Luke 10:1-20

​exegetical notes
 
10:1-4
 
+  after the Feast of the Tabernacles, Jesus stayed in the vicinity of Jerusalem in order to visit the towns and villages of Judea with His message; in order to prepare the inhabitants for His arrival, He sent a large number of disciples ahead of Him
 
+  the instructions given to the seventy-two were very much like those given to the Twelve when they were sent to tour Galilee (Matthew 9:35-10:16)...the preaching of the Kingdom and the healing of the sick
 
+  the Lord appointed seventy-two disciples and sent them out two-by-two...the purpose of the pairing was not merely to provide mutual comfort and support but also to give attested, binding testimony (in the mouth of two witnesses every word is established) regarding the response to their message by the hearers
 
+  the harvest is large but the workers are few; therefore Jesus encourages His disciples to plead with "the Lord of the harvest" that He would send out workers into His harvest field
 
+  the context for their missionary work would be quite challenging, for they would be sent out "like lambs among wolves" into a hostile and indifferent world (the parable of the sower and the seed -- Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23; Luke 8:4-8, 11-15 & the parable of the wedding banquet -- Matthew 22:1-14)...some would respond to their message with faith but others would respond with unbelief and opposition
 
+  they were not to take the standard provisions with them...the disciples would be provided for by the heavenly Father and He would supply their needs
 
+  they were not to greet anyone on the road in the traditional manner for oriental greetings were important, long and time-consuming...because of the urgency of the mission, they should not allow themselves to be delayed with extended greetings but were to quickly go and engage in the work that had been assigned to them by their Master Jesus
 
10:5-7
 
+  when you enter a home say "shalom" (peace) -- a peace associated with the coming salvation of God -- the kind of peace that Jesus brought to the house of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) -- "today salvation has come to this house because this man, too is a son of Abraham...for the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost"; and if the hearer is a peaceful man, your peace will rest upon him
 
+  the disciples are instructed to stay and not move from house to house
 
10:8-12
 
+  upon entering a town, the disciples are to eat what is set before them
 
+  the disciples are to heal the sick and to tell them that "the kingdom of God is near you" -- the healings are to be regarded as a sign of the presence of the kingdom; the royal reign of God is exercised in and through Christ and His disciples
 
+  if the town will not welcome them, they are to go into the street and say "even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you" as a witness and judgment upon their unbelief...because "the kingdom of God is near" yet they refused to believe that Good News and the salvation that it brings to those who believe
 
+  the fate of the people of Sodom had become proverbial -- it was a city that had shamelessly practiced vice and had been destroyed in God's righteous wrath; the point is that if there is no hope for Sodom, there is even less for a city that rejects the Gospel
 
10:13-15
 
+  Jesus pronounces "woe to you" upon two villages because they failed to embrace the salvation that He brought into their midst
 
+  Tyre and Sidon, wealthy Phoenician cities (thirty-five and fifty miles away from Capernaum) were centers of wickedness yet both of them would have repented long ago, "sitting in sackcloth and ashes" -- sackcloth and ashes were regarded as a sign of repentance, mourning and sorrow -- an image of utter dejection and contrition
 
+  Capernaum, possibly viewing themselves to be special in God's sight because Jesus spend so much of His ministry in that place, would not fare well on the last day because they, like Chorazin and Beth-saida, refused to repent and believe -- Chorazin and Beth-saida had often heard Jesus and seen His miracles and yet did not accept His Gospel message
 
10:16
 
+  the person who listens to the message of the disciple "listens to Me"; and the person who rejects the message rejects Jesus and the One who sent Him
 
+  the way in which the disciples are treated by the people is, in effect, the people's response to Jesus and to God -- to reject the messenger is to reject the message, along with the One who sent the messenger
 
10:17-20
 
+  Jesus probably arranged with the disciples that, after a certain time, they would meet again at a fixed location...and we read that they came back joyfully to Him and gave Him their report of the fruit that they experienced from their Kingdom labors, noting especially that "even the demons submit to us in Your name"
 
+  Jesus helped them to understand why and how they were able to accomplish these things:  He had given them the authority so that, as His messengers and agents, Satan's kingdom would be brought low and people would be rescued "from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son" (Colossians 1:13-14)
 
+  that the demons were subject to the disciples is not so important as the fact that their own names were written in heaven -- in the Book of Life that contains the register of God's people
​