Study Format:
1. Read passage aloud. What did you notice in the reading? What words or phrase caught your attention?
2. Read passage aloud a second time. What questions would you ask the text?
3. Read passage aloud a third time. What do you hear God calling you to do or be in response to this text?
Interesting Ideas to Consider:
• Manuscripts are evenly divided between the sending of seventy and the sending of seventy-two. That there is this split, probably relates the number to the list of nations in Genesis 10 (the Hebrew text lists 70 nations, the Septuagint 72). So the significance seems to be on the mission of the church to spread through all nations.
• Being sent in pairs relates to the Mosaic Law that two witnesses are required for a testimony to be credible (Deut 19:15). There is also safety in pairs, necessary for the challenges of travel in the first century.
• Harvest metaphors like v. 3 were commonly used by Old Testament prophets as a metaphor for judgment and the gathering of Israel that would take place at the end of time. Harvest season is a time of great urgency in agrarian cultures, those who had labored in a field at harvest time would understand the pleading for more hands on deck to bring in the harvest as quickly as possible.
• Both in the commissioning of the twelve in chapter nine and here in the commissioning of the seventy (two), is the injunction to travel lightly. The added instruction not to greet anyone adds to the need for urgency in the travel.
• The disciples are to receive hospitality by 1) say, “Peace to this house,” and 2) remain in the house they are received. “Peace” has long been a common greeting. With the resurrection of Jesus, “Peace” takes on an additional meaning. The one at who’s birth peace was promised (Luke 1:79), will greet the disciples after his resurrection with the words, “Peace be with you.” That greeting will then become a mark of what the work of the apostles is to be, “preaching peace by Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:36).
• The requirement to remain in one house could be to keep the disciples from seeking better accommodations in another home.
• While it was universally accepted that “the laborer deserves to be paid” (10:7, see also 1 Timothy 5:18), there is an added level of acceptance on the part of the laborer to transcend social barriers and eat whatever is offered, even if it goes against dietary laws.
• Verses 8 and 9 offer a snapshot on how to do mission. 1) “Eat what is set before you” (create community by accepting hospitality and letting the community serve you), 2) “cure the sick” (care for the needs of the community), and 3) “say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (proclaim the kingdom of God).
• Shaking the dust off one’s feet (10:11) was the traditional act of severance. There is a contradiction here, as verse 11 goes on, even with the severance made, “the kingdom of God has [still] come near.” Rejecting the messengers does not affect the truth of the message.
• The disciples’ response to the success of their mission is joy. The joy of ministry is a foreshadowing of the joy of the resurrection, and the joy of the arrival of the Spirit.
• The power of the disciples to cast out demons is a sign of the promised end times arrival, signaling the coming of the kingdom of God already in the midst of the followers of Jesus.
• Scorpions and snakes were frequent metaphorical images for the power of evil, so it seems Jesus’ words here were probably metaphorical rather than literal. By casting out demons, the disciples have demonstrated their ability to tread on snakes and scorpions.
• The disciples are cautioned not to rejoice at their newfound powers, but to rejoice that their names are written in the book of life, a common image for salvation. The proper response to the kingdom of god is not only the defeat of evil, but more importantly joy in the experience of a life aligned with God.
Works Sourced:
Culpepper, R. Alan. “The Gospel of Luke.” The New Interpreter’s Bible Volume IX. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995.
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