39 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
39 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Luke 10:1–16"
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date = "2022-12-05"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Lk10.1-16)
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Again Jesus sends out His disciples out to do ministry on their own, this time
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seventy (or seventy-two; there is disagreement in the manuscripts about the
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exact number) and in pairs. Their instructions are largely the same as when He
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sent out the twelve: don't pack extra provisions but rely on God and the
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kindness of strangers, stay in one house at a village, and if no one receives
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you, shake the dust off your feet in rebuke. Jesus also adds "greet no one on
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the road", which sounds odd without the cultural context. Within the culture,
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it was even stranger. It was customary when traveling to exchange elaborate
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greetings with the people you passed on the way. Unlike today, there were not
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nearly as many people traveling between cities, so seeing someone on the road
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was more of a special event, I suppose. We aren't told why Jesus told them not
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to practice this custom, but I'll guess it was a way to help them keep focused
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on the mission and not to boast in their eloquence. These greetings could
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easily degenerate into flattery and humble-brag contests, and the followers of
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Jesus need to stay far away from pride.
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As He is giving the instructions for the journey, Jesus also pronounces
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imprecations against the cities and towns that will reject the disciples'
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message. Sodom and Gomorrah were famously wicked cities from the Patriarch's
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times, but their punishment will seem light and easy compared to the one given
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to those who reject Jesus and His message. There is no excuse given for
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wickedness, but greater condemnation comes on those who have heard what is
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right and rejected it anyway. Heed the call of the Lord to repent of your
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wicked ways, and cast yourself upon His mercy to save you from the coming
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judgement! _Every_ knee will bow, and _every_ tongue will confess that Jesus is
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Lord, and woe to you if you do not do so willingly.
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* * *
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You are both merciful and just, and You are long-suffering but not
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ever-suffering. Come back swiftly and destroy wickedness and evil.
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