Lord’s Day, Vol. 14 No. 33
Send Forth Labourers into His Harvest (2)
Luke 10:8-16 (KJV) And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: 9And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, 11 Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. 13Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. 15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. 16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
Our Lord Jesus was preparing His church for world evangelisation after His ascension to heaven. This gospel effort began humbly with the Lord Himself evangelising, prepared and send forth the first twelve disciples (Luke 9:1) and the next seventy (Luke 10:1). This work was fraught with danger – John the Baptizer has already been killed by Herod and he is not going to tolerate further inroad to the gospel into the hearts of the people he ruled – Luke 9:7 (KJV) Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead; … Luke 9:9 (KJV) And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.
The disciples were beginning to see the power of God vested in them through Christ’s commissioning of them. Peter testified that Jesus is “the Christ of God” (Luke 9:20) after seeing the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand (Luke 9:13-17). Peter, James and John were brought to the mount to witness His transfiguration, to see His heavenly glory (Luke 9:28-36). He predicted His coming betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection (Luke 9:22, 44). He then prepared Himself to go to Jerusalem where He would be crucified (Luke 9:51). There His earthly work will end and His heavenly work of directing missions from heaven through the Holy Spirit will begin.
He was training His disciples for this mission work of saving souls. He spoke of the efficacy of prayer in mission work (v2). He told them to be prepared for imminent dangers as they are sent lambs among wolves (v3). He trained them to have absolute faith in God’s provision as they embark on the gospel work (v4-8). He trained them to withstand opposition to the gospel work – He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me (v16).
Our Lord Jesus speaks of the hardness of man’s heart in great bondage to sin that is worse than the city of Sodom where God judged with fire and brimstone from heaven – Genesis 13:13 (KJV) But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. He denounced the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum (Jesus’s Galilean home base) in Galilee that rejected His message as being in a worse spiritual state that Tyre and Sidon, where the Old Testament prophets pronounced God’s dire judgment in Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 28. His disciples are to braced themselves to evangelise in such hard grounds. Amen.