After These Things the Lord Appointed Seventy Others Also: St. Luke 10:1-22

St. Luke 10:1-22: "1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, 'The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 5 But whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house." 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you." 10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 "The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you." 12 But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. 13 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were 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 tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. 16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.' 17 Then the seventy 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 give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.' 21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, 'I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.'"

After our Lord Jesus has firmly set His face to go to Jerusalem, He sends out seventy disciples to preach that the kingdom of God was at hand. It is interesting that the Evangelist records this narrative, for according to certain Early Fathers, St. Luke (and St. Mark), was one of these seventy chosen by our Lord to be sent out. This is interesting, because the same Early Fathers record for us that St. Luke (and St. Mark) was a part of the group of followers of our Lord Jesus Christ who after hearing the words of our Lord recorded in the Gospel of St. John, the sixth chapter, left our Lord Jesus. We are told that St. Luke (and St. Mark) returned later, repenting of his sin, and became a writer of the Gospel.

This is mentioned, because some manuscripts say the seventy, and others seventy-two. Well, why the difference? The explanation given by these Fathers is that certain manuscripts leave out the two who left our Lord after the events in St. John chapter 6. That is, St. Luke and St. Mark are not included in the numbering of some manuscripts, and in other manuscripts they are.

If the report of those certain Early Fathers is accurate (see Hippolytus and Eusebius), then we can assume that the Evangelist St. Luke had a first hand knowledge of the event recorded in this pericope, because he was there. Regardless, there are some differences to be noted between our Lord sending out the twelve Apostles, and the sending of these seventy (or seventy-two) disciples. There are also some similarities.

They, like the Apostles, were not to bring anything with them. They were also not to speak to anyone that they met along the way. This means that they were sent to certain places and individuals, not just to whomever they met. There is no standing on a street corner with a big sign, or a megaphone for the Apostles and theses seventy disciples. Our Lord tasks them with preaching to certain people, and at certain times.

Another similarity between the Apostles and the seventy were that those cities which did not receive them, were to be publicly admonished by the shaking of the dust from their feet, and the proclamation against the particular city.

However, unlike the Apostles, wherever they ended up, they were to stay there. And receive whatever wages those who welcomed them would give them. The Apostles were to go from town to town, the seventy disciples were to find a town that would welcome them to hear the Gospel, and stay there. From this difference we can see that the seventy disciples were not tasked by our Lord, in the same way that the Apostles were tasked.

St. Augustine states that these seventy (in his reading from a different variation on the text he states the seveny-two) represent the second order of clergy, namely, the presbyters, or priests. The Apostles represented the order of Bishops. Therefore, the seventy's calling and sending did not involve tasks that belonged to the Apostles. Just like the Apostles had tasks that were specific to them alone. St. Cyril also makes this distinction adding that Moses prefigured this calling of the seventy when he chose seventy Israelites, by the command of God, to pour out His Spirit. St. Cyril goes on to say that this was also prefigured in the Book of Moses, commonly called Numbers, when they reached Elim, and there were twelve fountains of water, and seventy palms. Hearing him in is own words is best:

"In the book of Numbers also it was written of the children of Israel, that they came to Elim, which is by interpretation 'ascent,' and there were there twelve fountains of water, and seventy palm trees. For when we fly to spiritual refreshment, we shall find twelve fountains, namely, the holy Apostles, from whom we imbibe the knowledge of salvation as from the well-springs of the Saviour; and seventy palms, that is, those who were now appointed by Christ. For the palm is a tree of sound core, striking deep root and fruitful, always growing by the water side, yet at the same time putting forth its leaves upwards."

Thus far St. Cyril. What a lovely comparison! The words of the Apostles, which became for us the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament are the words by which we learn of our Lord Jesus, and what He has done, and does for us. And our Lord plants palms, that is ministers of His Word, next to those holy streams of His salvation, to proclaim to all that the stream of salvation is nearby, for a palm tree always grows near the water.

