Luke 10:13-24

Luke 10:13-24

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 “But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. 15 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades! 16 “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”  17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”  21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 22 “All things have been handed over 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 anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”  23 Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, 24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

As the seventy witnesses of Jesus return from their time of ministry, Jesus speaks to various groups of people.  He has different words for different people that give us insight into how we should respond to the Lord in our own lives.  There is much to learn from these statements.  We must carefully consider which of these groups do we most closely resemble?  One thing that is very clear is that Jesus has a very different perspective about these events than the various participants.  These four different responses from Jesus instruct us about who Jesus is and what He expects of us.

A WORD OF WARNING: God’s omniscience extends to knowing, not only all that has happened and will happen but to everything that would have happened if…  Jesus affirms that if Tyre and Sidon had seen the miracles performed in Chorazin and Bethsaida, they would have repented.  Receiving the Gospel and the revelation of God is a wonderful blessing but it carries a great responsibility.  Rejecting the truth God gives us will result in harsher judgment in eternity.  This passage seems to indicate that there are degrees of suffering in hell.  The greatest suffering is not inflicted upon those who committed the most atrocious acts of immorality but those who rejected the greatest amount of revelation.  When we go out to proclaim the Gospel and are rejected by those who hear; they are not rejecting us, they are rejecting Jesus.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit speak through us to the world.  We must use our words carefully because we are representing God.  God speaks to us through other believers that communicate His Word to us.  We must listen attentively because rejecting His message is a sin with great consequence.   

A REASON FOR REJOICING: When the seventy returned from their mission, they were rejoicing because they could do what Jesus had given them authority to do.  They were able to heal those who were sick and cast out demons in the authority of Jesus name.  Jesus rejoiced with them as He saw the powers of Satan fall from the sky.  It is an exciting thing to be used of the Lord Jesus Christ in the ministry.  He is the One who deserves the glory because all power comes from Him.  Yet, there is a thrill of being an instrument in the hands of the Lord.  Jesus rejoiced with them as well but then instructed them in the fact that the real reason for rejoicing was their salvation from sin and eternal life they had through faith.  It is a joy to work in the ministry and be a part of the transformation process in the lives of people.  However, the greatest joy is being in a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus and having the eternal hope of heaven.  Communion with God through Jesus is our real reason for rejoicing.

A PRAYER OF PRAISING: Jesus is then moved by the Holy Spirit to praise the Father for His work in the lives of these men.  Jesus had come to reconcile men to fellowship with the Father.  There were many times where it looked like all would reject message of the Gospel.  Now Jesus stood with seventy rejoicing men who had been transformed from simple, uneducated men to faithful and passionate ministers of the Gospel.  This was only a taste of what was to come as these disciples would be key to spreading the message of the Gospel to all the nations of the world.  Jesus praised the Father because His mission was being accomplished.  There is great praise and rejoicing in the Trinity when the Gospel is proclaimed and a disciple is able to point another person to the Father.

A BASIS FOR BLESSING: The knowledge that the Father has of the Son and that the Son has of the Father is unique to the Trinity.  I believe that it is understood that the Holy Spirit would be the only other Person with that same level of knowledge of the Father and Son.  Jesus became a man and came to this earth in order to reveal His unique knowledge of the Father to us.  His disciples were blessed to be able to be with Jesus, hear Him teach, watch Him live and follow His path because He was revealing the Father to Him.  Those who know Jesus know the Father.  Prophets and kings throughout the history of Israel longed for the coming of Messiah.  That which generations had longed for was the blessed experience the disciples had.  Knowledge of God is a blessing.  The disciples who were with Jesus were blessed, but we are just as blessed because we have the complete Word of God and are inhabited by the Spirit of God.  There is no greater blessing on earth than the knowledge of the One and only true God.

APPLICATION: Examine our lives to make sure that we are responding to the revelation that has been given to us in God’s Word.  Obeying the Word of the Lord must be our top priority.  Rejoice in our salvation and not in that which God enables us to do.  Praise God for the transformation He has produced in our lives.  Thank God for revealing Himself to us through.