Read Luke 10

Most corporations devote considerable energy and strategic planning to a succession strategy: they must develop and prepare employees to assume important leadership roles. Without a succession strategy, if a company suddenly loses an important leader, it will face an unexpected vacuum of power.

As Luke’s Gospel turns to focus on Jesus’ resolute march toward Jerusalem, it’s clear that Jesus is thinking about His own succession planning. In Luke 9, Jesus sent out His twelve disciples, investing them with His power and authority to heal broken bodies and suffering souls. In today’s reading, the circle of 12 expands to 72, and Jesus indicates that even more workers will be needed for the tasks of ministry.

Jesus illuminates the chain of command that exists in God’s kingdom: God the Father has invested His authority in Jesus, and Jesus has come as His chosen Son and Servant. Now Jesus invests His authority in His disciples, and they will serve as His representatives and ambassadors. The disciples are surprised by the effectiveness of the strategy, returning from ministry with sudden joy that “the demons submit to us in your name” (v. 17)! It’s working!

As Jesus marches toward His death in Jerusalem, He was preparing His disciples for that departure. They must minister as He has ministered, preaching good news and doing miracles. Jesus offers other examples for imitation. The Samaritan man interrupts a busy day to tend to a wounded man by the roadside, spending his own resources for this man’s healing. Show that kind of mercy, Jesus says (v. 37). And then there is the example of Mary, who sits at Jesus’ feet to listen and learn (despite her sister’s critique). Go and do likewise, says Jesus (v. 42). Commit to becoming that kind of student.

APPLY THE WORD

Jesus commands us to pray to the Lord of the harvest, asking for workers to be sent into the fields (v. 2). Pray for God to raise up Christians in the world’s largest cities whose cultural influence will advance the gospel, and pray for God to raise up missionaries whose witness across the globe will persuade many to trust Christ.

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