Therefore we have water and palms to lead us to our Lord Jesus, and quench our sin-parched lips with the refreshing Gospel of forgiveness, life and salvation. And these ministers of God, who today, like the seventy of this account, are called to one place, and serve those who would receive them, and they gladly receive whatever wage is offered to them, all so that those might hear that the kingdom of God is at hand, that is, that our Lord Jesus has come, and He has fulfilled the Law perfectly for us, and suffered and died in our place, so that we might have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Love Your Enemies, Do Good, and Lend, Hoping For Nothing in Return: St. Luke 6:1-35

St. Luke 6:1-35: "1 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. 2 And some of the Pharisees said to them, 'Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?' 3 But Jesus answering them said, 'Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?' 5 And He said to them, 'The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.' 6 Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, 'Arise and stand here.' And he arose and stood. 9 Then Jesus said to them, 'I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?' 10 And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 11 But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. 12 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: 14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; 15 Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor. 17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, 18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. 20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: 'Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. 24 " But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. 27 But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 32 But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.'"

As we draw closer to Lent, we hear the Words of our Lord from the Sermon on the Mount once again, telling us how we are to behave towards our neighbor. The summary is to love without expecting to be loved back. To do good things, without expecting a reward, or receiving gratitude or thanks for having done it. We are to lend, whether that be money, or food, or clothes, not expecting it to be given back. In other words, we are to do these things freely. This is what Christians are supposed to do. However, we know all too well, that we fail miserably at this.

For we are always expecting some return for our good works. For example when it comes to love, even among the people we love the most, we expect that they tell us that they love us back, and if they don't then we assume that they are mad at us, or we did something we ought not to have done. We all like to have a pat on the back sometimes, and be told that we are doing things the right way, and that our efforts are being noticed.

Our Lord, though requires us to do these things without expecting anything in return, that is, to do these things that our Lord lists, unconditionally.

This prepares us for Lent. For during Lent we will hear instruction in the Ten Commandments. In the Second Table of the Law, we learn about what responsibilities we have toward our neighbor, and when we hear them, we will realize how far off we have missed the mark. This will produce in us one of two reactions. One, we will ignore the warning signs, and think about all the good things we have done, and we will tell ourselves, quite mistakenly, that we are not that bad of people, for there are numerous examples of more corrupt and incorrigible individuals. And we will go on with our lives as if we had never heard the Law and the preaching on the Commandments.

The second reaction that instruction in the Ten Commandments will produce in us is despair. We will realize how much we have failed, and how often we continue to fail to do what our Lord desires us to do. And we will sorrow over our sins, and desire to do better, but every time we hear the Commandments again, we will once again be reminded of our failure. For those of us in this category, we are ripe to hear the Gospel, and we are ready for the teachings of Passiontide, where we will hear over and over again, that our punishment, and our constant breaking of the Law, has been paid for, and the penalty is removed from us, and placed upon our Lord Jesus Christ, who placed all of our sin and guilt on the altar of the cross, and sacrificed it once and for all to our Heavenly Father.

And our Lord Jesus, Who stands has both High Priest, offering atonement on our behalf, and as the sacrificial Lamb, will have His sacrifice accepted by His Heavenly Father, and upon His intercession on our behalf to the Father, our sins will be forgiven. And upon hearing this, we have extreme joy.

This is something those who try to good work their way into Heaven, will never experience. Those who do not see the depravity of their souls, will never see the great sacrifice that our Lord and Savior offered for us. Therefore, count yourself blessed, when your sins are pointed out to you, for it is one more chance to hear of the cross. And when we have heard about the cross, and the unconditional love that our Lord shows us in it, we learn to show this same love towards our fellowman, the Holy Ghost working through us. More importantly, when we do fail, and don't do as the Law commands, we learn to place those sins into the ears of our Minister, who, standing in the place of our Lord Jesus Christ, forgives those sins, putting in front of our eyes, once again the cross, pulling us out of despair and sorrow over our sins, and giving us joy at God's great love for us.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas