Wednesday Evening Bible Study

February 28, 2001

Introduction

Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem.  This is the last half of His final year of ministry.  He has already trained and sent out the twelve on a practice mission.  Now it’s time to expand.

Luke 10

:1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

appointed – anadeiknumi – to proclaim any one as elected to office; to announce as appointed a king, general, etc.; to lift up anything on high and exhibit it for all to behold

seventy –

The number seventy is an interesting number.

It is the number of elders that Moses appointed over Israel (Ex. 24:1; Num. 11:24,25)

It is the number of men in the Sanhedrin.

These guys would be another “advance team” going before Him, getting people ready for Jesus’ coming to them.

sent – apostello (“apostle”) – to order (one) to go to a place appointed; to send away, dismiss

two and two – there’s a great lesson here for ministry. Go with a buddy.

Do we know who they were?

Epiphanius, the ancient writer, gives the names of some of them:

Including the seven deacons; Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas; together with Matthias, Mark, Luke, Justus, Barnabas, Apelies, Rufus, and Niger.

Ancient church tradition (careful here, it’s just tradition and may not be accurate) gives us the names of all the seventy, along with where they eventually ministered as pastors:

Agabus, the prophet; Amphias, of Odyssus, sometimes called Amphiatus; Ananias, who baptized Paul, bishop of Damascus; Andronicus, of Pannonia, or Spain; Apelies, of Smyrna, or, according to others, of Heraclea; Apollo, of Caesarea; Aristarchus, of Apamea; Aristobulus, of Britain; Artemas, of Lustra; Asyncritus, of Hyrcania; Barnabas, of Milgin; Barnabas, of Heraclea; Caesar, of Dyrrachium; Caius, of Ephesus; Carpus, of Berytus, in Thracia; Cephas, bishop of Konia; Clemens, of Sardinia; Cleophas, of Jerusalem; Crescens, of Chalcedon, in Galatia; Demas, a priest of idols; Epaenetus, of Carthage; Epaphroditus, of Andriace; Erastus, of Paneas, or, according to others, of the Philippians; Evodus, of Antioch; Hermas, of Philippi, or Philippolls; Hermes, of Dalmatia; Hermogenus and Phygellus, who followed Simon Magus; Hermogenus, bishop of the Megarenes; Herodion, of Tarsus; James, the brother of our Lord, of Jerusalem; Jason, of Tarsus; Jesus Justus, bishop of Eleutheropolis: Linus, of Rome; Luke, the evangelist: Lucius, of Laodicea, in Syria; Mark, who is also John, of Biblopohs, or Byblus; Mark the evangelist, bishop of Alexandria; Mark, the sister’s son of Barnabas, bishop of Apolloma; Matthias, added to the apostles; Narcissus, of Athens; Nicanor, he died when Stephen suffered martyrdom; Nicolaus, of Samaria; Olympius, a martyr at Rome; Onesiphorus, bishop of Corone; Parmenas, of the Soli, Patrobulus, the same with Patrobas, in #Ro 16:14 of Puteoli, or as others, of Naples; Philemon, of Gaza; Philemon (in the Acts he is called Philip), by whom the eunuch of the queen of Ethiopia was baptized, of Trallium, of Asia; Philologus, of Sinope; Phlegon, bishop of Marathon; Phygellus, of Ephesus; Prochorus, of Nicomedia, in Bithynia; Pudens; Quartus, of Berytus; Rhodion, a martyr at Rome; Rufus, of Thebes; Silas, of Corinth; Sylvanus, of Thessalonica; Sosipater, of Iconium; Sosthenes, of Colophon; Stachys, of Byzantium; Stephen, the first martyr; Tertius, of Iconium; Thaddaeus, who carried the epistle of Jesus to Edessa, to Abgarus; Timon, of Bostra, of the Arabians; Trophimus, who suffered martyrdora with the Apostle Paul; Tychicus, bishop of Chalcedon, of Bithynia; Tychicus, of Colophon; Urbanus, of Macedonm; and, Zenas, of Diospolis.

Note: In both lists, Luke was one of these seventy. He is the only gospel writer that makes mention of the seventy.

Luke is the only writer that mentions this part of Jesus’ ministry, just prior to going to Jerusalem, where He sent these men out through the area of Perea, an area east of Jerusalem.

:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

harvest – therismos – harvest, the act of reaping; fig. of the gathering of men into the kingdom of God; referring to time of reaping, the final judgment, when the righteous are gathered into the kingdom of God and the wicked are cast into hell for ever

great – polus – many, much, large

labourers – ergates – a workman, a labourer; usually one who works for hire esp. an agricultural worker; one who does, a worker, perpetrator

few – oligos – little, small, few

pray – deomai – to want, lack; to desire, long for; to ask, beg; the thing asked for; to pray, make supplications

send forth – ekballo – to cast out, drive out, to send out

Lesson

Prayer is God’s recruitment tool.

There is a place for asking people to help, as we saw last week:

(Luke 9:57-62 KJV) And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. {58} And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. {59} And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. {60} Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. {61} And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. {62} And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

It’s interesting that even Jesus didn’t have complete success when He asked people to help.

Just before choosing the twelve, Jesus spent the night in prayer:

(Luke 6:12-13 KJV) And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. {13} And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

Matthew records this regarding the choosing of the twelve:

(Mat 9:35 – 10:1 KJV) And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. {36} But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. {37} Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; {38} Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. {10:1} And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

Lesson

There’s never enough help.

I think it’s interesting that Jesus is sending out seventy men, and to me, that’s a HUGE number of workers.

Yet He’s also asking them to pray for more help. Because there’s more work to be done.

:3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

go your ways – hupago – to lead under, bring under; to withdraw one’s self, to go away, depart

send – apostello – to order (one) to go to a place appointed; to send away, dismiss

lambs – aren – a sheep, a lamb

wolves – lukos – a wolf; metaph. of cruel, greedy, rapacious, destructive men

Lesson

Be vulnerable

We are not to go out and minister as Rambo, slaying people left and right.

There’s a sense of vulnerability in reaching out to people.

Illustration

I read about one school teacher who did things a little differently:

"Tough Teacher"

A school teacher injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. It fit under his shirt and was not noticeable at all. On the first day of the term, still with the cast under his shirt, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in the school. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then busied himself with desk work. When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he took the desk stapler and stapled the tie to his chest. Discipline was not a problem from that day forth!

:4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

carry – bastazo – to take up with the hands; to take up in order to carry or bear, to put upon one’s self (something) to be carried; to bear, to carry

purse – balantion – a money bag, purse

scrip – pera – a wallet; a leathern sack, in which travellers and shepherds carried their provisions, a sack of dried fruits, nuts, and dried meats, hard bread, foods that were not perishable.

shoes – hupodema – what is bound under, a sandal, a sole fastened to the foot with thongs

Lesson

Ministry of faith.

Jesus is teaching these men to live by faith, to trust God to provide for their needs.

But this wasn’t a hard, fast rule:

(Luke 22:35-36 KJV) And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. {36} Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

The balance is that we need to learn to live by faith and trust the Lord for our needs. But there are times when there’s nothing wrong with planning and saving.

salute – aspazomai – to draw to one’s self; to salute one, greet, bid welcome, wish well to; to receive joyfully, welcome; a salutation was made not merely by a slight gesture and a few words, but generally by embracing and kissing, a journey was retarded frequently by saluting.

Robertson: “These oriental greetings were tedious, complicated, and often meddlesome if others were present or engaged in a bargain.”

I think the idea is that they were not to be slowed down along the way, but to get to their destination.

:5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

house – oikia – a house; an inhabited edifice, a dwelling; the inmates of a house, the family

peace – eirene – a state of national tranquillity; exemption from the rage and havoc of war; peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord; security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous)

This was a typical greeting.

:6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.

son – huios – a son

A peaceful person, a person who lived in peace.

shall rest upon – epanapauomai – to cause to rest upon anything; to rest upon anything; to settle upon, fix its abode upon

shall turn to … again – anakampto – to bend back, to turn back; to return

This seems to be some sort of a way of determining whether or not to stay at a particular house.

I think the idea is that if a person would accept the Christian in a peaceful way, that they would then find a kind of blessing on their house. If they were not peaceful, then they miss the blessing and the peace stays with the Christian. The Christian didn’t have to even lose their own peace over the situation. Just move on.

:7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire.

remain – meno – to remain, abide; in reference to place; not to depart

eating – esthio – to eat

drinking – pino – to drink

worthy – axios – weighing, having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much; befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing; of one who has merited anything worthy; both in a good and a bad sense

labourer – ergates – a workman, a labourer; usually one who works for hire esp. an agricultural worker; one who does, a worker, perpetrator

hire – misthos – dues paid for work; wages, hire; reward: used of the fruit naturally resulting from toils and endeavours

Lesson

Support for the ministry

These seventy were to learn to have their needs met by the people they ministered to.

(1 Tim 5:17-18 KJV) Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. {18} For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.

:7 Go not from house to house.

go … from – metabaino – to pass over from one place to another, to remove, depart

Lesson

Be careful about jumping around.

I would imagine that it might be tempting once you’ve settled in a city and you begin to that the neighbor down the street has a little bigger spare bedroom, and they serve a little nicer meals, that you might want to change your place of residence.

God’s ministers shouldn’t be looking for a “better opportunity”.

A shepherd cares for his flock and stays with them.

Illustration

This came in my e-mail today from a real life pastor in Arizona:

This Sunday marks 10 years since we started the work here in Casa Grande AZ (CG is about 45 minutes southeast of Phoenix and 65 minutes northwest of Tucson). The work has been slow and hard tilling. At times both my wife and I were ready to leave: frustrated, angry, and having lost the vision for this place. When I wrote to Mike MacIntosh about this he said "Then leave! Don't destroy the people in your wavering." That caused me to take a real look at things inside of my own heart -- PRIDE was the biggest one. It was hurting my pride that we didn't "Take Off" like some of the other Fellowships. Repentance came and still we wondered if this was were God would have us to be. Praise our Lord that He never allowed both of us to get that way at the same time for very long. We would have missed out on so many major blessings. We look around us now, and although the Fellowship has not grown very big (about 45 adults), we have seen the Lord's hand move in some powerful ways. We know all of their names and most of their children -- that in itself is a blessing that many in bigger fellowships lose. In the ten years that the Lord has granted us here, I have had the greatest privilege of all -- to teach the Word of God on a regular basis to His kids and some who we pray someday will be. We have had the opportunity and blessing to marry some, send some home to be with Jesus, lead some into a saving knowledge of Jesus and His Kingdom here and see others brought back from a time of wandering into sweet fellowship. We have seen some delivered from bondages and others find renewed hope. I've had the blessing to be the first one outside of the mom and dad to hold the newborn, pray through the night for those in emergency rooms and understand with other families that the healing will only come in the next life. Sitting beside a Brother as he and the family decide to disconnect the life supports on his mother brings to light the truth about what ministry is all about -- being there and pointing them to Jesus. I've been lied to, mislead and spoken badly about behind my back. But, I've been praised well beyond anything that I could have done and admired for abilities that were not and are not mine (I shudder to think that one day they will all wake-up and see who I really am). My wife and I have counseled and prayed, argued and encouraged, and held the hands and hugged some of the most precious people on this earth. We have seen marriages restored and sadly some destroyed. We've trained some of the best people you may have in your fellowship. Seems that just about the time you feel they're ready to go into leadership, the Lord moves on to another city. He has taught me that it is God's timing -- God's plan -- God's place -- God's people, not mine. Hold onto them loosely but HUG them tightly, they all need it. May Jesus bless your week and the time you have together with the flock God has entrusted you with -- be there, but point them to Jesus.

