{"id":2633,"date":"2023-11-10T03:02:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T03:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=2633"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:32:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T01:32:45","slug":"sending-of-the-fickle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=2633","title":{"rendered":"SENDING OF THE FICKLE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Sunday I am preaching on Luke 10 where Jesus sends 72 disciples out to proclaim, &#8220;The Kingdom of God is near&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I went back to Luke 9 to make sure I understood the context and &#8211; wow &#8211; there&#8217;s a lot going on in chapter 9.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And most of it casts the disciples in a very poor light.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s what they get right:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li>The 12 are sent out to preach the Gospel door to door (9:6). They go willingly and apparently accomplish the task.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Beyond preaching, they also heal the sick (9:6).\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li>At least one of the disciples, Peter, correctly confesses Jesus as God\u2019s anointed, the Christ (9:20).<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But otherwise, their record throughout chapter 9 is dismal:<\/p>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li>They fail to imagine how it could be possible to feed the 5,000 (9:13).<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Peter wants to camp out on the Mount of Transfiguration (9:33) It&#8217;s clear this was a mistake: Scripture pointedly states, \u201cHe did not know what he was saying.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n<li>The 9 disciples left behind while 3 accompanied Jesus up the mountain fail to cast out a demon torturing a boy and his family in Jesus&#8217; absence (9:40). Jesus is ticked off. (He had already specifically given them authority to cast out demons in 9:1.)<\/li>\n\n\n<li>They don&#8217;t understand what Jesus is talking about when he says he will be &#8220;delivered into the hands of men&#8221;, but they are too afraid to ask him for clarification (9:45).<\/li>\n\n\n<li>They argue among themselves about who is the greatest (9:46)<\/li>\n\n\n<li>John wants to stop an outsider from casting out demons because &#8220;he is not one of us&#8221; (9:49).<\/li>\n\n\n<li>James and John offer to call down fire from heaven to destroy a Samaritan village which refuses to welcome Jesus (9:54).\u00a0 \u201cJesus turned and rebuked them.\u201d (9:55)<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Several disciples on the fringes make half-sincere pledges to follow Jesus: \u201cI will follow, but first \u2026\u201d (9:57-62). Jesus is stern with them: \u201cNo one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.\u201d (9:62)<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do these not parallel some of the worst tendencies of the modern American church?<\/p>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li>Failure of imagination. No expectation of the miraculous.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Seeking out mountain top experiences and camping there.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Underestimating our role &#8211; and authority and power &#8211; as Jesus&#8217; hands and feet, and so, unable to minister to those who are truly in need.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Misunderstanding Jesus&#8217; teaching, but taking no initiative to get clarification.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Using religion as a means of exerting power and influence and furthering our own reputation.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Opposing those outside our theological circle. They can&#8217;t possibly be doing God&#8217;s will!<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Jumping at opportunities to pronounce God&#8217;s judgment on the culture around us.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Wanting to have Jesus &#8230; just not as a genuine priority in life.<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And yet, there is Jesus at the start of Luke 10 again sending out these fallible, fickle disciples &#8211; this time 72 of them &#8211; to proclaim, &#8220;The Kingdom of God is near&#8221;.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Sunday I am preaching on Luke 10 where Jesus sends 72 disciples out to proclaim, &#8220;The Kingdom of God is near&#8221;. I went back to Luke 9 to make sure I understood the context and &#8211; wow &#8211; there&#8217;s a lot going on in chapter 9. And most of it casts the disciples in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2634,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions\/2634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}