Summary: This passage tells of a mission, given by Jesus to a large number of disciples. This is not the first formal mission of followers of Jesus. One has already been assigned and carried out earlier in Luke, by the 12 apostles. What we see here is a "progression in mission," from 12 apostles to 72 disciples, and on to us, today.
Today's passage tells of a missionary journey, ordered by Jesus, and undertaken by disciples of Jesus. This is not the first missionary journey that we hear about in Luke. There was an earlier one, recounted in Chapter 9. That one, also initiated by Jesus, was undertaken by the Twelve, that is, by the apostles.
A disciple, it should be noted, is any follower of Jesus. An apostle, in the context of the Gospel narratives, would be one of the Twelve. Jesus had hundreds of disciples. From the ranks of his earliest disciples, Jesus called and set apart 12 apostles, who were to be close to him always, and to serve in a "higher" roll, for want of a better word -- this is not to say that an apostle is higher or better-than a disciple. It is to point out that, though the words are often used interchangeably, they really are not. An apostle of Jesus is a specially-appointed messenger, or perhaps ambassador: one who represents Jesus in a special way. Ordained clergy are considered to have an "apostolic" ministry, insofar as they take on special tasks of discipleship which require more time and attention. Any special abilities possessed by apostles, or those called to an apostolic ministry, are not a result of any special merit on the apostle's or the minister's part. They are solely a result of being specially given and empowered by Christ for a certain role.
Anyway, to cut to the chase, today we are told of a second missionary journey, a second time in which Jesus sent committed followers ahead of him, to prepare a way for him. These followers are anonymous disciples, sent out in pairs. The earlier missionary assignment, recounted in Chapter 9, was given to the 12 apostles. It's helpful to look at the two missions side by side. There are many similarities between them, and some differences, though none of the differences are remarkable. What's important are the similarities, and what they mean for us, in our day, thousands of years later.
What we encounter today is a mission assigned by Jesus to disciples. There are a lot of them! Seventy-two all told, and they are sent out in pairs. (In some Bible versions, this number appears as 70, due to differences in the available ancient manuscripts from which the English translations were made.)
Jesus sends them out "ahead of him ... to every town and place where he himself intended to go." Obviously, they are to fan out in pairs to prepare the way for him, to offer some kind of advance notice of what's coming. He tells them to ask for divine help for their mission. The task is daunting to the point of impossible. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few," Jesus told them. And, what's most important, they are to ask for divine help because, after all, this mission is not something those disciples are going to pull off by their own efforts. They are proceeding as representatives of God. They are God's hands, feet and voice. They are representatives of Jesus, and of the One who has sent Jesus. The work, ultimately, is God's, not theirs. He tells them straight out that he is sending them out "like lambs into the midst of wolves."
However, lambs among wolves or not, they can expect to find places of welcome. They can assume that there are people of peace out there already, waiting even if they don't know they are waiting. It can be assumed that there already are, in the field, people who are open to hearing the gospel and receiving it. And, when they come across places where they are unwelcome -- and it can also be assumed that that will happen, too -- not to worry. They are to shake the dust off their feet and move on to a place where they are welcome.
They are to take no luggage on the journey, no extras. He tells them not to stop and schmooze with whomever they may encounter on the way between villages -- the mission is that urgent. They are to make themselves utterly dependent upon the kindness of strangers, as we might say today, and once in a village, they are not to move around from place to place, but to stay in the first place that welcomes them.
And, after all this build-up, what are they actually to do, on this vitally urgent mission, on this-preparing-of-the-way for the Lord? Are they to toil away, putting in fifteen-hour days repairing homes, building roads, bridges? Setting up food distribution centers, and getting it all done as quickly and efficiently as possible and then hustling on to the next village?
No.
The mission seems surprisingly, even shockingly simple. Stay in the same house. Eat what is set before you, and "cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"
That's it.
Heal the sick. Proclaim the approaching kingdom. With the simple presence of these pairs of disciples, the kingdom of God draws near -- whether people accept their mission or not.
Indeed, these disciples are, as much so as any apostle, direct representatives of Jesus. We hear Jesus tell them as much, in verse 16: "Whoever listens to you listens to me ... whoever rejects you rejects me." And on their return, these disciples bear excited witness to that connection: they have touched peoples' lives with the very power of Jesus!
The mission of these seventy-two disciples is, in that sense, identical with the mission given earlier, to the 12 apostles. Jesus called the Twelve together and "... gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases."1 There are no specific details about Jesus' sending them out "ahead of him"; they are just sent out. We are not told specifically that they are sent out in pairs, either. Whatever the case, off they go. And their missionary task is the same simple one as that of the seventy-two: proclaim the kingdom of God and heal the sick. The missional urgency is the same: carry no money, no luggage, no extra food, not even a change of clothes. Place yourselves utterly in the hands of strangers. Assume that there will be strangers out there who are waiting for you, for what you bring with you, for what you proclaim; they are out there waiting, whether or not they realize they are waiting.
The mission of the Twelve. The mission of the 72. The mission of ... us. We, the church, today, we are also being called and sent. Be our calling to a formal apostolic ministry or to a lay ministry, all of us are missionaries and the urgency is with us still -- perhaps today as much as in those days of the early church.
How shall we make these missions -- the mission of the Twelve, the mission of the 72 -- the mission of "us, too"? The mission of the 72 moves beyond the mission of the Twelve. And so our mission today goes beyond that of the 72. As was the case with the mission of the Twelve and the later mission of the 72, there are similarities, and there are differences.
In our day, perhaps more than ever, we need to reclaim the urgency! "Whoever listens to you listens to me," Jesus said to the 72, "and whoever rejects you rejects me ...." Listen to us, you're listening to Jesus -- wow, that is quite a claim! Can we say that, about our ministry? Are we bold enough, and humble enough, to make that claim for our ministry, our mission in the world? How can we put ourselves in a position where we can make such a claim? A position in which listening to us is listening to Jesus, as opposed to our own prejudices, opinions and biases -- our own presumptions? Perhaps that is a harder one for us, today than it would have been for those early disciples, personally sent out with in-person instructions by and from the Man himself. Nevertheless, we can educate ourselves in the true life of Christ and focus our outreach so that we are sure we represent Christ, and not ourselves, and set aside any presumption or set of opinions that represents anything other than Christ.
Note that Jesus had given them "authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, [so that] nothing will hurt [them]" -- we might want to be careful with that one, especially considering how fond of hyperbole Jesus was! But we can still lay claim to that kind of fearlessness in our outreach today.
Our answers to those questions, our boldness, our humility, are found in Jesus' final words from today's passage to those 72 on their triumphant return: "do not rejoice ... that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Rejoice that our names are written in heaven -- yes, hard as it may be to believe, that is as true for us, today, as it was for those earliest of early disciples. So may we look to "heaven," to the teaching of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for our boldness, for our humility, for our truth, as we claim our mission. There are people out there waiting -- even if they don't know they are waiting. There are those who will want nothing to do with us. There are wolves. Nevertheless, let's go!