Messengers Become Followers – Luke 10:1-20

Luke 10:1-20 Study Guide

From Followers to Messengers

The Gospel of Luke

Vol. 5 (Luke 10-12)

Luke 10:1-20

Introduction:

Have you ever been in a tornado? I have. It was July of 2001, and my family vacationed at an RV park. One moment, we were enjoying a sunny day, the next, the sky turned green; we all abandoned out campsites, running for shelter in the concrete block bath house.

I remember cracking the door as the tornado passed over us. Through that sliver, over the tops of the trees, limbs, branches, and even pieces of campers were being pulled through the sky toward a center point, as if a giant vacuum was gathering dust off the floor. Then, with equal strength, everything the cyclone vacuumed up was flung out with equal force.

Thankfully, no one was seriously injured in that storm, but we were stunned by its power. From pinecones to travel trailers, the tornado sucked everything up and spit it backout. And that’s what tornados do; they don’t hold onto anything. Whatever they draw in, they catapult back out.

And the same is true with those Jesus draws to himself. As we re-enter the Gospel of Luke this morning, we open to chapter 10 as Jesus sends out 72 messengers.

To give you a little context, in Luke 9:51, there’s a shift in the narrative. Jesus had been ministering in northern Israel, near Galilee and Capernaum. But now that his ministry has been established, he “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (9:51) And from Luke 9:51 all the way to Luke 19:28, is one long travelogue.

The journey from Galilee to Jerusalem will take Jesus through many towns and villages. He cannot stay long in any of them because he’s on a mission—to go to the cross. Nevertheless, the gospel of his kingdom must be proclaimed in every town. So, Jesus turns to the crowd of followers, those who have been drawn in to his ministry, and hurls them back out into mission.

But he isn’t just sending them. He’s sending us as well. Jesus is establishing the pattern of discipleship for all who come to him. Everyone Jesus draws to himself, is turned right back around and sent out into the world as his messengers, proclaiming his Lordship and his grace.

Therefore, if Jesus has called you to himself, then he is also sending you somewhere as his messenger. If he has drawn you in, he will inevitably fling you back out. As we study Luke 10:1-21 we’ll see that:

1. Jesus Turns Followers into Messengers
2. Jesus’ Messengers are Often Rejected

3. Jesus’ Message Cannot Fail

The Text

After 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…

1. Jesus Turns Followers into Messengers (10:1-2)

Jesus appointed the Twelve Apostles in Luke 6, and now he expands his ministry by appointing 72 of his followers as messengers. They will go before him, heralding his arrival in all the towns and villages on the road to Jerusalem. Until now, they were merely followers. But Jesus turned them into messengers. Those who had come to Jesus are now being sent out by Jesus.

This becomes the pattern for every follower of Jesus. Everyone who comes to him as a follower, Jesus turns around and sends them back out as his herald, his messenger.

How do we know that? Because the number that he appointed is significant. It wasn’t a coincidence that he appointed 72. That’s a reference to Genesis 10 & 11, which is a list of all the nations that spread from Noah’s sons after the flood. We call it the Table of Nations and guess how many nations are in the list: 72.

Just as Jesus appointed twelve apostles to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, he now appoints the 72 to represent the nations.

Luke’s gospel, in particular, was written to demonstrate that Jesus was not a Messiah for the Jews alone. Rather, Jesus is God’s salvation for the entire world—for all the nations.

And therefore, everyone who comes to him in faith is sent back out to the nations. Anyone he draws in to himself, he flings back out on mission.

Listen to Jesus’ words in verse 2:

² And 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.

The almighty Son of God, who is co-equal with the Father and the Spirit, who could harvest the fields of the earth with a word, has ordained that his church will be built through the ordinary means of his followers and their prayers for more workers.

Therefore, if we are his followers, then we are also his messengers. Anyone who comes to Jesus as his follower, gets turned into a messenger. Those who follow become those who are sent. They are to pray for more who can be sent. Discipleship is not only about staying close to Jesus. It’s also about being dispatched by Jesus.

This does not mean that everyone is called to vocational ministry. The 72 did not become permanent leaders like the twelve apostles. Just because you aren’t training to be a pastor or missionary does not mean you aren’t sent. Each of us has family, children, friends, coworkers, and neighbors that only we can reach for Christ. Your mission field may not be in Bangladesh. It may be in the backyard after supper.

Do you see yourself only as a follower of Jesus, or have you become a conduit of his message? You say…

“I’m not gifted in evangelism.” – Jesus doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. This is what the church is for. This is why we host events like Gather & Go. It’s why we have copies of Mack Stiles’ little book, Evangelism in the book stall.

