Luke 10:1-24
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy Two
1After 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. 2He 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. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5"When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' 10But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13"Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.
16"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
17The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
18He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
21At 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 was your good pleasure.
22"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."
23Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24For 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."
Jesus originally chose Twelve Disciples that He would teach and share His knowledge of God and of Himself...He would share with the Twelve many things about God, Himself, and His relationship with God...Jesus being Perfect in Self and Language had no problem with those He chose to share what He knew and they were receptive of Him, except one who would betray Him...Jesus drew large crowds and most of the people who listened to Him and followed Him around were very much interested in hearing what He had to say...And He wanted others to hear about the gospel and share it with others...But the ones who knew the Old Testament and the current religious leaders did not believe in what He had to say and were His opponents...So, Jesus even at times had a difficult time in sharing what He knew to others, especially, these two groups...
Jesus gave His Disciples the command to tell others of the gospel...He even sent out the seventy two to teach others about the gospel...St. Peter, his epistle, tells us to always be prepared to give a defense to anyone who asks the reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect...He does not tell us to be abusing, overbearing, and harassing when we tell others of Jesus...But Peter does tell us to always be prepared to give a defense to anyone who asks us about Jesus and the gospel...Are we interested enough in Jesus to tell and share what we know and feel about Him?...Our sharing Him with others should come out of love and an eagerness to share what we know about Him...There is evidence that Jesus is a Historical Figure and that He is our Savior...Let us share with others what we know about Him...
Jesus would send out seventy two believers...He told them, to 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 a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you...Stay in that house, 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 set before you...Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'...But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you...Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near...I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town...The seventy-two were to dust off their feet, if the household and town they went to did not believe in the good news...So, even His first group of followers may have had their hard times sharing information to others about Him...But they did not let the unbelievers stand between what they knew about the One who called Himself the Son of God, the Light, the Good Shepherd, and the Truth make them not believe in His teachings and who He is...They still believed despite the hardships that came up on the road...
To further this point, many of Jesus' early followers were persecuted for believing in Him and and who He said He was and is...Stephen comes to mind...He became the first Christian Martyr for Jesus...And there would be many others...The Early Christian persecutions would last a long time beginning in the first century and for the most part ending around 300 AD....Finally in 313 AD, the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which accepted Christianity...Ten years later, Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire...