Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
With terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped’ then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert;
Isaiah chapter 35, verses 3 to 6
After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.
Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.
Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”
Luke, chapter 10, verses 1 to 9
Linking St Luke, our reading from Isaiah and our reading from Luke’s Gospel is God’s healing and miraculous power.
Isaiah prophesises that the weak will be strengthened. God wants His people to be strong so that they can work and progress for Him and so they can pray as they should. God’s promise that He will save us is fulfilled in Jesus and this salvation comes with miraculous power. The sick and the diseased are healed. With this salvation also came miraculous provision. The dry barren desert becomes watered and fruitful. Jesus provides this in people’s lives. Those who believe in Him receive the Holy Spirit.
As recorded in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus appointed another 70 of His followers (in addition to the 12 disciples) to go out preparing the way ahead of Him.
70 is one of those numbers that pops up a lot and there could be several reasons as to why this number was chosen. It could be a connection to the 70 Elders who went with Moses to see the glory of God on Mt Sinai; whilst Jesus’s 70 would see the glory of God in action as they work in service to Him In comparison with the 70 members of the Sanhedrin, Jesus’s 70 may have been intended to show that He has established a new order; a new leadership. There were 70 translators of the Hebrew Bible into Greek and Jesus’s 70 were to translate His word into everyday lives. Or, of course, it could simply have been that 70 was the number which made most effective use of the people at hand.
Sending them two by two, (which makes me think of the children’s song “the animals went in two by two, hurrah, hurrah …” – we could instead sing: ‘And Jesus sent them two by two, hurrah, hurrah’) was to teach them the necessity of concord amongst ministers of righteousness. By having two witnesses everything can be established and, of course, it meant they could support each other and their neighbours.
As He so often did, Jesus used metaphor to explain the urgency of His work. Considering the multitude of humanity as a field ready for harvesting, Jesus saw the greatness of human need but saw it as opportunity.
But the workers are few. Not only are more workers needed but those there are need to be truly focused and engaged in the work.
Jesus warns us that opportunities to meet human need and bring people into His kingdom may be wasted because of a shortage of workers.
Jesus commands us to pray.
We are to pray that God will push forward the workers and thrust them out to do the work.
Jesus commanded them to go. God will use them to answer their own prayers. We pray ‘Lord, send out workers to Your harvest’, and indeed He sends workers – He sends us.
He sends us out as lambs among wolves. We are to go with a kind heart trusting God and this is how the power of God will work through us.
Having told them to go, Jesus then told them how to go; His instructions for them are to have a particular attitude for their work representing Jesus and His message. They were not to be distracted by material concerns or by tedious ceremonial etiquette. They were to bring a blessing of peace to each house who would receive it. They were to stay with people of good report – those who would not dishonour their mission. They were to trust that God would provide for them through the generosity of others, thankfully receiving whatever was offered to them. They were not to go begging from house to house.
They were not to regard any support given to them as charity but as proper payment for their work for God’s kingdom.
They were to heal and to preach, healing the sick and saying to them “the kingdom of God has come near to you”.
The healing part is important because it showed that, as expected, the kingdom of God had come with power; yet this power was evident in unexpected ways – ways of mercy and kindness.
And how does St Luke fit into all this? St Luke is the writer of both the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. He was a Greek and a Gentile, a companion of St Paul, accompanying St Paul on many missional journeys and he was a physician.
Luke’s Gospel is known as the “Gospel of Mercy” and places a strong emphasis on Jesus’s compassion for the poor, women, children, and social outcasts.
Luke presents us with a very particular vision of Christ; emphasising parables which show us Christ’s interest in the poor and marginalised. Luke warns us of the dangers of accumulated wealth and demands courage and generosity.
He shows us a vision of a world where the broken, isolated, poor and lost are welcomed and find a home.
Luke’s description of the sending out of the 70 rather than the 12 is a pivotal and unique moment when Jesus starts His journey towards Jerusalem and the cross with these disciples being sent ahead of Him. It points to the memories, history and cultures as well as key aspects of the Jewish tradition in which Christianity has its roots; his gospel makes crucial leaps anticipating the spread from the Jewish to the Gentile world. Luke tells us the kingdom is close, that there are no boundaries that cannot be crossed in the kingdom of God, no laws that can govern the limit of Christ’s presence with us.
Luke challenges our assumptions, calling us to rethink and rework our values whilst reminding us that God-with-us demands open-heartedness and courage. Luke shows us courage, generosity, radical inclusion and acceptance of the other. He shows us humanity lighting a beacon and daring to be different in the name of Christ. Luke shows us that even here now, in our lives today, with all life’s challenges, the kingdom of God is with us.
