The Mission of the Seventy

Luke 10:1-24

GOLDEN TEXT: “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the. Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest.”—Luke 10:2

IN SENDING forth the seventy into the “harvest” work at the end of the Jewish age Jesus bade them to pray as well as to work. Moreover, their prayers were to be of a nature that would tend to give them an enlarged vision of the magnitude of the work in hand, hence that there was ample opportunity for more workers—“Pray ye,” said Jesus, “the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest.” Those who work in God’s harvest field need never fear that their jobs will be taken by others on account of there not being enough work for all.

The work which Jesus instituted among the Jewish people at His first advent was a harvest work rather than a sowing work because it was the gathering of the fruitage of the Jewish age. Through the prophets God had made promises to the Jewish nation of the coming Messiah, and of the share they would have with Him in the Messianic purpose. When Jesus as their Messiah came to them it was but logical that they would be ready and glad to accept Him and co-operate in His work.

The work of the apostles and of the seventy was not that of explaining the Messianic idea to the Jews, but rather to tell them that Jesus was the Messiah in the plan which they presumably already knew. Thus we read that in sending out these workers they were to go “into every city and place, whither He Himself would come”—obviously to announce His coming. Apparently Jesus knew that the fruitage of the age would not be great for He told them that He was sending them forth as “lambs among wolves.”

Developments proved that few indeed of the Jewish nation were in the proper attitude of heart and mind to receive Jesus as their Messiah for we read that “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:11,12) But only a few had “ears to hear,” and hearts to receive the message, and these few formed the nucleus of the new “holy nation” of spiritual Israelites gathered from among all nations throughout this Gospel age.—I Pet. 2:9; Acts 15:13-18; Rev. 14:1

Divine blessing was upon the seventy that Jesus sent forth, and when they returned it was with joy, saying, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name.” (Verse 17) Jesus’ reply to this was, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” (Verse 18) Evidently the Master detected a slight indication of pride and boastfulness on the part of the seventy because of the manner in which their ministry had been blessed, and was giving them a gentle warning.

Verse 19 emphasizes that whatever power the seventy possessed to perform miracles had been delegated to them, hence that there was no occasion for their boasting: Their rejoicing, according to verse 20, was to be in the fact that they were in the divine favor, that their names were “written in heaven.”

Then follows the Master’s prayer in which He thanks His Father that “these things” had been hidden from the “wise and prudent,” and had been “revealed unto babes.” Then turning to His disciples, Jesus said, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see; for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them.”—Verses 23,24

Thus does the Master stress the great importance of humility before the Lord as a prerequisite to spiritual vision. These seventy were to work in the harvest field, and they were to pray, too—not only for themselves, but that the Lord would send forth more workers. In working and praying they were to keep humble before the Lord, recognizing that the success of them ministry was due to His blessing and not to their wisdom or abilities. Thus should it be with all who labor for the Lord.

QUESTIONS:

Why was the Lord’s work at the end of the Jewish age called a “harvest”?

What lesson did Jesus convey to the seventy when He said to them that He had seen Satan as lightning fall from heaven?

What is the proper attitude of heart and mind before the Lord in order to understand and appreciate the truth of the divine plan?

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