At that time, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 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. 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 someone son of peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, 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 offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town … Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
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 is what you were pleased to do.
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.”
(Luke 9:57–10:24)
What event was so great that the prophets and kings longed to see it? In Jesus’ day, Jews remembered the glorious ancient Israelite kingdom that existed between about 1050 to 600 BC. In Jesus’ time, people might have said, “If only our nation could be as prosperous as back then! If only our nation still had prophets who heard the voice of God and guided us! If only we had God’s presence in our temple and lived in unity and peace!”
Jesus disagreed. He essentially said, “Back then, they also longed for the same peace and unity you long for. That is because it was something not even they had. What they longed for is happening here and now! They longed for what you see me doing. I am what they longed for. What I am doing now is the real kingdom. The ancient prophets spoke the words of the Holy Spirit. I am the Son of God. You hear the voice of the Holy Spirit more clearly than ever when you hear me teach!”
The ancient kings and prophets were not the “good old days,” according to Jesus. But what was happening in Jesus’ day that was so glorious? Jesus said, “I am essentially homeless. I wander around from village to village, teaching, healing; at the mercy of others’ hospitality.”
People began to say they wanted to follow Jesus. They, too, wanted to be utterly dependent on God because they saw something divine and holy in Jesus that they could not explain.
Some who followed Jesus lost heart and quit, but some continued. Jesus sent seventy faithful followers out to wander around from village to village. Like Jesus, they were to teach and heal. They did what they had seen Jesus do.
Off they went. They taught and healed people with divine power. Like Jesus, they paid a price for it. Just like in the case of Jesus, some people reject the message of the seventy and run them out of town. These disciples made that sacrifice. They answered that call. They trusted God so completely that they put themselves in a position of dependence on God to provide for them in unusual ways.
Suddenly, strangers would welcome them into their homes. God would miraculously orchestrate events such that the disciples received everything they needed. The disciples would tell people, “The Kingdom of God has come near this place.” The Kingdom of God that they were referring to was their own faith in God. The Kingdom of God is their way of living for God. What people hope and long for, peace, hope and salvation, can be found when you leave everything behind to serve God’s people. That is what the kings and prophets longed for. They longed to see people living fully – by giving fully.”
When they disciples met up with Jesus again, he said, “Satan has fallen.” That is to say, the one who entices us into sin, the one who brings death and sickness and hatred, has no power over you now. Jesus’ new way of living, this new path of trusting God, is the salvation of humanity. Sin is being defeated.
Jesus says, “Nothing can hurt you. Not even snakes and scorpions can hurt you because you have my life and follow my way.”
And then!
“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 is what you were pleased to do.
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.”
Jesus says that the full truth of God is only accessible to humans when they do what these disciples did, which is what Jesus had done first. Because earlier, when he was going to send them out, he said, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
If people reject Jesus when he says, “You must leave everything for the service of God,” they have rejected God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. If they reject the teaching of Jesus to “love your enemies,” they have rejected God himself. If they reject Jesus when he says, “You must have greater righteousness than the most religious people (the Pharisees),” then they have rejected the God who appointed the ancient kings and spoke through the ancient prophets.
The apostles’ preaching is the voice of God. We live in the Kingdom of Heaven when we do what they teach. They teach us to become one with Jesus by leaving everything else behind.