Luke 10 Devotional Bible Study

Why So Many?

Luke 10:1-2 - The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Jesus had already sent the 12 out; now He sends out 72 more, and He tells them to pray for God to send out even more workers. Why does Jesus want so many people spreading His message?

Because the harvest is great! God’s mission, through Christ, is to call all people of the world to Himself, and He needs a lot of workers to help make that happen. One of the harvest fields is your town. Is Jesus choosing you to be a worker?

 

In Pairs

Luke 10:1 - The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.

Why did Jesus send them out in pairs? Why not send each one to a different town and double their reach? Sending two seems inefficient.

But if there were two working together, they could encourage each other. They could keep each other focused on their task. They could share the burden of the work. They could verify what each other was saying. They could keep each other accountable to the Lord.

Don’t do ministry alone. Make sure you have another person you can pair up with. Maybe it’s your spouse, or a fellow worker, or a solid leader in the church. Pair up. That’s how Jesus said to do it.

 

Don’t Stop

Luke 10:3-4 – “Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.”

We’ve seen Jesus tell the 12 not to take anything with them, presumably so that would have needed to have faith for God to provide, but why does He tell these others not to stop to greet anyone on the road? Wouldn’t Jesus have wanted them to talk to and spread His message to anyone they saw?

I think the point is He tells them not to stop to greet someone. It’s like He’s saying, “Stay on task; don’t just make small talk with people. You have an important mission and important things to talk about.” Stopping to chat with everyone they passed would have been a distraction and slowed them down.

What unimportant things are slowing you down and distracting you from the mission Jesus has sent you on?

 

Accept Hospitality

Luke 10:7 – “Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.”

Jesus says that those who are doing His work deserve to have others give them food and shelter to meet their needs. And when someone provided these things, they’re joining in the work as well, aren’t they? They’re providing the means for the workers to keep fulfilling their mission.

If Jesus isn’t calling you to be a messenger primarily, is He calling you to support those who are called to do that work? How can you offer hospitality to meet the needs of those who are doing that type of work?

 

“We Abandon You to Your Fate”

Luke 10:10-11 – “But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’”

That sounds harsh, doesn’t it, telling someone you’re abandoning them to their fate? But some people need to hear to such a stern warning to wake them up spiritually, to break through their hard hearts.

And the reality is we can only do so much for a person. If we tell them the Gospel, and they refuse to believe, we can’t force them. There comes a point that we’ve done everything we can for that person, and then we have to leave them to their own choices. We’ve fulfilled our responsibility and need to move on.

 

What Have You Seen? How are You Showing It?

Luke 10:13 – “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.”

What’s the proper response when someone sees Jesus’ work? They’re to repent and show their remorse for their sins. There’s to be a public acknowledgment of sorrow over the things they’ve done.

Have you seen Jesus work in your life? How have you responded? Have you repented? Have you shown, publicly, your remorse for your sins? One way to do that is to testify about your life before Jesus, and how He’s changed you. Maybe you need to make amends to people you’ve wronged. Maybe you need to make a public statement of apology.

How is the Holy Spirit leading you to show repentance and remorse?

 

Rejecting Jesus is Rejecting God

Luke 10:16 – Then he said to the disciples, “Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me.”

Some people think they can have some sort of relationship with God but not believe Jesus is who God’s Word says He is. They reject the idea that Jesus is Divine but still think they can reach the Divine.

The reality is that if you reject God’s way of bringing you to Himself, you’re rejecting a relationship with Him. If He says Jesus is the Way, and you reject that Way, you can’t make up your own way. God has said there is no other way except through Jesus.

 

Authority Without Arrogance

Luke 10:19 – “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

Do you know that Jesus has given you authority over the enemy? You can learn to see the devil’s schemes and traps, call them out, and reject them. When he speaks lies, you can expose them and proclaim the truth. When he causes division, you can identify his work and bring unity. When he tempts, you can see the selfish motive and end result of an action and reject it. You have the authority to reject the enemy’s work!

But don’t let that go to your head. The important thing is not power but salvation. Don’t get so caught up in the work of fighting the enemy that you forget why you’re doing it.

