“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.”

In today’s text it 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. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!” … The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”  And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 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.Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”   Far too often today, it seems that people rejoice and seek the power and the authority to perform miracles, for the sake of the miracles. Many believe the church today should walk in the same authority as the early church, and we should. Jesus has given us the same authority He gave to the seventy. God and Christ have not changed. Perhaps what has changed is our motivation. Jesus says we should not rejoice in the authority we have, but rather in the reason we have that authority; because our names are recorded in heaven. We have the power and the authority of the kingdom of heaven; the ability to bring the realities of the kingdom of heaven to earth, but we should rejoice in Christ; that we are saved through the cross. Jesus says:  “…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.”   Too often it seems that today, people seek miracles for the miracles sake. The greatest miracle of all is not that blind eyes are opened; the lame walk or even that people would be raised from the dead. The greatest miracle is that people would repent, believe in Christ and be saved; that their names would be written in heaven. In Mark 16:15-18 Jesus commands and commissions His disciples saying:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 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, the miracles and the power of God accompany those who believe and those who preach the gospel. The miracles are not the end that we should seek. Rather, they are the evidence of belief. If we would be faithful to preach the gospel, the good news about salvation and the kingdom of heaven, perhaps we would see the signs and miracles that the early church saw.

The text also says:  And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 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.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  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. And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 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. 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.’ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”   Mercy and grace is also a sign and evidence of the kingdom of heaven on earth. That it is evident in our lives is a miracle. That we would show mercy and grace to others is that we would extend the kingdom of heaven to them. Like miracles of healing, our showing mercy and grace to others is not to be the end, but rather it is to be the means to the end, that they too would repent and believe. The evidence of the kingdom of God in our lives is the evidence to bring others to the kingdom of God through our lives.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; I rejoice that my name is written in heaven. I believe that Jesus died for my sins so that I could be redeemed from sin, reconciled to You and restored to be all that You intended. May mercy and grace be evident in my life and may mercy, grace and the power of the Holy Spirit be evidence to the world of the life You desire for all who believe.  Amen.