“I’m not called to pastor, or to be a missionary.” – Maybe not, but you are to be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you for a reason of the hope that is in you. (1 Pet 3:15)

“I’m not a powerful or persuasive speaker.” Good. God choses the foolish to confound the wise. He chooses the weak in the world to shame the strong.

“I’m don’t know enough.” – Do you know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that forgiveness comes through faith in his death and resurrection? Then you already know more than the 72 in this passage. You may be overqualified.

“I’m still wrestling with my own sin. I’d be a bad example.” – Friend, your listeners are not saved by your righteous life. They are only saved by faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You are not winning people to yourself. You are to boast only in your weakness that the power of God might be put on display.

Someone once said, “Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread.” You don’t have to be able to preach a sermon or expound on deep theology. You just need to know that God is holy, man is sinful, Jesus is the redeemer. Believe.

God may be calling some you to the nations. There are currently 12,375 distinct people groups in the world. Of those, 7,29 are unreached – less than 2% evangelical. Just over 3,000 of those remain totally unengaged; we have no knowledge of any sustained effort to reach them with the gospel.

The harvest is indeed plentiful, and we should pray to the Lord of the harvest, that he would send workers into his fields. Would you pray that prayer? Pray that God would call men and women from our church to the nations? Would you even be so bold as to ask God, “Where would you have me go?”

Have you come to Jesus only to be close to him, or have you been sent?

2. Jesus’ Messengers are Often Rejected

In verses three through sixteen, Jesus instructs the 72. They were sent with a sense of urgency; not carrying extra supplies that might slow them down. When they were received into a home, they were to stay there, not look for better lodgings. They were not to show partiality. (Luke 10:4-8)

Their mission was simple: they were to heal the sick and preach the kingdom of God. “Jesus is the Messiah. God’s kingdom has come to you, and the miracles we perform verify our message.”

Imagine, this band of messengers, along with Jesus and the Twelve, going through towns and healing the sick. It’s almost like heaven was touching down on earth. It was like the Jordan Valley was turning back the clock to a time before sickness and disease crippled the world.

You would think this would be cause for tremendous celebration. Surely, they would be welcomed everywhere they went! Yet, the majority of Jesus’ instruction prepares the messengers for certain rejection. “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves,” he says in verse three. And again, “Whenever you ender a town and they do not receive you…say, ‘Even the dust of your town… we wipe off against you.” (Luke 10:11)

They carry the greatest message ever told: the Creator and Lawgiver is also the Gracious Redeemer. They perform miraculous healings—yet, so sinful and bent is the heart of man, that they will not even receive the gracious gifts of God.

Why do they reject the messengers? Because they reject he Master. “The one who rejects you rejects me.”(Luke 10:16)

We must remember that the rejection of the Son was not an accident, or a mistake. It was part of God’s plan. After Jesus preached his first sermon (Luke 4) the crowd in his hometown marched him to a cliff and tried to throw him off. It fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:3 that the Messiah would be “despised and rejected.”

If you are sent by Jesus, expect rejection. Thomas Watson said, “Jesus head was crowned with thorns, and will ours be crowned with roses?”. No, all who desire to live for Christ shall suffer persecution. (2 Tim 3:12)

What is it about the message that causes offence? Well, there are many doctrines which the sinful heart of man despises:

The Holiness of God – We tell people that God his Law are holy, and as the Law Giver, God demands holiness from his creatures. We owe him everything; all our actions and even our innermost thoughts.

The Sinfulness of Man – We tell people that none of us are righteous. We are all fallen and wretched sinners, and that there is no way to improve ourselves.

The Exclusivity of the Gospel – We tell people there is only one way back to God—and it is through faith in Jesus Christ. Hinduism, Islam, Atheism, and even pseudo-Christian cults like Mormonism cannot save.

And we dare not shy away from any of these truths. Nothing less than eternal destiny is at stake. Our boldness is not arrogant confidence in ourselves, but a settled conviction concerning Christ and his gospel.

But it is not merely a distaste of a particular doctrine that causes men and women to reject the message.

Jesus says they reject the message because they reject him.

In other words, the root of human rejection is a rejection of God himself. You see, we want to be god ourselves—that was the great lie in the Garden; that when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, they would become like God. We want to be our own master.

