Bible Commentaries
Luke 10

Verses 1-42

1 As the Lord was on His way to celebrate the festival of Ingathering, this ,vas actually the time of harvest and He was comparing the physical to the spiritual state of the country. At harvest time there is much to do, so He appoints six times the original number of apostles to assist in the harvest work.

3 He has no illusions concerning the attitude of the people. They are hostile. They are wolves. Each house or city is now to be tested to see whether it contains friends or foes. In the case of a city there is a message for that which will not receive them, just the same as for that which will. The kingdom has drawn nigh whether they will have it or not.

4 This must be understood in its oriental setting. To this day special messengers on important business are required to forego the formal flattery and tedious etiquette of the Eastern salaam. These salutations included endless inquiries and as many answers. It was considered highly proper to intrude into any discussion and even take a part in any bargaining that happened to be under way. These instructions were quite necessary if these apostles are to discharge their mission.

7 The common custom of the East is for each villager to have the privilege of entertaining a stranger. And each move from house to house would stir up a great deal of pride and hypocrisy and lead to some ill feeling, besides taking much time and distracting them and destroying their efficiency. At each house they would be feasted and be indulged with a general good time, all of which was entirely out of harmony with the spirit of their mission.

12 The sins of Sodom were so terrible that fire has effaced its very site. Yet these sins were not as offensive in God's sight as the rejection of His messengers. One was sin done in darkness. The other was a sin against light. The judgment of God will be absolutely fair to all.

13 Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, "His own city", were the most favored of all places, for in them most of His mighty works were done. Yet now they, like Sodom, have disappeared, so that their sites are in dispute. They are cast down to "hell".

17 But a short time before, nine of the apostles had tried without success to cast out a demon (Luke 9:40). The Lord had not specifically empowered the disciples for this world. Under these circumstances they had much cause to rejoice at the power in their possession. The Lord, being in intimate touch with the spirit world, had noted that its head had come down, no doubt at a signal of distress from his minions. This, of course, has no connection with the so-called "fall of Satan", of which we never read in the Scriptures, but has reference to Satan's action in response to their ejection of demons in Christ's name. Knowing the power of the enemy, and what He and His disciples would yet suffer at his hands, our Lord seeks to put their joy on a more secure footing. Indeed, unless their names are engraven in heaven, and thus under the protection of the Almighty, these spiritual powers over which they are triumphing, will try them beyond endurance.

21 This is a most delightful glimpse of the inner thoughts of the Son of God. No doubt He had noticed from the very first that His message had little appeal to such as we would naturally suppose would be most eager and appreciative. He was continually clashing with the most intelligent classes. He had a following largely recruited from the lower stratum of society, the fellaheen, mostly fishermen and farmers, men who toiled for their living, while the professional scholars, scribes, priests, and teachers of the law, were antagonistic. Nevertheless,

seeing that this was evidently God's will, He does not endure it, or bear with it, but acquiesces and exults. Let us not endure but enjoy the will of God, no matter how unsatisfactory it seems. He is working for His glory and His creatures' good. We desire success and recognition for our small share of service, with little thought of His larger purpose. It is God's way to turn the wisdom of the wise into folly, and to use that which is despised to effect His will, so that no flesh should be able to boast itself in His presence. The thought that God positively conceals His truth from some shows how impossible it is for His slaves to be "successful" in the accepted meaning of the term.

25 A lawyer, or one versed in the law of Moses, especially in making it a burden for others than themselves (Luke 11:46), would naturally be interested in the Lord's opinion as to what deeds would merit eonian life. From the standpoint of the law, this was very simple. Moses had written: "And keep My statutes, and My judgments: which a man should do, and live in them. I am Jehovah" (Leviticus 18:5). Hence the Lord reminds him of the law he is supposed to understand. He correctly comprehends the whole law in the greatest commandment-love to

God-and its complement-love to man. The lawyer knew the law. All that he needed to do was to keep it! Could he keep the law he would never die. But the law was not given to impart life. It came to cause death. But the law had evidently done some of the work for which it was really intended, and he is conscious that his love to his associate is not up to its standard. Instead of acknowledging this and taking refuge in God's grace, he seeks to justify his failing by a quibble as to who is included in the term "associate", Such quibbling was the stock in trade of the expounders of the Jewish law. They were always seeking a loophole to escape its rigid requirements. To show him the futility of laws and ceremonies the Lord tells him the story of the good Samaritan. The Samaritans were cordially despised by the Jews, who would not be beholden to them at all (John 4:9). The lawyer would never acknowledge such to be his associate! But the Lord Himself was despised and rejected, hence He enters the story as a hated Samaritan. The lawyer is the man who descended from Jerusalem to Jericho and is half dead. Jerusalem is the place of blessing and life. Such is his if he keeps the law. Jericho is the place of the curse. Such is his if he breaks the law, for "accursed is everyone who is not remaining in all things which have been written in the scroll of the law to do them" (Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10). He is condemned even while he seeks to justify himself. He has hopes that the religious rites will help him. Yet these are dashed to the ground when a priest comes along, but keeps as far from him as he can. The law does not allow a priest to defile himself with the dead. It is not that he is hard hearted. His holy office brooks no defilement. The Levite likewise dare not be defiled with the dead. The lawyer will learn, when the law has had its full effect, that it cannot touch a man in his condition. These two men, like the law, came along casually, not to cure, but to condemn sin. But the Samaritan, that is, the Lord, was on a definite mission. The wounded man does not repel, but rather attracts Him, and draws out His compassion. He is not defiled and disabled by contact with death or sin. While the priest and Levite, with all their holiness, are helpless to manifest the love the law demands, the despised Samaritan, who would doubtless be hated by the helpless Jew under other circumstances, comes to his rescue and actually displays a love for his enemy which rises above the law's demands. So does the Lord seek to drive the lawyer from his own defective doing, even his own reluctant love, to the real source of life, eonian and abundant, found in His grace and love as the Good Samaritan.

38 In Mary and Martha we have a much needed contrast between service and study, and our Lord's estimate of each. Service has its place, and Martha could hardly have been excused if she had not supplied His simple wants. But then, as now, His slaves are tempted to overdo service to the neglect of the more necessary and vital acquaintance with God's will which alone fits for the highest forms of service and worship. Service without a clear knowledge of God's plans is often worse than wasted, but a heart acquaintance with His grace is the preliminary to such worship as most gratifies His heart. The one thing most needful today, as then, is a close acquaintance with His word gained by humbly sitting at His feet.