“Go and do the same.”

Luke 10:13-37 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!

¹⁶ “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

¹⁷ The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” ¹⁸ And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. ²⁰ Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

²¹ At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. ²² All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

²³ Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, ²⁴ for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

²⁵ And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” ²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” ²⁹ But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. ³¹ And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, ³⁴ and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ ³⁶ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” ³⁷ And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

“I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.”   We have been given that same authority in Christ. In Matthew 16: 18-19, when Peter answered Jesus question of who He is, saying You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus said:  “upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”    The authority of Christ is built upon the revelation, the truth that He is the Messiah, the Lord and Savior.  Finally in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”    Jesus has given us authority. In truth, in and through Christ, by the finished work of the cross, we have been given back the authority God intended for us from the beginning. Genesis 1:26-28 says: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

As believers we need to walk in that authority. In today’s text, the seventy disciples who Jesus sent out returned saying: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” That’s the authority we have in Christ. Jesus says:  ^“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)   As believers, followers of Christ we have the power and the authority to do the things that Jesus did, to cast our demons, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to do all sorts of miraculous things, “ so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  It is for God’s glory, it is as a testimony of His goodness that we are given and are to walk in the authority of Christ.  In Mark 16:15-18 Jesus says:    “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”     The signs and wonders, the miracles and authority of Christ are both evidence to the world that God’s word is true, to bring Him glory and they are evidence in the lives of those who believe. We should be living and walking in the fullness of that authority.  

 In today’s text though, Jesus says:  ^“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” The authority we have been given, the miracles we are to do are not what we are to glory in, they are not what we are to rejoice over. We are to rejoice that are names are recorded in heaven. Our salvation in and through Christ is the thing we are to rejoice in. Everything else is secondary. Jesus says: "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:35-36)   If we have given our lives to Christ we already have everything we need, most importantly we have eternal life in Him. The signs and wonders the miracles are not for our glory but for God’s glory. In today’s text Jesus says: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!”      If we, the church and believers fail to walk in the fullness of the authority we have been given. If we don’t do the things that Christ did, then how will our towns and cities know the power of God? What is there to cause people today to repent if there is no power, no authority in God’s people?  If we do not walk in His authority, the authority He has given us, the authority and dominion which was restored to us through the cross, then we do not glorify God in our lives.  

We are called, given the power and authority to do the things that Jesus did, to the glory of God the Father. Today’s text ends with where those great things should begin. , “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”    Jesus tells the story of “The Good Samaritan”, the one who cares for the needs of another, the one who is selfless and shows mercy to one less fortunate, and Jesus says: “Go and do the same.”    It all begins with mercy, grace, compassion and love. We have authority and we need to walk in the fullness of the authority we have been given. Our motive though must be love and compassion. The signs and wonders will follow, they will be evident in our lives if we live as Christ lived. If we love and if we walk in the fullness of the authority we have in Christ, then others will see and glorify God.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit I do indeed rejoice that my name is written in heaven. It is written there not because of anything that I have done or can do, but because of what Jesus did, because of the finished work of the cross. Holy Spirit empower me, fill me and enable me to also walk in the fullness of the authority that Christ has given me. The authority to do the things that Jesus did, so that others will see and glorify God. May my life be full of the evidence of the authority of Christ. May it begin with love.    Amen.