Jesus warns those who reject his messengers in verse 13: “Woe to you.” The word “woe” is a lament. It means, “Alas!” The mighty works of Christ had been done in the towns of Chorazin & Bethsaida, which ought to have brought them to repentance, yet they remained obstinate and stiff-necked.

Jesus said so many miracles had been done it Capernaum, it’s as if the city had been lifted out of the earth and into heaven itself—yet because of their unbelief—they would be plunged down into hell.

You who hear this message today—heaven is coming near to you even now. The Creator King is issuing you an open call to come to him. It is as wonderful as it is dangerous to hear, for, if you refuse him, you are choosing eternal separation. There is no in-between; no middle ground. There can be no indifference to Jesus Christ. He must either be the foundation stone of your life, or else he must be the rock of stumbling upon which you fall and are broken to pieces.

Friend, the Father has given Christ for you. Jesus lived a holy life for you. He bore punishment for sins for you! God’s just wrath is removed from us because it was absorbed by Christ at the cross. Oh, do not reject this salvation.

3. Jesus’ Message Cannot Be Stopped

The 72 return “with joy.” What are they excited about? “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.” They rejoice because they have visibly seen the power and authority of the name of Jesus over demonic spirits. And, we have to admit, that would cause us to rejoice to had we seen it.

Jesus joins in their rejoicing, saying “I saw Satan fall like lightening.” Just as Satan was thrown out of heaven down to earth in the beginning, now, the Son of God has come to earth and is tearing his kingdom apart here as well.

The power of the enemy, represented by the serpent and scorpion, has no ultimate power over Jesus’ messengers.

This is not a command for Christians to handle venomous serpents as part of their worship.

It’s metaphorical language, telling us that Satan cannot prevent the spread of the gospel. Satan can kill the body, but he cannot touch the soul of those who belong to Christ. Ultimately, those who belong to Jesus Christ are untouchable.

Just as Jesus Christ will crush the Serpent’s head at the cross, so too, his messengers, proclaiming his gospel, will tread the serpents’ head in every corner of the earth, by the preaching of the cross.

Notice the source of their strength: “the demons are subject to us in your name.” Jesus’ message cannot be stopped, because Jesus cannot be stopped. The power of the church’s preaching today is not in the skill of her ministers, but in the strength of her risen Lord; not in the holiness of her members, but the holiness of her head, Jesus Christ.

And yet, as jubilant as they are, Jesus redirects their joy.

Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20)

They are rejoicing over something that has been done through them. Jesus tells them to rejoice for something done in them. To put it another way: they rejoiced over something done by them. Jesus says, “Rejoice over what is been done for you.”

It’s great that through you, God has subjected demons, but even greater is that God, before you ever knew him, wrote your name down in heaven.

The greater miracle is not the healing of the sick, or the casting out of demons. The great miracle of the Bible is that God, through Christ the Son, raises the spiritually dead into new life. He rescues sinners from hell and writes their names in heaven.

The beginning of every school year all of us with young children run out to buy supplies: pencils, paper, scissors, and Kleenex. I always make sure to buy extra erasers. Young students always make mistakes, and it seems like the entire eraser is gone before ten percent of the pencil has been used. New writers constantly misspell words. They reverse their b’s and d’s. They write the wrong word. Some papers have more eraser marks than writing.

But friends, when God writes a name in his book, he never misspells. He never writes the wrong name. And for that reason, God’s pencil has no eraser. When a name goes into his book, it is never removed.

Oh, Christian, do you rejoice in this? You who have been downcast all week, how often have you thought upon your own salvation? You who are weeping every night, have you forgotten the joy that will come suddenly with the morning of the resurrection? Your name has been written in God’s book! Your name is engraved upon the palms of his hands! Lift up your eyes and get them on heaven. Do not look at the things which are seen—they are temporary. Look at the things which are unseen—for only that is eternal. Set your thought and your heart on the things above, where Christ is! And when Christ appears, he will open the books, and he will call out your name.

And, until he calls you home, he commands you to go as his messenger!

Conclusion

The tornado doesn’t hold onto what it gathers. Whatever it draws in, it hurls back out. And when the tornado of God’s love in Christ, draws you in to himself, he flings you back out into the world as his messenger. But he does not fling you out in your own strength or wisdom. He goes with you by his Spirit.

Yes, you may be rejected. But he gives you a message that cannot be stopped or silenced.  No, you may not be called to cross an ocean. You may never stand in a pulpit. But you may be called to cross a room. God will use you to reach those who may never darken the door of a church.

Who is he sending you to? Go to them and rejoice that your name is forever set in the roll of heaven.