H. David Landry, casagrande@calvarychapel.com

:8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:

Jesus now contrasts the cities that will accept these men with those that won’t.

set before – paratithemi – to place beside or near or set before; food, i.e. food placed on a table

Lesson

Accept what you’re given.

If these men find themselves in some of the homes of Samaria or Peraea, they might not find that all the food is kosher. It might not meet their own personal standards for food.

Jesus says to eat what’s set before you.

They were to learn to accept what the people would give them and not come in with certain demands to be met.

:9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

heal – therapeuo – to serve, do service; to heal, cure, restore to health

the sick – asthenes – weak, infirm, feeble

is come nigh – eggizo – to bring near, to join one thing to another; to draw or come near to, to approach

:10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,

go your ways out – exerchomai – to go or come forth of; with mention of the place out of which one goes, or the point from which he departs

the streets – plateia – a broad way, a street

:11 Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you:

dust – koniortos – raised dust, flying dust; dust

cleaveth – kollao – to glue, to glue together, cement, fasten together; to join or fasten firmly together; to join one’s self to, cleave to

wipe off – apomassomai (“from” + “smear”) – to wipe off; to wipe off one’s self, to wipe of for one’s self; to rub off with the hands

:11 notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

They were to still give them the same message.

:12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.

more tolerable – anektoteros – bearable, tolerable

that day – the day of judgment

Sodom – that famous city that God judged for its immorality. It was destroyed with fire and brimstone (Gen. 19).

:13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

mighty works – dunamis – strength power, ability; power for performing miracles

a great while ago – palai – of old, former; long ago

sackcloth – sakkos – a sack; a course cloth, a dark course stuff made especially from the hair of animals; a garment of the like material, and clinging to the person like a sack, which was wont to be worn (or drawn over the tunic instead of the cloak or mantle) by mourners, penitents, suppliants and also by those who like the Hebrew prophets, lead an austere life

ashes – spodos – ashes: placed on sackcloth as a token of grief

repented – metanoeo – to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent; to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins

Tyre and Sidon – these were great, famous pagan cities up the coast from Israel. They were cities that had become quite wealthy and wicked through their commercial trading. God warned them through the prophets (Isa. 23; Eze. 26) and allowed them to be wiped out by King Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander the Great.

Chorazin – we don’t know anything about this place.

Bethsaida – a little city on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. It was the home of Peter, Andrew, and Philip.

These were apparently cities where Jesus had spent time, yet as a whole they rejected Him.

:14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

judgment – krisis – a separating, sundering, separation; judgment

more tolerable – Tyre and Sidon didn’t have the same kind of witness to them that these cities did.

Lesson

There are degrees of punishment

Punishment will be based upon the amount of witness a person rejects.

(Luke 12:47-48 KJV) And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. {48} But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

:15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.

exalted – hupsoo – to lift up on high, to exalt; metaph.; to raise to the very summit of opulence and prosperity; to exalt, to raise to dignity, honour and happiness

hell – hades – name Hades or Pluto, the god of the lower regions; Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead; later use of this word: the grave, death, hell

thrust down – katabibazo – to cause to go down; to bring down; to cast down, thrust down

Capernaum – This was the city where Jesus probably spent the most time. He did much ministry there.

Lesson

The greatest judgment comes from rejecting the Son.

The worst thing you could ever do would be to reject the Son of God.

(John 3:16-19 KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {17} For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. {18} He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. {19} And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Jesus is God’s only way out of judgment. To reject Him means to accept eternal damnation.

:16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

despiseth – atheteo – to do away with, to set aside, disregard; to thwart the efficacy of anything, nullify, make void, frustrate; to reject, to refuse, to slight

Lesson

Don’t take it personally

There will be times when people will listen to what you have to say.

Paul had this blessing when he went to Thessalonica:

(1 Th 2:13 KJV) For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

There will be time when they reject the things you say. But they’re rejecting Jesus. They’re rejecting the Father.