Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for meditation is written in the 10thChapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses1 – 20:
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, thatthe kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.16“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword. Jesus stopped Peter and said to him, (Matthew 26:52–53)“Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?”
Twelve legions of angels are somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000 angels. That’s a lot of angels. When the Assyrians attacked Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, (2 Kings 19:35)“the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians”.If that is what one angel can do, think what twelve legions of angels could do.
Today’s Gospel caused me to wonder what twelve legions of angels could do if Jesus sent themout to proclaim that the reign of God has come near. As one who has been ordained to the ministry, I sometimes wonder why Jesus sent out mere mortal sinners to proclaim His gospel when He has legions of angels at His disposal. When I examine my own life in light of the Ten Commandments, I see an unworthy sinner. It is a mystery to me as to why God would use a sinner like me to proclaim His good news from the pulpit. Regardless of my doubts, today’s Gospel informs us that Jesus sent out seventy-two sinners to proclaim the coming of the reign of God.
Jesus sent out the seventy-two to prepare the way for Him as He made His way to Jerusalem to keep His appointment with the cross. You might remember from last week’s Gospel that Jesus is the one who (Luke 9:51)“set his face to go to Jerusalem”.The Lord Jesus wanted everyone to be ready for Him when He came by on His pilgrimage that would take Him to the cross in Jerusalem. Therefore,(Luke 10:1)“the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go”.Jesus used seventy-two sinners to prepare people for His coming. That’s right! Jesus sent sinners to proclaim His Good News to the people! That defies human logic. But the fact is that we regular church-goers just accept that sinners proclaim the Word of God to the point where we don’t even think about how strange an idea that is. Jesus put His most precious Good News into the mouths of unworthydishonourable sinners.
Now before you start wondering if maybe I am over-stating the case here, ask yourself who Jesus sent out. Jesus sent out James and John. Remember that just last week, we heard that James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven on an unsuspecting Samaritan village just because they didn’t want Jesus to pass through their town. Jesus sent out Peter … you know the one to whom He had to say, “Get behind me, Satan!” Then there was good old doubting Thomas.
Then, of course, let’s not forget Judas. Judas … the one who would betray Jesus … the one who would hang himself in despair … that Judas! He also was one of the disciples that Jesus sent out to prepare the way for His arrival. Each and every one of these disciples had failed Jesus multiple times. Each and every one of these disciples would fail Jesus many times again after the events in today’s Gospel. These are not the men that I would choose to get out the word if I were God. But then, I am not God.
In spite of the fact that all of these men were sinners … in spite of the fact that we know that at least one of them, Judas, was even a traitor, Jesus still entrusted His message to them. He even said, (Luke 10:16)“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”Jesus promised that even though they were sinners, His message would remain intact in their mouths. Think about it. Jesus promised His disciples that when they proclaimed the words that He gave to them, their hearers were hearing Jesus Himself speak through their mouths. People were to pay no attention to the sins of the messengers. Instead, they were to pay attention to the truth of the message.
What is this precious, holy message? In today’s Gospel, Jesus said,(Luke 10:5)“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’”This is no ordinary peace. This is the peace of God that passes all human understanding. This is the peace that Jesus would soon earn when He finished His journey to Jerusalem and kept His appointment with the cross.
Jesus also told them to heal and preach. (Luke 10:8–9) “8Whenever you enter a town and they receive you … Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” It is important to understandthat the Kingdom of Godis different from earthly kingdoms. Here on this earth, we say that someone is a king because he rules a kingdom … the king depends on the kingdom. When it comes to the Kingdom of God, things are the other way around. The kingdom is the kingdom because Christ the king rules it … the kingdom depends on the king. When we say that the kingdom of God has come near to you,we are saying that the king has come near to you. That king is Jesus Christ Himself.
So far, everything about this mission sounds pretty good, but there is also a dark side to this mission. It begins in the instructions. Jesus began with a warning, (Luke 10:3)“Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”As wonderful as God’s peace and His kingdom are, there will be some people who will attack you for it. There will always be people who rejectGod’s peace and His kingdom. There will always be those who hateGod’s message and His messengers.
Jesus also gave His disciples words and actions of judgment. (Luke 10:10–12) “Whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town”.What sad and terrifying words.
The most terrifying thing about this judgment is the thing that is missing. There are two words in the blessed proclamation of the Gospel that are missing in the judgment. When a town received the disciples, Jesus gave them a proclamation that ended with these words: The kingdom of God has come near to you. When a town rejected the disciples, Jesus gave them a proclamation that ended with these words: The kingdom of God has come near … period! The words “to you” are missing from the judgment. The words “to you” make an eternal difference.
You see, Jesus Christ died for the sins of the entire world. When Jesus Christ hung from the cross and shouted, “It is finished,” He meant it is finished for everybody. Jesus Christ has earned the forgiveness of sins for every man, woman, and child who ever has or ever will live. Jesus purchased the forgiveness of sins for all people in all places in all times.
This means that you can walk up to anyone in any place and tell them that you know for a fact that Jesus Christ has earned forgiveness of sins for them. Think of the worst human beings who ever lived. Jesus earned forgiveness of sins for them. Nero burned Rome and blamed it on the Christians, but Jesus earned forgiveness for his sins. Genghis Khan, Jesus earned forgiveness for him. The people who carried out the Spanish inquisition, Jesus earned forgiveness for them. Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Osama Bin Laden, whoever you can name, Jesus earned forgiveness for them. Even Judas Iscariot, Jesus earned forgiveness for him.
Even though Jesus earned forgiveness for these horrible villains, the odds that they are or will be with the Lord are extremely low. The problem lies in those two little words “to you.” Jesus earned forgiveness for everyone, but some people rejectthat forgiveness. It is not the Lord’s fault that anyone suffers forever. He has brought His kingdom near. He has earned forgiveness of sins for everyone. The Holy Spirit offers that forgiveness through the Gospel to everyone. The only thing the Holy Spirit does not do is jam the Gospel down people’s throats. Some people resist the Holy Spirit and reject the Gospel. The Kingdom of God has come near them, but not to them. Reject the Kingdom means rejecting the gift of salvation.
The eminent theologian Dr. Martin Luther’s explanation of the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer; “Thy kingdom come”, is this “The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself. But we pray in this petition that it may come to usalso. How is this done? When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and there in eternity. We pray in this petition that it may come to us”.
The crucifixion and the empty tomb are objective facts. The historical record outside of the Bible can teach us all kinds of things about Jesus. We can know that most of His ministry was in Galilee. We can know that He tangled with the temple authorities in Jerusalem. We can research ancient documents and learn how those temple authorities coerced Pontius Pilate to crucify Him. We can uncover the mystery of an empty tomb. All of these things are objective facts. The Apostle James tells us that [James 2:19]“even the demons believe the objective facts and shudder”. We need more than objective facts.
Two little words take the Gospel from objective fact to personal reality. Those two words become the truthwhen our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word. The Holy Spirit’s gift of faith makes the difference. Without that faith, the life of Jesus is just a collection of the objective facts. With that faith, the life of Jesus Christ is the way of salvation for me … and you.
Two little words can make such a difference. Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins can add two words to the objective facts. Listen to the difference this makes. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary for me. Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate. Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate for me. Jesus died on the cross. Jesus died on the cross for me. Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus rose from the dead for me. Jesus ascended into heaven. Jesus ascended into heaven for me. From there He will come. From there He will come for me. Amen
The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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