Daily Bible Reading (Thursday, March 15th)

12

Luke 10 (ESV)

 

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works 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 bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The Return of the Seventy-Two

17 The seventy-two 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 have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[b] 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Martha and Mary

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus[d] entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,42 but one thing is necessary.[e] Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 10:1 Some manuscripts seventy; also verse 17
  2. Luke 10:21 Or for so it pleased you well
  3. Luke 10:35 denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
  4. Luke 10:38 Greek he
  5. Luke 10:42 Some manuscripts few things are necessary, or only one

12 Comments

Thankful the Lord has opened my eyes to see Him, to know Him, to obey Him and to love Him! Praying that I would take every opportunity He gives to tell people of His great love!!

In a world filled with distractions, some good and some bad, may we always seek what is best; Jesus Christ. We have one life so let’s choose what is best! Let’s be a church that sees love and obedience to Christ as most important!

I need to be equipped and ready to share the gospel in the place I am right now! As verse 3 says “sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” There will be people and things that will try and stop the advancement of the gospel, but I pray that the Lord will give us the strength to overcome those obstacles and persevere.

There is so much rich and practical truth in this passage. I agree with Bruce, we must pray for workers in the harvest as the Lord commands. But I was also struck with the need to show mercy as the Good Samaritan did. He loved the unloveable and so did Jesus. So must we. I pray God would give us the same compassion shown by the Good Samaritan.

The story of Mary and Martha is so convicting to me! How often I find myself focusing on things that don't really matter in the eternal perspective. Oh Lord, give me eyes to see what really matters; help me to see those around me as you do so that I can focus on what really matters - being a light in this dark world. Give me compassion for those around me who do not know you and give me boldness to share the power of the gospel with them. Give me the strength to stay faithful to my mission here on earth... No matter what.

Jesus reminds Martha that although it is wonderful to serve (one of my favorite things too), the better portion is to sit with the Son and drink up relationship with Him. I have to push myself daily to focus on the better portion first! Lord, help me to see myself first as with you and for you, and second as with others and for others.

When you first look at the passages of the lawyer and Martha/Mary, they seem thrown in randomly, but they are really saying the same thing...1st love God, then love others. The lawyer and Martha both had improper heart motives that were getting in the way.

At this time of history in our land there is very little danger of proclaiming, ". . . that the Kingdom of God has come near!" We have been blessed by the Father concerning the Son resulting in our salvation. Jesus sent out the 70. Do not let the daily tasks distract us from making the long journey across the street or down the block to bless a neighbor with the GREAT news that the Kingdom of God has come near to them in Jesus.

"But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”"

The lawyer skips over the first half of the great commandment "love the Lord your God with all your heart.. soul.. strength" it always seems to me, as if he is saying: "I've got that down... now onto this neighbor thing". Regardless, there are two halves of this commandment, and when I soberly evaluate I see much room for improvement in both parts. I am thankful for the grace which taught my heart to fear, and I will rely on grace for each days workmanship.

I must pray earnestly for the Lord to send out laborers into the harvest. As I pray it seems that I must believe that the harvest is plentiful. I must believe that the Lord will answer the earnest prayer to send out workers. And I must believe that the Lord will save. Therefore, it seems that if I am going to pray earnestly and with real faith then I need to listen to Jesus and not allow myself to get distracted by a lot of other things.

Verse 24 reminds me how blessed we are to have the Bible. Although none of us were able to see Jesus while he was on earth, we have, written down, everything we need to know in order to have fullness of joy in this short life and infinite life with God in eternity. Thank you God for this gift. I pray that I will value it for what it is.

v1-20: We, His church, are messengers just like the 70, sent into the far reaches of the Gentile world (we are a pretty long ways from Israel) to work in the harvest. I’m amazed that of all the thousands of miracles Jesus did on this planet, the only miracle that caused Jesus to rejoice greatly in the Holy Spirit (v21) was the miracle of a changed heart. Father, help me to appreciate a changed heart for the miracle it truly is.

There is much to learned in this chapter. Some of the highlights for me include vv. 2-3, 20, 37, 42. The Lord has sent me out, into the military, as a witness to the plentiful harvest. I received some exciting news last night, but I am reminded by v. 20 to rejoice not in my opportunity but instead in my salvation. Mercy, it is imperative as we seek to serve our neighbor, I need a lot of work in this area of life. Finally v. 42 brings my focus back into perspective. I must choose Christ over all other things! God thank you for your word and it’s truth. I ask for heart change in these different areas so that I may be molded more and more into your image.

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