Jesus sent seventy of his followers to teach and to heal. They came back rejoicing – but Jesus wasn’t sure they rejoiced in the right thing.
Here’s a transcript:
I’m thinking about the tenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel (Luke 10:1-11, 16-20), in which Jesus sent out seventy of his disciples to teach, to heal, and to cast out demons; and the story of what they said when they returned.
Jesus had done something similar before. In Chapter nine, he sent out the Twelve to do the same thing. He gave them a pretty stringent set of instructions; He gave nearly identical instructions to the Seventy. When the Twelve returned, they came back with stories of success; when the Seventy returned, they said that even the demons were subject to them.
Jesus had a curious response to this. He said, “Do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” He didn’t say that to the Twelve. On the other hand, the Twelve are not quoted as rejoicing in their power over the other spirits of the world. But it does occur to me, as I listened to the responses of the Seventy, that there is something curiously missing in what they had to say.
They said that the demons had been subject to them, that is, that they had had power they did not anticipate. But where are the people that they helped? Where are the people who learned something from the stories that they told? Where are the people who recovered from illnesses and injuries? Where are the people who were freed from the domination of a malicious spirit?
They weren’t there. They weren’t in the story that they told (at least, not as Luke gives it to us in this account).
Jesus, I think, noticed that those people were missing. Jesus noticed very clearly that what they celebrated was their power. But it’s not about power, Jesus said.
I probably have liked it if Jesus had said, “It’s about the people you’re helping.” He didn’t say that, but he did pull them back from the exultation. It’s about the that primary relationship with God, he said. It’s about having your name be held precious in heaven.
The reason you went out, seventy followers, is because those other people’s names are also precious in heaven. You were sent out so that people could be freed, so that people could learn, so that people could heal. Rejoice that their names, that your names, that all names are held precious in the heart of God.
It’s not about the power. It’s about the people. It’s about those around us, and yes: It is also about us and the way that God loves us.
That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.
