JESUS SENDS THE SEVENTIES
1After this the
Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two,
into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
2And he said to
them,
“The harvest is
plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of
the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
3Go your way;
behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4Carry no
moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
5Whatever house
you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6And if a son of peace is
there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7And
remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the
laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8Whenever you enter
a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.
9Heal the sick
in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10But whenever
you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
11‘Even the dust
of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless,
know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
12I tell you, it
will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”
LUKE
10:1-12
COMMENTARY
The old
manuscripts are not consistent in whether the number is 70 or 72, but certainly
is a pair number within these two quantities, since no other variation has been
mentioned in the ancient documents. However, through internal evidence, it seems
that they were just clean 70, in representation of the 70 Elders that were elected
to help Moses in the ruling of the nation of Israel in the desert (Numbers
11:16), and to whom authority was given from God through Moses. This was a sign
then of the establishment of a new kingdom, the kingdom of the new nation based
in the sacrifice of Jesus, his teachings and his authority. The Christian church.
In his love and
mercy, Jesus sent this large quantity of preachers to the towns before He
arrived there, so that when they saw Him the first time, they would be familiar
already with Him, his ministry and doctrine, so that it would be easier for
them to chose to accept Him as Lord and follow Him, and be saved.
These 70 disciples
were not random number. They represented the 70 Judges of Israel, that were
established over the nation by Moses in the desert, being Lord Jesus the new
prophet of a new nation that was being liberated from the slavery of sin, into
the life of the Spirit of God.
These 70 also
represented the nations of the world, as Jews understood to be 70 through
Tradition, meaning that Jesus was calling to repentance the whole world, Jew
and Gentile (See Feast of the Tabernacles, 70 bulls sacrifice for the ‘nations
of the world’) into his Kingdom.
He invested them
with power and authority (Luke 10:19), similar to the authority and power He
gave to his 12 Apostles, even though they did not have the same level of
authority as them (Luke 9:1-6; Revelation 21:14), but they had authority all
the same.
They were sent
in pairs because that was the usage of the time to serve as witness in a case
or argument (Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16), since they were sent before
Jesus to give testimony of his Messianic claim and lordship. They were also
sent by pairs to support one another in faith and perseverance, against a world
controlled by the enemy (Luke 10:3)
The divine right
to maintenance was granted to them, and as an example for all fulltime workers
of the Kingdom of God.
As the Levites were
exempted from secular work to support themselves, these ministers of the
gospel, were authorized to live from the field, the Church of God. They were
allowed to lodge and eat in a member’s house, at no cost; while our Lord promised
to take care of them while they were on their way and back. The same way we are
the OBLIGATION to support financially our Ministers and Church workers who
dedicate their lives fulltime to serve God and ourselves in the modern world.
The owe them a living.
FINALLY, the
warning of our Lord JESUS CHRIST to all humanity.
To those who
have been given the opportunity to listen the gospel pure, and accept Christ as
their Lord, and reject Him; they have signed their condemnation, since
salvation can ONLY BE ACHIEVED THROUGH CHRIST ALONE.
(Luke 10:10-12)
There is no
other way, no other manner, no other savior, no other path to forgiveness,
except the blood of Jesus, who gave his life to save us, in payment of our
sins.
ONLY THROUGH
FAITH IN JESUS AND REPENTANCE, we can achieve forgiveness, AND ONLY THROUGH SUBMISSION
TO HIM AND PERSEVERANCE, we can attain salvation.
But do not
panic.
The time is open
while you are alive.
Many reject
Jesus and abuse his Holy Name while they are alive, to later come to faith and
believe. JESUS NEVER SAYS NO…WHILE YOU ARE ALIVE..
However, this
warning is against those who die in rejection and unbelief.
ONCE DEAD, IT IS
DONE.
You account is
closed, and now comes the account giving to the ETERNAL GOD how made you. And
there is no way back, no intermediate redemptive state.
IT IS HEAVEN OR
HELL, FOR ALL ETERNITY.
The election is
yours.
Omar Flores.
Comments
Post a Comment