. Seventy-two symbolizes all nations of the world. Seventy-two also symbolizes governing authority.
The idea of “all nations of the world” comes from the book of Genesis, where in chapter 10, we’re told the names of the seventy-two men from whom “the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.”
The idea of “governing authority” comes from the book of Numbers, where in chapter 11, we’re told that Moses, the precursor of Jesus, appointed seventy men to help him and Aaron to govern the nation.
Jesus sent out the seventy-two with power. With power to speak peace into places and people. Their speech and their actions would draw attention to themselves, for good or for bad.
They were sent to specific destinations. Their mission was urgent. For this reason, they were not to stop along the way, greeting people. They were not to pause, sit and chat. They were not to give, or receive, hospitality.
Where they were not welcome, they had to be ready to leave urgently before crowds or the authorities could harm them. So, Jesus instructed them to travel lightly, to take nothing beyond the bare essentials. And to trust God to provide their needs through the hospitality of others.
Jesus assigned them to do for him what John Baptist had done for him before. He assigned them to prepare people for his coming. He made it plain that some would reject him, and that the results would be severe.
Jesus’ purpose in sending them ahead of him was to make his coming known; known through acts of power, and through words of proclamation. Their work and words would spread through word-of-mouth, gossip.
We’re only called to proclaim. Not to convert. People who hear and watch must choose whether to respond positively or negatively.
Failing to respond positively has severe consequences. Jesus mentions three cities in which he had done mighty works: Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. He says the people in those cities did not repent, did not change their ways; he says that in the day of judgment, they will suffer.
Jesus says they will suffer more than Sodom. Why was Sodom punished?
When we hear “Sodom” our minds jump to same-sex relationships, because the men of Sodom demanded that Lot give them his visitors so that they could have sex with them. You can read about it in Genesis 19.
But the Jewish interpretation focused on the failure of the Sodomites to show hospitality to strangers. This is why Jesus’ refers to Sodom in the context of failing to show hospitality to strangers, to his associates.
Luke also tells us that the seventy-two returned with joy. They were filled with joy because they had not only spoken peace to the places they were sent to; they had also seen results: even the demons obeyed them.
What’s the meaning of the passage for us today? Notice the power disciples have to pronounce either peace or judgment. We’re not told Jesus “selected” the seventy-two. We’re left to think there were seventy-two who chose to follow him as disciples, and Jesus sent out all of them.
We know farmers practice rituals to ward off spirits during planting and harvesting seasons. We know at construction sites contractors appease the spirits before they begin the day’s work.
While we don’t go looking for demons behind every bush, we do encounter cases of demon possession, or influence. We need not fear demons, for we have the power to command them to stop harming people. Jesus put it starkly: Satan, the commander of the demons, has fallen.
We must also remember that though Jesus calls us to speak peace, some will reject us, and therefore Jesus. So, we must be careful that if we’re rejected, it’s because of the message, not because of our egos or our personal faults.
As Luther put it, “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”
A normal Christian life is a peace-filled life of tension.
Peace be with you.
[2] Matthew 14:1-12.
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