 

Being Filled with the Joy of the Holy Spirit

Luke 10:21 – At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you…”

What is joy? It’s being excited about the things of God with a full heart overflowing in gratitude toward God.

And what was getting Jesus excited and thankful in this instance? His disciples had just gone out and successfully performed their ministry. They had healed, they had preached, they had cast out demons. They had triumphed over the enemy! And that filled Jesus with joy.

It fills Jesus with joy when we, His newest class of disciples, do the same things.

 

Who Think…

Luke 10:21 – At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.”

Who thought they were wise and clever? The religious leaders. They thought they had the Scriptures all figured out. They thought they knew everything about God and could prove Jesus wrong. But who did God reveal the truth to? To those who were childlike enough, humble enough, to still be teachable. Jesus was able to send the 12 and then 72 out because they were willing to listen and learn from Him. He would have loved to send out the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the priests and the scribes and the experts in the Law, but they wouldn’t come to Him to learn.

We need to remain willing to learn, and willing to unlearn what we think we know. Being a disciple of Jesus means letting Him question all of our assumptions and rebuild our thinking from the ground up.

 

Blessed to See

Luke 10:23-24 – Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”

All the prophets, all the kings, all the patriarchs, all the priests and peasants of the Old Testament were looking forward to the coming of the Chosen One, and they died without seeing it. The disciples were blessed to be there when it happened, to witness with their eyes and ears the physical coming of the Savior.

We’re blessed to stand on the other side of His work. We read about all that He did and said. We benefit from His death and resurrection. We learn from His teaching. But like those of the Old Testament, we’re again looking forward to His appearance. How blessed will the future believers be when they experience Jesus’ return!

 

The Way to Eternal Life

Luke 10:25-28 – “One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

I thought believing in Jesus was the only way to eternal life, but here Jesus Himself confirms that the Law tells us how to be saved. All you have to do is love God perfectly with everything that you are, including all your thoughts and all your attitudes and everything that you do every day. And you have to love other people perfectly. Easy-peasy!

Except that’s not easy-peasy. That’s impossible for us to do. We can never love God and love other people perfectly. So we’re back to having to rely on Jesus, the one who did love God and others fully.

 

Who is My Neighbor?

Luke 10:29-37 – The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

The man asked Jesus who his neighbor was, but Jesus turned the question around and asked who was the neighbor? The neighbor was the one who helped, not necessarily the one who was closest. The priest and the Temple assistant (Levite) were close; they were fellow citizens of Israel with the Jewish man. But the one who helped was a foreigner, outside of his territory of Samaria. The neighbor to the man was the one who left his comfort zone to help someone else. The neighbor to the man wasn’t concerned about the man’s nationality or religion, only that he needed help. Jesus said the Samaritan had compassion on the man who needed help.

How do we need to leave our comfort zone in order to show mercy to and help someone who is different from us?

But, how many people could the Samaritan have helped in this way? If he had continued on his journey and saw another person that needed help in some way, and another after that, and another after that, would he have been expected to help each of them? 

Yes. If he wanted to be perfect by loving his neighbor as himself, he would be obligated to have compassion on and help every single person he came across, meeting each of their needs the way he would meet his own needs.

But the point is that none of us can do that. We can't save ourselves by perfecting a neighbor to others. The best we can do is try to love God and other people the best we can, and rely on Jesus to fill in the gaps in our imperfection.

 

Only One Thing

Luke 10:41-42 – “The Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha was doing good things. She was serving Jesus by getting the house and dinner ready. And we all have good things we need and want to do throughout the day to serve the Lord and take care of our families and friends.

But the most important thing is spending time with Jesus. Everything else can wait. Everything that needs to happen will get done, just like Martha and Mary and Jesus and the disciples would have prepared and eaten dinner at some point that evening. I bet that if Martha would have joined in listening to Jesus instead of doing all the work, Jesus would have finished teaching and then everyone would have helped with dinner, spreading the burden of the work and making it go even faster than Martha doing everything herself.

And if we’re spending time with Jesus and then do run out of time to do all the things, then we have to conclude that some of those things didn’t need to happen. We may need to not do some of those good things so that we have time for the best thing.

To put it another way, we have so much to do in our day, we can’t accomplish it all well without spending time with Jesus first.