Context and Theme
Chapter 10, which begins with this passage, presents a characteristic of revelation. In 9, 51 it is said that Jesus “resolutely turned his face toward Jerusalem”. This journey, an expression of his being Son, is characterized by a two-fold action: He is closely united “to the fact of being taken away” (v. 51), and his “coming” through the sending out of his disciples (v. 52). There is a bond of union in the double movement: “to be taken away from the world” to go toward the Father, and to be sent to men.
The passage which is the object of our meditation begins with somewhat dense expressions. The first one, “After these things, it sends us back to the prayer of Jesus and to his firm decision to go to Jerusalem. The second one concerns the verb “appointed”: He appointed seventy-two others and sent them out…” (10, 1).
Message
1. Luke explains the rationale for the mission: “He had been saying to them, ‘The harvest is
plentiful, but the workers are few’” (10:2a). The first part of the statement is a chreia that occurs elsewhere in various forms; references to the “harvest” in the Jewish Scriptures allude both to eschatological judgment and preservation. Both aspects are present (cf. 10:7-8), though the emphasis here is on the in gathering of God’s people and the lack of workers to assist in this task. The disciples, then, are to “ask (“beseech”; “pray”) the
Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest” (10:2b). The “Lord of the harvest” clearly refers to God, but in the immediate and larger contexts in which Jesus is also referred to as kurios (here at 10:2 and e.g., 7:13, 19; 10:39, 41), the audience will conclude that Jesus who sends out the seventy(-two) is also “Lord of the harvest.”
2. Jesus then instructs them regarding the danger of their assignment: “Go! I am sending you like lambs surrounded by wolves” (Luke 10:3). To the ancients, “[t]he wolf is a rapacious animal, irascible, deceitful, bold, violent” and “men of this type are crafty, impious, blood-thirsty, quick to anger, vicious to the extent that they refuse what is
given or offered them, but steal what is not given”. Of course, the imagery of lambs and wolves also echoes Isaiah, though that eschatological vision seems not quite fulfilled in Jesus’ warnings! The authorial audience would know that the dangers inherent in the mission included the very ones to whom the disciples were being sent!
3. Jesus gives further instruction regarding the disciples’ behavior when entering a house: “Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a peaceful person happens to be there, your peace will remain on him. If that is not the case, it will return to you” (Luke 10:5-6). The command to greet householders with “peace” is not only adopting common Jewish practice, but it characterizes the message of Jesus’ good news, fulfills
the promise expressed in the infancy narrative (Luke 1:79; 2:14, 29), anticipates the greeting issued by the resurrected Christ to the disciples (Luke 24:36), and thus expresses a robust eschatological hope. The pronouncement of peace will find fulfillment if within the house there is a “peaceful person,” literally, a “son of peace.”
4. Luke 10:17-20 has no parallels in the Synoptic tradition. The unit begins with the disciples’ return. Their joy recalls the joy associated with God’s anticipated action in the annunciation (1:14; 2:10) and foreshadows the disciples’ joy following the resurrection (24:52): “The seventy [-two] returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject
to us in your name’” (10:17). Jesus is referred to as “Lord,” strengthening the identification of Jesus (with God) as “Lord of the harvest” (10:2), and the power of Jesus’ name is acknowledged (10:17b). The commission of the seventy (-two) contained no explicit command to perform exorcisms (10:1-2), but the authorial audience could easily accommodate the subjection of demons under the general command to heal as part of the
proclamation of the kingdom of God (cf. 9:1; 4:40-41).