He Who Hears You, Hears Me

Luke 10:1-20 | Proper 9, Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone had to say to you, “Don’t shoot the messenger?” Imagine for a moment that you have to go to the Blackhawk County Courthouse. Perhaps when you went, there were already a ton of people there. You sat there waiting for over an hour in a hot office. When your number was finally called, it took the agent 30 seconds to tell you that you didn’t bring the correct documentation. You’ll have to go home through rush-hour traffic, grab the proper papers from home, fill them out, and pay an obscene amount of money. At this point, some of us would not be happy campers. We might even get angry at the agent sitting behind the desk. But, it wasn’t their fault! “Don’t shoot the messenger,” they might say back to you. It isn’t their fault, is it? They are simply an agent, a government representative, just doing their job. In our Gospel reading, Jesus sent out seventy disciples. Today, I want you to see two things. First, Jesus sent them out as his representatives, and second, they are to find their joy not in their mission but in their salvation.

I. Sent by Christ’s Authority (vv. 1–16)

Seventy disciples were sent ahead of Jesus into Judea. He was on His way to Jerusalem to die for the sin of the world. Why seventy? Why not eighty or a hundred? The numbers are significant.  The twelve apostles remind us of the twelve tribes of Israel. What about seventy? The number seventy reminds us of the nations listed in Genesis 10. Jesus is going to Jerusalem to die for the world, for all nations and all peoples. It signals the worldwide scope of the Church’s mission. It is a preview of the mission of the church, sent out into all the world to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus until He comes. The seventy remind us that the church is a sent church. He sends His church out into the world as to work His field. 

They are sent into a ripe harvest. Jesus sees the world as a field ready for reaping. It’s His field, His harvest. We didn’t plant it; we didn’t weed and water it; we did nothing to make it grow. Note the urgency. No time to pack extra gear. No purse. No bag. No sandals. They are to go as laborers, not tourists. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. That’s always the case. There’s never enough when the time is short and the fields are full. The urgency is real because the time is short. Christ is headed to Jerusalem, to the cross. And before He arrives, the message must go out.

But this mission is not only urgent. It is also dangerous. “Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” That’s a disturbing image. Lambs among wolves don’t last long. They are easy prey. But the seventy are not sent alone. They are sent two by two. There is strength in fellowship. The wolves pick off the solitary. That’s one reason why Jesus sends them in pairs. He sends them as lambs—because He is the Lamb of God going to His sacrificial death. His messengers reflect His cruciform life.

They are to speak peace. “Peace be to this house,” they are to say. This is not a generic greeting or polite wish. It is the peace of God. This is peace that restores what sin has broken. This peace is much more than a fond wish or a cutesy Hallmark greeting.  “I’ve got a peaceful, easy feeling.” It’s not that kind of peace. It’s a peace unlike anything we could ever dream of. This is a peace that the world cannot give, a peace that surpasses our understanding. Why? Christ the King is offering peace to rebels. An offer of peace implies the presence of hostility or war. Humanity is not at peace with God. Instead, we’re at war with him. The messengers proclaim peace not from war and conquest, but from forgiveness and reconciliation. Despite our rebellion toward Him, God comes to us with a message of peace. Our silly rebellion can end; instead, there’s the opportunity for reconciliation, a restoration of the relationship with God we were supposed to have: peace with God.

But the message of peace will not be welcomed by all. Some will receive it. Others will not. Jesus warns that there will be those who would reject the seventy. Some might “shoot the messengers.” The peace of Jesus is rejectable. You can slam the door on the messenger if you wish. The rejection of the seventy is not neutral. It is rejection of Jesus and the Father who sent Him. This rejection brings judgment.  Woe to Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum! Israelite cities. Cities that had lots of Jesus, that had seen His miracles and heard His preaching. But if you refuse the message of peace, if you reject what Jesus has died to win for you, if you reject those whom He sends to you, then you incur the judgment of God’s wrath.  And it is entirely unnecessary, and entirely your own fault.

Those seventy disciples were not selected and sent to share their own personal thoughts on religion. Like that employee at the Courthouse is sent by the municipal government to do a specific job, Jesus sent and authorized them to serve as his representatives. These seventy are sent as His deputies, bearing His words and authority. That means how people react to Christ’s messengers is how they will respond to Jesus. God has chosen and sent pastors to preach peace. They are not to invent their own message. Their authority was given to them from Jesus, God’s appointed King. It was given so they could share with all who would hear and listen. “He who hears you hears Me.” Like those seventy-two, your pastor has been chosen and sent to you. He speaks on behalf, in the stead and by the command, of Christ. Just like Jesus commissioned those seventy-two disciples, he has also commissioned pastors in the Church.  God has chosen and sent your pastor to pray for you, counsel you, and be at your bed when you are sick because Christ has crucified and risen for you. To hear the men whom Jesus has chosen and sent is to hear Jesus Himself.  You see, God hasn’t promised to speak through dreams. God doesn’t reveal his peace through nature. Your feelings and experiences are not a sure and certain guide to what God wants to tell you.  The seventy-two spoke on behalf of Jesus. Pastors speak on behalf of Jesus. That is how God speaks to you: through his word delivered to you by those whom he has called and sent: through pastors. How you treat your pastors reflects how you treat Jesus and His Father. Your pastors are called and ordained to speak Christ’s Word in Christ’s name. When pastors forgives sins, Christ forgives. When pastors speaks the Gospel, Christ speaks. He who hears you hears Me. 

II. Joy in Heavenly Status (vv. 17–20)

The seventy return with joy. “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” They are amazed. Thrilled. Their mission was a success. They healed the sick. They cast out demons. They saw the power of Christ’s name firsthand. They saw that the Word of Jesus does what it says.

“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven,” Jesus observed. That is why God sent Jesus into the world. He died for us so that he could make sure that the enemy could never hurt you. Jesus is the king who establishes peace between God and men.  The evil foe has no power over us because the decisive battle has been won in this war. The devil’s kingdom is being toppled. By being despised and rejected, Jesus Christ our Lord tread under all the power of the enemy. (Lk. 10:19). Satan has fallen. Christ has tread upon and cast down the devil and all his forces through his bloody death, burial, and glorious resurrection. The victory has already been won. And now, God pardons us rebels. God pardons you. Hostilities have ceased. Instead of death and hell, God promises you eternal life for Jesus’ sake. Where His name is proclaimed, Satan falls. He gives His servants authority “to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” The devil is judged. The deed is done. One little word can fell him.

But Jesus redirects their joy. “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Rejoice not in power, not in authority, not even in successful ministry. It is not about how many demons are cast out, how many converts are made, or how big the crowd is. The joy is not in the mission, and its success or failure. The joy is in your salvation. The joy is in being named. The joy is in the Gospel. The joy is Christ. Your cause for rejoicing is that your names are written in heaven, written in the Book of Life of the Lamb who slain from the foundations of the world, written in His blood shed for you and for your sins. That’s the cause for your rejoicing. And that joy is yours because God has spoken peace to you. Because He has chosen and sent His messengers to bring it to you. Because the kingdom of God has come near to you. The war is over. The rebellion is ended. Christ has conquered. And your name is written in heaven.

That is the deepest joy. Your name is written in heaven. You have a place in God’s kingdom. That is the joy that sustains you when success falters, when demons seem unshaken, when the field looks empty and dry. So rejoice. Not in your own strength. Not in spiritual victories. Rejoice in Christ. Rejoice in the cross. Rejoice that your name is written in heaven. And don’t shoot the messenger.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.