Series on Luke
IV The Imperatives of the Kingdom
A Increasing Opposition
3 Satan’s Fall
Text: 10:1-24
Introduction
This is a timely text for the first Sunday in any year as we consider afresh how we live in a rapidly changing and challenging world. It is a world rife with economic problems and poverty, but the gospel ministers to the poor. It is a world in which false religions have become more aggressive in their outreach, but the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is a world in which the disintegration of old political power structures has created a vacuum which welcomes the gospel of Christ with its message of life and liberty. It is a world in which the number of missionaries sent out from the old line denominations riddled with unbelief has been steadily declining but in which in spite of our weakness we can hear again the words of Christ from this text in verse 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. The truth of this timely text is that we have a commission which is vast, vital, and victorious.
I Vast
There is a textual difficulty here in the number of people sent out. Depending on which Greek text is followed the number is either 70 or 72. The New International Version says 72 in verse 1, but the King James says 70 because they are following different Greek texts. Since New International says in a note that it is impossible to decide. I will make a decision for us. i am fully persuaded that the issue here is that, based on Genesis 10, all the rabbis of Jesus’ time said there were 70 Gentile nations. At this juncture in Luke’s gospel the Lord has already sent out the 12 Apostles representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Now He has completed his ministry to Galilee and Samaria and is sending his disciples across the Jordan into Perea which was largely Gentile. Thus he sends 70 as a symbol of his worldwide ministry. That this ministry is vast is clearly indicated in his admonition to the disciples that the harvest is plentiful and that they are to pray for more workers. I think of the prolific labors of the apostle Paul as he sensed the vastness of Christ’s command to preach the gospel to the whole world. I think of John Wesley who said the world is my parish, and of the Wycliffe Bible Translators who a few years back reminded us that there were 2000 languages into which the Bible had not yet been translated. All of these had a vision of the vastness of Christ’s command. It is a tremendous obligation which our Lord places upon us and we need to listen to his words here or we absolutely cannot do what he says. And it is vital that we obey.
II Vital
The commission of Christ is vital. This is seen in the instructions he gives to these disciples in verses 3-16, Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” There is a great urgency to their mission. They are to take no provisions, waste no time in idle conversation, depend upon the good will of those to whom they go both with respect to providing for them and also with respect to whether they hear the gospel or not. They are even to disregard their scruples with regard to food and eat whatever is set before them in these Gentile homes. The time for being kosher has ended. Notice that Jesus pronounces woes, that is judgments, upon those Jewish towns that have not listened to His message. Now he is turning to the Gentiles indeed. The thrust of all these instructions is to say get the job done. Don’t let anything interfere with the task. don’t waste your time. The reason for all of this is given in verse 16, “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” The main point here is that this is Jesus’ mission. The only people that are going to receive them or their message are those who hear Him. The ministry does not depend on us for its success. It is a vast ministry but the thing God expects from us is faithfulness. God will not judge you on how many people you won to Christ but on how faithful you were in trying. God will not judge you on how many people you prayed for repented, but on how faithful you were in praying. And God will not not judge you on how many people came to Christ as a result of your gifts to missions, but on how faithful you were in giving. In the end it is His work and He determines the results. Perhaps this is part of what Jesus is talking about in verse 20, However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. After all what counts and what matters is that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life and we should just do what he says because we know the outcome is in his hands. And speaking of results, that is our final point from this text. This is a victorious mission.
III Victorious
This reminds me of the words of Paul at the conclusion of I Corinthians 15 where he says, Therefore my dear brethren stand firm, let nothing move you. always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. There are two things in our text which reveal the victorious nature of this mission. First there is the suppression of Satan, and secondly the supremacy of the Savior.
A The Suppression of Satan
In verses 17-21 we see the occasion when the 70 return from their mission full of victory and blessing, The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. We are told that Jesus rejoiced in verse 21, He was full of joy through the Holy Spirit. This is the only time in the Bible this expression is used of Jesus. Why is he greatly rejoicing? The first reason is that it is a clear indication that he has already overcome the wicked one who has until this time blinded the whole world to God’s love. When Jesus says he beholds Satan fall from heaven he is talking about restricting the devil’s power. This is the same thing that is mentioned in Revelation 20:1-3 where it says, An angel coming down from heaven seized the dragon and bound him for a thousand years…to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore. Now the Gentiles are hearing the gospel and believing. The nations are hearing the message. This is exactly what Jesus anticipated when he spoke in Matthew 12:29 saying, How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods,unless he first binds the strong man. Satan is the strong man, this present world is his house, and Jesus is the one who binds him. Make no mistake about it, the message of the gospel is that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and the Bible clearly teaches that the influence of the devil has been suppressed, restricted, bound and limited in that he can no longer keep the nations of the world, the Gentiles, in darkness. Jesus is realizing this and therefore rejoices. but He also rejoices because this establishes His supremacy.
B The Supremacy of the Savior
The victory of Christ is revealed in verses 21-24, At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” His supremacy is shown in three ways in these verses. First in his statement in verse 21 that God has hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. The self righteous, self satisfied, self sufficient leaders of Israel who rejected our Savior do not believe but others do. Since He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance His success is clear. Secondly in verse 22 His success is revealed in that He is the one through whom the Father reveals himself and he is the only one. And finally in verse 23 and 24 his success is revealed through the fact that his disciples are seeing the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding Him because the Old Testament said in Isaiah 49:6 Is it too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and to bring back those of Israel i have kept? I will also make you a light to the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. How blessed where Jesus Apostles? Remember Peter’s words in I Peter 1:10-12, Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. All of these things remind us that our mission is not in vain, our labor is not in vain if only we will rest in his finished work and determined purpose and do what he says.
Dr. John P. Clark's Sermons & Writings 