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Hindrances to Discipleship (9:57–62)
Luke 9:61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
The third would-be disciple resembled the first in that he volunteered to follow Christ. He was like the second in that he uttered the contradiction, “Lord … me first.”
He wanted first to say goodbye to his family. In itself, the request was reasonable and proper, but even the common civilities of life are wrong if they are placed ahead of prompt and complete obedience.
Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Jesus told him that once he put his hand to the plow of discipleship, he must not look back; otherwise he was not fit for the kingdom of God.
Christ’s followers are not made of half-hearted stuff or dreamy sentimentality. No considerations of family or friends, though lawful in themselves, must be allowed to turn them aside from utter and complete abandonment to Him.
The expression not “fit for the kingdom” does not refer to salvation but to service. It is not at all a question of entrance into the kingdom but of service in the kingdom after entering it.
Our fitness for entering into the kingdom is in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. It becomes ours through faith in Him.
And so we have three cardinal hindrances to discipleship illustrated in the experience of these men: Material comforts A job or an occupation. Family and friends.
Christ must reign in the heart without a rival. All other loves and all other loyalties must be secondary.
Mission of the Seventy
Luke 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. What benefits are there in sending 2x2?
Luke 10:2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. What are your thoughts when compared to our generation?
Luke 10:3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
Luke 10:4 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. :5 But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ :6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.
Luke 10:7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.
Luke 10:8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. :9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
Luke 10:10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, :11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ :12 But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
A town may reject the gospel and then be denied the privilege of hearing it again.
There comes a time in God’s dealings when the message is heard for the last time. Men should not trifle with the gospel, because it may be withdrawn forever.
Light rejected is light denied. Revelation 3:15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. :16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Towns and villages which are privileged to hear the good news and which refuse it will be judged more severely than the city of Sodom.
The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.
Luke 10:13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. :14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.
As Jesus spoke these words, He was reminded of three cities of Galilee which had been more highly privileged than any others. They had seen Him perform His mighty miracles in their streets. They had heard His gracious teaching. Yet they utterly refused Him.
If the miracles He had done in Chorazin and Bethsaida … had been done in ancient Tyre and Sidon, those sea-coast cities would have plunged themselves into the deepest repentance. Because the cities of Galilee were unmoved by Jesus’ works, their judgment would be more severe than that of Tyre and Sidon. As a matter of historical fact, Chorazin and Bethsaida have been so thoroughly destroyed that their exact location is not definitely known today.
Luke 10:15 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
Capernaum became the home town of Jesus after He moved from Nazareth. The city was exalted to heaven in privilege. But it despised its most notable Citizen and missed its day of opportunity. So it will be brought down to Hades in judgment.
Luke 10:16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
Jesus closed His instructions to the seventy with a statement that they were His ambassadors. To reject them was to reject Him, and to refuse Him was to refuse God, the Father.
Ryle comments: There is probably no stronger language than this in the New Testament about the dignity of a faithful minister’s office, and the guilt incurred by those who refuse to hear his message.
It is language, we must remember, which is not addressed to the twelve apostles, but to seventy disciples, of whose name and subsequent history we know nothing.
Scott remarks, “To reject an ambassador, or to treat him with contempt, is an affront to the prince who commissioned and sent him, and whom he represents. The apostles and seventy disciples were the ambassadors and representatives of Christ; and they who rejected and despised them in fact rejected and despised Him.”
Return of the Seventy
Luke 10:17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” :18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
As they returned from their mission, the seventy were elated that even the demons had been subject to them.
Jesus’ reply may be understood in two ways. First it may mean that He saw in their success an earnest of the eventual fall of Satan … from heaven. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown paraphrase His words: I followed you on your mission, and watched its triumphs; while you were wondering at the subjection to you of demons in My Name, a grander spectacle was opening to My view; sudden as the darting of lightning from heaven to earth, lo! Satan was beheld falling from heaven.
A second possible interpretation of Jesus’ words is as a warning against pride. It is as if He were saying: “Yes, you are quite heady because even the demons have been subject to you.
Hinson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hinson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson
