Blessed Are the Eyes That See

Luke 10:1-24 - Riley Boggs

I want to begin this morning by asking a philosophical question for us to consider. It’s a question, called the Euthyphro (yoo-thee-fro) dilemma, that originated all the way back around 400 BC by Plato. This is the question, sort of modernized for us: Does God command things because they are good, or are they good because He commands them? In other words, does God choose to do things because they are good things in and of themself, and He desires to do that which is good? Or are things simply good as a result of God commanding them? It’s kind of a tricky question, one that we could sit around and discuss and debate for a while. It’s tricky because both of them seem to lead us to error, hence the reason that it is called a dilemma. If we say that God commands things because they are good in and of themselves, then it seems that there is a standard of goodness that is actually higher than God, that He has to submit to. If we say things are good because God commands them, then it can seem as if goodness is arbitrary, and that God could have called things such as murder good, and it would have been so.

The answer to this question is found in our theological understanding of who God is. When we say that God is good, or other things like loving, holy, powerful, etc. All we are really saying is that God is God. That is, God is the standard by which we understand all of these different characteristics, they don’t exist on their own, they exist because they are who God is. And that’s one of the things that sets God apart from humanity. As humans, we can be more or less good, more or less loving, more or less holy, etc. Whereas God cannot be more or less of these things, because they are simply what it means to be God. So this question really is set up wrong because it assumes that goodness is something on its own, when the reality is that it isn’t. And if we were to answer the ask the question again, does God command thing because they are good, or are they good because He commands them, the best way for us to answer it would be to simply say, “Yes.”

The point that I want us to see this morning as we start to dive into the text is simply that we have to be careful to not try to understand who God is and what He does based on other standards. When God does something, it is nonsensical question to even ask if it’s a good thing. It’s nonsensical because there is no other option. Our very understanding of goodness comes from who God is, so to take that standard and change it around a bit and then judge God’s works with it is just altogether wrong.

Now none of us want to admit that we do this kind of thing, but I think the truth is that we do, especially when it comes to difficult theological truths throughout God’s Word. Often times we read something in His Word, and we won’t accept it until it makes sense according to our standard of what is good and just. We read something and we are tempted to think, “But that doesn’t seem fair. Why would God do that?” Do you see how that question is already coming from the wrong place?

This morning we are going to be looking at a passage where we have to keep this ever present in our minds. As we work through the texts, let’s not get caught up in asking these kinds of questions. Let’s acknowledge on the front end that God is good, He is Holy, and He is just, and everything that He does is the same. And when we do that, I think we’ll find ourselves more eager to trust God even when we don’t understand and praise Him for who He is, and what He has done for us.

With all of that said, let’s look at our passage this morning. Luke starts off by telling us that Jesus sent 72, or 70, depending on your translation, people out to prepare a way for Him. This number isn’t If you remember from last week we saw an example of this where Jesus sent messengers ahead of Him to a town that He was going to pass through, so that they might be prepared and know what is going to take place. And so Jesus does that here and sends out 36 groups of 2 to go into all the towns that He is going to pass through. He also gives them instructions about how they ought to go and what they can expect to encounter. He tells them not to take a bunch of stuff with them, but to go out proclaiming the kingdom of God relying on the hospitality of those in the town, specifically those who accept them and the message that they are proclaiming. And so we see as we read through the passage that they do this, and they return with joy telling the Lord all the things that they have done.

But this isn’t all that happens is it? No, Jesus also tells them that they can expect to be rejected. He tells them that some will not receive them and yet they should still proclaim the kingdom of God and just move on. And then Jesus has a serious word about these towns and the danger of their rejection of these messengers, because it is ultimately a rejection of Him.

And then finally, at the end of our passage, we see Jesus rejoice and make some pretty incredible theological remarks. Starting in verse 21, He says, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to the little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then looking to His disciples, He tells them of the great privilege they have in seeing and hearing the Lord in the way that they are.

Now there are a lot of good truths that we could pull from a lot of different verses throughout this passage. In fact, I’ve heard many sermons on just 1 or 2 verses from these passages alone. But for us, as we have been looking at larger chunks of the Gospel of Luke, I want us to consider what is happening here big picture. And the way I want to do this is by looking at it as a kind of reversal of Genesis 10. Does anyone remember what happened in Genesis 10? I had part of Genesis 9 read for our middle Scripture reading. You all know this part, but in Genesis 6 God sees the increasing corruption of sin in the world and decides to bring judgment on all the Earth in the form of a flood. So He tells Noah, who He calls a righteous man, to build a boat to bring His family and animals on so that they might survive the coming judgement. Then in Genesis 7 we see the flood come, destroying all those living in that time except for Noah and his family. In Genesis 8 the flood resides, and they get out of the ark.

Then, and this is important, in Genesis 9 God tells Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply and fills the earth. There were no humans left outside of those on the boat, and so God is telling them to essentially repopulate the Earth. And so, they do this, and in Genesis 10 we get all the nations that descended as a result of the repopulation from Noah’s family. Guess how many nations are listed? 72, or 70, depending on your translation. Do you see the connection yet? And in the final verse of Genesis 10, we read this about the nations listed. It says, “These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.”

So now, think about this with me. God saw the evil in the world and decided to destroy all those living in the world except the family of the one righteous man, Noah. And then this family repopulates the into 70/72 nations and scatters around the world. Then, here in Luke 10, what is happening? Jesus is sending out 72 messengers to what? To go out and find those whom God is saving for Himself. Specifically in this text in the villages where Jesus will go, but for us, a people of every tribe and tongue and nation around the world.

Rather than dispersing them around the world in judgment like He did in Genesis, God, through His people, is calling a people back to Himself, to a singular spiritual kingdom. I think that is the main thrust of this text and it’s how I’d like for us to approach it. I want us to see how God is bringing people to Himself, the task that He has given us in that, and then 2 things we must do in light of those things. We’ll be zooming in and seeing the example of these messengers doing this work, but then taking that and applying it to our own situation. So, the first point I have for us this morning is this.

1.) God reveals Himself to those whom He chooses

I think this is one of the more important truths that comes out of this text, and it really is undeniable. Look at verse 21, I just read it a minute ago, but let me read it again. Jesus says, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” This is a pretty straightforward statement that is being made here. Jesus is saying that Father has decided to hide the truth from some and reveal the truth from others.

Now that can seem a bit strange to us, right? That Jesus is thanking the Father for hiding the truth from people. Does that seem unfair? Well that’s why I started this morning by reminding us that we aren’t to ask questions like that. Of course this is a good and fair thing. As Jesus notes, it is a part of His gracious will that this is the case. The theological reality is that the Father has elected, before the foundation of the Earth, a people for Himself. Not a wise people, not an understanding people. There is nothing about these people that has earned them such a thing. Rather, it is only the loving-kindness of the Father that He has done this.

But it’s not just the Father who is doing this. In verses 22 we see this back and forth about the Father and the Son knowing one another, and how the Son also has been given all things and has chosen a people for Himself. And this isn’t a separate or a different people that is being referenced here. No the point that Jesus is making is 2-fold. First, He is just simply making it clear that He is indeed God and that the sovereign choice to save people is a choice that the Triune Godhead has made. But secondly, Jesus is saying that the accepting and rejecting of Jesus there in this time, as they go throughout the villages is simply the outworking of this electing and choosing.

Now, if we are honest, I think we can be tempted to hear this truth, see it in our text, and immediately start throwing out caveats and exceptions. Maybe you’re thinking, “No, God has revealed Himself to everyone and everyone has a choice!” The issue with that line of thinking is that the text is entirely clear on the fact that God has hidden from some and revealed from others. And not only this passage, but the Bible as a whole supports this reality and helps us to know that we are rightly understanding this passage.

What I want us to remember here is that it is not our job to try and justify God’s actions to ourselves and others. He is God, He does not need justifying. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense to us or not. If it seems unfair to us, then it’s our understanding of fairness that needs correcting, not His. This is a truth that we have to believe because the Bible has said that it is so, no holds barred.

Another thing that may pop into your mind as you begin to think through this truth is “But what about sharing the Gospel? Doesn’t this make sharing the Gospel useless?” Of course not. This truth is actually the force that is pushing us to sharing the Gospel. It’s the truth that Jesus is declaring after having sent out the 72 to proclaim the kingdom of God. And it’s the second point that I want us to see this morning.

2.) God has commanded us to take the Gospel to all people

In this passage we do not get explicit command to given specifically to us to take the Gospel to all people. But we do get a picture of what it looks like to go and proclaim the kingdom of God to people. I think the right way for us to read this is to take the truth we see in this text and apply it to our commission found in Matthew 28, to go out and make disciples of all nations. And from there, we can begin to work out the truth revealed here, for us, that God has commanded us to take the Gospel to all people.

So on one hand you have this great theological truth that God reveals Himself to whom He chooses, and on the other hand, we see that Jesus and sent the 72 to go where? They are to go into every town. He doesn’t tell them to only go where He will reveal Himself. He doesn’t tell them to only go where He has a people chosen for Himself. He tells them to go and proclaim the kingdom of God to all people. See this is why we can’t pit these first 2 points against one another, because Jesus Himself didn’t pit them against one another. He sees no issue in declaring the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation and also commissioning people to go and share the Gospel with everyone. And if our Lord doesn’t have an issue with this, why should we?

Look at what Jesus says to the 72 in verse 2. He says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” What does He mean by this? He means exactly what we said in the first point. There are people that God has planned to reveal Himself to, a harvest of people. The task for the 72, and for us, is to simply go out and share the Gospel with all people so that these might hear and believe. God’s people are the means by which God is saving more people to Himself. And while we do not know who these people are specifically, we do know that the truth and power of the Gospel is for anyone, anywhere, and that these people are comprised of people from all nations. And we cannot be confused that we are the ones who are bringing about the harvest through our Gospel proclamation. We aren’t. We are simply laborers who are going out into His harvest, that He has prepared for Himself.

If we keep reading in our passage, we see these two truths become even more clear. Look with me starting in verse 5. Jesus says, “Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace be to this house!” And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.” Now the question that came to my mind as I read this is, “Who is a son of peace?” R.C. Sproul can help us here. He says that a son of peace is, “One on whom God’s favor rests, and who therefore is receptive to the good news of God’s peace that Jesus’ messengers are bearing.” In other words, the only reason that anyone is receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is because God has made it so. And Jesus, knowing that this is the case, tells them that there are people who will receive them and their message because of this. Because the peace of God has come to rest upon them, hence they are called a son of peace. So these messengers are to go and find the people whom God is going to grant faith.

You know often times we treat evangelism like it is an art of persuasion. We think that if only we are convincing enough people will see their sin, their need of a Savior, and believe the Gospel that we are sharing. But truth is that the effectiveness of the Gospel does not rest in our ability to cleverly and convincingly share it. The effectiveness of the Gospel comes as a result of God’s sovereign saving power that He demonstrates through the Gospel proclamation coming from the mouths of His people. God has a people who is saving for Himself, and it is our job to simply go and proclaim the good news to anyone and everyone, believing and knowing that if anyone repents of their sin and places their faith in Christ they will be saved.

And while there will be people who receive the message, Jesus also tells them that there will be many who reject it. Look with me starting in verse 10. He says, “But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’” I think there are 2 things for us to see here. First, just a simple reminder that we do not shrink back from sharing the Gospel even when we are rejected. The fact that these messengers are being rejected doesn’t keep them from telling the truth. That is a good word for us as we will certainly encounter those who want nothing to do with us our message, and yet we should still share it. The other thing that I think this teaches us is our 3rd point this morning. That is,

3.) We must not take offense when we are rejected

I’m drawing this point from 2 different spots in this text. The first one being what I just read about wiping the dust off of their feet. This was simply a way for the messengers to acknowledge that the people are rejecting their message. The messengers have come and shared, and they can do no more. Their job is complete and by wiping the dust off their feet they are saying all of this. The other place I’m drawing this from is in verse 16. Jesus says, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” In other words, don’t take offense when you are rejected.

One of the most dangerous things you can do in ministry is take everything personally. Once you do that, your entire ministry starts to, at best, become about making everyone like you, and at worst becomes about making yourself look better than everyone else. Both of these things miss the point of Christian ministry because they both appeal to the sinful pride that lives in all of us.

I think Jesus knew that these messengers were going to have to fight this same temptation. When they would go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God and would get rejected, there was likely some pride that began to surface within them. “How could they reject us? What did I do wrong? How could they treat me like that?” Or maybe it’s because some of them might get discouraged as they are rejected over and over again. Regardless, Jesus knew both temptations and it’s why He tells them that they are only rejecting them because they are rejecting the message they are bringing them. And by extension, they are rejecting Jesus. So what is worse? Us being rejected, or Jesus and His Gospel being rejected? Well of course it’s the second one. And since this is the case, let’s be slow to become personally offended when we are rejected for the message that we share. It’s not about us to begin with, so let’s not try to make it about us in this way.

While we’re here, let me just say that this speaks directly against those in our culture who want Jesus without the church. That whole idea is just wrong altogether. You cannot have Jesus but reject His people. It doesn’t matter how much they have hurt you or how difficult it is for you. The command of the Bible is that if you are to follow Jesus, you must follow Him with other believers. It will take radical forgiveness and patience, and a whole lot of love. All of which the Spirit of God will empower you to do. The one who rejects Jesus’ people are rejecting ultimately rejecting Jesus Himself. I just had to add that in there because for some reason this is a popular line of thinking in our culture today.

But there is a real danger in this that comes as a result of rejecting Jesus’ messengers and their message. You can see it in verses 12-15, where He mentions well-known wicked towns who had suffered the righteous judgment of God. He mentions them and then notes that the towns who are rejecting Him now will be in a far worse spot than even those. In other words, the rejection of Jesus and His people and His message is an acceptance of sin and death and judgment. There is no neutrality when it comes to this, you cannot stand between belief and unbelief. Jesus issues a warning to those who reject His message, and we need to be willing to do the same thing. God is real. Sin is real. The punishment for sin is real. We have to proclaim that. And at the same time, we proclaim that there is hope in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who bore our sins on the cross so that we might be set free. This is the Gospel we proclaim, and when it is rejected we must not become offended, but rather must continue to rejoice in it all the days of our life, which is our final point this morning.

4.) We must rejoice in our salvation

Look with me starting in verse 17. The messengers return to Jesus, and they are fired up about everything that has happened. They say, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” Jesus hears this and says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” In other words, spiritual strongholds held by the enemy have been broken because of they are doing in Jesus’ power and name. Then He says, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you.” That is again a reiteration that they are taking back enemy ground because of the power Jesus has placed within them. It’s the reason they are successful and the reason they are protected. But then, Jesus says one more thing in verse 20. He says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Let me try to explain this point by asking a question. What brings you the most joy? Is it vain things, like money or your favorite football team winning? Is it good things, like seeing your children succeed and be loved? What is it that brings you the most joy? Jesus hears this messengers report, and He sees the joy that they have in subjecting demons by the power of Christ within them. I mean I don’t blame them for being joyful. When evil demonic strongholds are removed in our culture, I want to jump with joy. If there is a day where abortion is totally outlawed in this country, I will be the first one to send out invitation to celebrate and praise the Lord. But here’s the thing we have to be careful of. No matter what good thing brings you joy, as they should, there is nothing that should bring you more joy than knowing that God sent His Son to die for you so that you might have life everlasting. Nothing, and I mean nothing, ought to bring you more joy than that. That is the point that Jesus is making here to the 72 who have returned.

See this is the danger in having a low view of God’s sovereignty in salvation. When we do that, when we maximize our role and minimize His, we immediately start to think that there was something about us and our choosing that saved us. We start to view salvation and knowing God like another choice we made along the way and think, “Well hey, that worked out, didn’t it?” But that just isn’t the case. I don’t say this to be rude, but simply because it is true, there is nothing about you that made you more savable than anyone else. It wasn’t your intellect, your ability to love, or your potential. It was nothing about you. It was and is entirely about the love that God has for you, a rebellious sinner, and His desire to save you. That’s it. That is the only difference between the person who is saved by God and who isn’t.

And when we begin to think of it in this way. That God, for no reason other than He loved us, saved us from eternal death and brought us to eternal life, then how could we not rejoice in this. How could we not sing songs of praise? How could we not entrust Him with our entire life? How could we not go and tell of this gracious God to others so that they might hear and believe as well?

Let’s be a people who do these things, not out of compulsion, but with joy, knowing all that God has done for us. We are so underserving, and yet God continues, day-by-day, to care for our most intimate and hidden needs. He’s such a good God. Holy, powerful, and other than, yet gracious, kind, and near. Let’s be a people who believe what the Bible says about Him, a people who share His Gospel, and a people who rejoice in the salvation He has given us.