The Lord now chose seventy other disciples and sent them on ahead of him!

Luke 10:1-9

The Lord now chose seventy other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages he planned to visit later. These were his instructions to them: “Plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out more laborers to help you, for the harvest is so plentiful and the workers so few. Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don’t take any money with you, or a beggar’s bag, or even an extra pair of shoes. And don’t waste time along the way. Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing. If it is worthy of the blessing, the blessing will stand; if not, the blessing will return to you. When you enter a village, don’t shift around from home to home, but stay in one place, eating and drinking without question whatever is set before you. And don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, for the workman is worthy of his wages! If a town welcomes you, follow these two rules: (1) Eat whatever is set before you. (2) Heal the sick; and as you heal them, say, ‘The Kingdom of God is very near you now.’

Food for thought!

Today is feast of Luke the evangelist.  Of  the people who wrote the New Testament writings, Luke was the only one that was not a Jew. Luke was a gentile. He was a doctor by profession (Col.4:14) and maybe that very fact gave him the wide sympathy he possessed. It has been said that a minister sees men at their best; a lawyer sees men at their worst; and a doctor sees men as they are. Luke saw men and loved them all.

 In today's gospel reading, we read that Jesus chose seventy OTHER disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages he planned to visit later.  Besides the Twelve Apostles, Jesus had many many other followers and disciples. Luke was one of the others Jesus used and uses to spread his message. Jesus needs us all, and all of us can represent Jesus each in his or her own way.

 Luke presented a Jesus that knows no barriers, Jesus  that is for Jew and gentile, saint and sinner alike.  Jesus that is the saviour of the world. 

Luke  presented a Jesus of prayer. At all the great moments of his life, Luke shows us Jesus at prayer. He prayed at his baptism (Lk.3:21); before his first collision with the Pharisees (Lk.5:16); before he chose the Twelve (Lk.6:12); before he questioned his disciples as to who they thought he was; before his first prediction of his own death (Lk.9:18); at the Transfiguration (Lk.9:29); and upon the Cross (Lk.23:46). Only Luke tells us that Jesus prayed for Peter in his hour of testing (Lk.22:32). Only he tells us the prayer parables of the Friend at Midnight (Lk.11:5-13) and the Unjust Judge (Lk.18:1-8). 

Luke  presented a Jesus that favours all men and women. Beginning with Mary,  it is Luke that  tells us Elizabeth, Anna, the widow at Nain, the woman who anointed Jesus' feet in the house of Simon the Pharisee. It is Luke who makes vivid the pictures of Martha and Mary and of Mary Magdalene. 

Above all Luke  presents a Jesus  that is friend of outcasts and sinners.  Luke alone tells of the woman who anointed Jesus' feet and bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Lk.7:36-50); of Zacchaeus, the tax-gatherer (Lk.19:1-10); of the Penitent Thief (Lk.23:43); and he alone has the immortal story of the prodigal son and the loving father (Lk.15:11-32).

Like long ago, Jesus continues to send OTHER disciples ahead to all the towns and villages he plans to visit later.  It means  that all of us are  like Luke; all of us are saying something about Jesus; all of us are preachers of Jesus. Like Luke we either represent or misrepresent Jesus; whenever we go as christians, be it at work, home or neighbourhood, we either represent or misrepresent Jesus.