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| Chapter 10 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two ahead of Him into every city and place whither He Himself would come. 2 Therefore He said unto them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your ways; behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves, 4 carrying neither purse, nor pack, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. 5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, ’Peace be to this house.’ 6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall return to you again. 7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. 8 And into whatsoever city ye enter and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick that are therein and say unto them, ’The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.’ 10 But into whatsoever city ye enter and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same and say, 11 ’Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding, be ye sure of this: that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.’ 12 But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. 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 would have a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Judgment than for you. 15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell. 16 He that heareth you heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me, and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me." 17 ¶ And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name." 18 And He said unto them, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven." 21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in Spirit and said, "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. 22 All things are delivered to Me by My Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." 23 And He turned unto His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." 25 ¶ And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said unto him, "What is written in the law? How readest thou?" 27 And he answering said, "’Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.’" 28 And He said unto him, "Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live." 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said unto Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 And Jesus answering said, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was. And when he saw him he had compassion on him, 34 and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host and said unto him, ’Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee.’ 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?" 37 And he said, "He that showed mercy on him." Then said Jesus unto him, "Go and do thou likewise." 38 ¶ Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His Word. 40 But Martha was encumbered with much serving, and came to Him and said, "Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, "Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." |
The Seventy sent out. This event is only recorded by Luke. Jesus must have quite a large following at this time if He could send out seventy men to preach in the cities of Galilee and Judea. Jesus had now planned for His future to be in Jerusalem, Luke 9:51-54, Jesus was now expecting to leave the area permanently so this would be the final message from Him. Jesus sends the people out as in the previous mission, in pairs, Mark 6:7. The words " whither He Himself would come." indicates that the Seventy people were preparing the people for His last message and appeal. v2 Jesus often used this when He was speaking of the gathering of believers John 4:35,36; Matt 13:30,39. v4 The mission was to be only short in duration, and it was urgent, the men were not to carry unnecessary luggage. They were even instructed not to salute or greet anyone, this was not being unfriendly but the eastern greeting was often so long that Jesus considered it a great waste of time in the ceremony. v5-8 The messengers were not to wander about looking for accommodation when they entered a city, messengers not beggars, they were to accept the first invitation received but first check if they were welcome, accepting what ever was offered to them. v9 "Heal the sick," Jesus had given them the power to heal as an addition to the message, there is no record that these seventy were able to keep the power on completion of the ministry. Judgement on the cities Matt 11:20-24. v10-15 If you and the message is rejected by the city or people then give them the warning that it will be better at the judgement for Sodom, a city of Abraham’s time which was so vile and evil that God destroyed it, Genesis 19:1-24. Jesus issues a special warnings to Chorazin and Bethsaida, He said that if the evil Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon had seen the miracles and heard the message they would have repented, showing their repentance by wearing sackcloth. Instead Jesus warns that they could be heading for Hell by rejecting His message. v17 The seventy return and report that their mission had been successful. The twelve disciples were unable to heal a boy, Luke 9:40 but these messengers reported that the demons fled at the mention of the Name of Jesus. v18-20 Jesus is saying that the power of Satan had been broken, and the success of the seventy confirms this, though the final power was not broken until the death of Jesus on the cross. The seventy had been given power and authority over danger and Satan. Serpents and scorpions are symbolic of spiritual wickedness, Deut 8:15; Psalm 91:13. Jesus then reminds them that just being able to heal and have power over demons does not mean that their name is written in the Book of Life, Matt 7:22,23, this fact is far more important. v21-24 Jesus now rejoices and thanks God the Father for His revealing of the Fathers plans and powers to those who did not have a trained and educated mind but to the ordinary man. The final source of revelation was to be through Jesus Himself, showing the close bond and relationship between the Father and Son. We see the Father through the Son, many men in the past would have been very pleased to be in the position of the disciples, to see and hear the Son of God. v25ff Disciple characteristics v25 This event is not the same as recorded in Mark 12:28-31. The Jewish lawyer would have been an expert in religious teachings of the Law of Moses not the laws of the courts. This man is out to test the teachings of Jesus, he was asking a trick question, "Eternal life, how does a person qualify for this?" v26 Jesus asks the lawyer what was written in the law? This implies, indicates, suggests that the answer was already in the Old Testament. The lawyer replies with quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18, the same verses given by Jesus in Mark 12:28-31. "Heart," the inner life of a person, "Soul," a persons personality, "Strength," physical abilities, "Mind," the persons being able to think, examine. v29 The lawyer realizes that he had not obeyed the law he had thought that he knew so much about, in an attempt to prove he is right he attempts to starts a discussion on who is his neighbour? A strict Jew would not admit that a non Jew could be his neighbour, the parable Jesus used to show who was a neighbour would therefore hit hard at the belief of the lawyer. v30-37 The Good Samaritan. The journey down from Jerusalem to Jericho was literally true as Jerusalem is 2,600 feet above sea level while Jericho is nearly 1,300 below sea level. The road is perfect for the robbers to hide and escape. The first person to pass the injured man was a priest, a religious man who served God in the temple. Then a Levite who also would serve in the temple. Neither approached the man, possible wanting to get clear of the area incase the robbers were still there, but they may have thought he was dead and so would defile himself from temple duties by touching a corpse. Then a Samaritan appears. Samaritans were a mixed race, decedents of the Jews left during the exile which continued to worship as Jews but on Mount Gerizim instead of Jerusalem, even had their own priesthood. Unfortunately they also married the Gentile nations which entered the area and were therefore of mixed race. A normal Jew considered themselves pure and would have nothing to do with the Samaritans. By approaching the injured man the Samaritan was exposing himself to danger, the robbers may have been hidden, waiting for this to happen. By this action Jesus was pointing out the love this man had for another person, as the Law commanded. v35 The two pence he pays the inn keeper would be about two days wages at the time, a considerable sum of money for the Samaritan to pay for a stranger. v36 "Which was the neighbour?" asked Jesus of the lawyer. The lawyer could not even mention the name Samaritan, just admit that it was not the religious people. v38-42 Mary and Martha. v38,39 John 12:1 tells us that the village is Bethany, about two hours walk from Jerusalem on the Jericho road. Jesus appears to have often visited this village. Martha was the older sister, she would therefore be responsible for the running of the home. Mary, the younger, seems to have often sat and listened to the teaching of Jesus, this action upset Martha who was so busy caring for the needs of their guests. v41,42 "Martha, Martha," Jesus wants to make an unusual statement to Martha, "one thing is needful," Martha was thinking that there were "many things" that were important for the Lord and guests and was too busy working, Jesus told Martha that her presence was more important to Him than her cooking and care. |
Easy English Translation
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