Luke 10:1-9

Luke 10:1-9 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’

The kingdom of God is not eat and drink. If you have plenty to eat and drink and a wonderful place to lay your head but do not have the presence of the Lord, you have nothing. In the above scriptures, Jesus directs his disciples to go out, heal, and minister the message, The kingdom of God is near you. The kingdom of God is near because Jesus the Lord is near: He is the kingdom. If we find ourselves IN HIM, we are in God's kingdom. Jesus came to us so the kingdom of God could come to man. Trying to bring the kingdom of God to Earth without Jesus is impossible, for a kingdom is where the king reigns, abides. The kingdom of God is where sin is absent and God is the absolute authority.

How can He reign in a sinful, rebellious people? He reigns through the work of the cross, which brings a right relationship with God. At the cross we died WITH HIM, and at the tomb we were raised IN HIM. Through this transformation, we are new creatures with the Spirit of God within us. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:17-18) Jesus promised never to leave us nor forsake us because He is in us and has established his kingdom within us. WE ARE HIS, BOUGHT AND TRANSFORMED BY A HEAVY PRICE, WHICH IS JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

This is the message the disciples would preach eventually, but in this passage, they were to bless and heal people, performing miracles to deliver the message that the kingdom of God is near. They were not to profit from their ministry. They were to eat and drink whatever was set before them while staying in the first house they entered, not seeking a better lodging. The Lord Jesus did not want anything, especially human inclinations, to get in the way of his message. The disciples were not to look around for more of this earthly domain.

Many of us make life about human attainments and possessions. We consider out lives successful if we have more. Jesus did not want the disciples in this mode of thinking, for all that is seen, touched, and even heard is not important because in time it will pass away. Only the God's Word is eternal. This earth might whirl out of its orbit and hit the sun or our bones and flesh might decay in the grave, but that will not matter to the child of God, for his kingdom of the spirit still exists. God's kingdom existed before the heavens and the earth and will remain afterwards. God is the only permanency of life: in him we are eternal beings.

Jesus directed the disciples not to seek nor to possess what could make their lives better. They were to depend completely on the One who is eternal. They were to live as if they were already within his kingdom. This life requires faith, and because of their faith in the authority of God, they came back to Jesus, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." (vs. 17 & 18) Yes, Satan fell, for he lost his authority over men. These men were working in an arena of faith, in the kingdom of God, where the devil has no authority. He fell, losing his hold on mankind, because men and women who live by faith are already within the kingdom of God. Safe in Christ, we are ready and able to do his will.