Luke 10:13-20

Posted by DJL on Oct 2, 2013 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum,
will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

I’ve placed two scenes side by side for this devotion. The first is really the last of the instructions or, perhaps better, parting words of Jesus to the seventy he is sending out. Except they aren’t much by way of parting words. Rather, they are more lament directed at those cities that do not respond to the good news and invitation to blessing he has commissioned the seventy to proclaim. And they are hard words, full of warning and foreboding.

Truth be told, I don’t like them. I don’t like the sense of threat that permeates them. And they make me sad. Sad for the folks of these towns and sad for Jesus who laments like a heart-broken lover over those who will not respond to either to his words of love and wisdom or his deeds of power.

Which is in part why I choose not to end with this scene but continue on. (As, for that matter, Luke does.) For the seventy soon return, and their report is not one of rejection and regret and dismay and threat. Not at all. Rather they are filled with joy and exult in their ability to thwart evil, restore life and health to those afflicted by demons and disease, and proclaim the in-breaking of God’s kingdom.

And in response to their joy, Jesus himself exalts, describing that he saw Satan fall as the disciples dispersed demons, and reminding them that above and beyond their power or authority or triumphs rests the greater joy, the promise of life in its abundance, both now and in the age to come.

I wondered, as I read this passage, whether the joy and growth of his disciples actually encouraged Jesus, whether his earlier words reflected a momentary sense of discouragement or despair and that he, like we do at times, needed others to pick up our spirits and encourage us along the way.

I don’t know this, of course, and I’ll admit that we often don’t think about Jesus as having feelings like we do – ups and downs, sadness and joy, moments of despair and hope. But if we are to take the Christian affirmation that Jesus is not only fully God – harder to comprehend yet somehow easier to entertain – but also fully human, then I think it is at least a possibility and may also serve as a reminder that we are sometimes most encouraged by the triumphs and joys of others.

Prayer: Dear God, open our eyes and ears to the triumphs of those around us, that sharing their joy we may participate in yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Post image: Alphonso Doss, “The First Supper”