The Gospel of Luke
The Mission of the Seventy: Lk 10,1-24
Numbers 11,16-17 speaks of the seventy elders called upon to assist Moses and to share his gift of prophecy (11,24-25) is one possiblility. With either 70 or 72, the background is the Table of the Nations in chapter 10 of Genesis where 70 is the classic biblical number of the nations of the world. (The alternate number of 72 may derive from the Greek version of Genesis 10 which lists 72 nations.) Here we have a sign of the universality of the mission.
The Sending: 10,1-16
10,1, 9,52 and 9,2 show three groups sent out by Jesus. In 9,52 and 10,1, the messengers are preparing for the visit of Jesus. This is not stated of the Twelve in 9,2.
"The Lord" in 10,1 is the title of the risen Jesus. Its use by Luke means that he is reflecting in the Gospel about the Christian community of his own day. Thus in Matthew's mission discourse in chapter 10 of his Gospel, the mission is limited to the lost sheep of Israel. Luke in his chapter 10 is already thinking of the universal mission of the Church. Matthew's use of the saying about the need for labourers in the harvest comes before Jesus chooses and sends out the twelve. Luke has given it a wider setting.
Deuteronomy 19,15 points out the need for two or three witnesses. Pairs (such as Paul and Barnabas, Acts 13,2) also give mutual support.
Verse 3 has overtones of the messianic portrait in Is 11,6 where the wolf shall lie down with the lamb. This introduces the theme of peace in verses 5-6.
Verse 4 (9,3 is similar) brings out the single-mindedness needed for the mission. Thus Elisha's servant Gehazi is given an urgent task in 2 Kings 4,29 and is told not to stop for anyone.
Peace is stressed here in a way it is not for the mission of the Twelve. Peace, Hebrew Shalom, means reconciliation and repentance as will become evident in the next verses.
The seventy are to proclaim the kingdom or reign of God, picking up 9,62. The twelve preached good news (9,6).
Sodom (10,12) is the city which refused to repent and abused hospitality (Gen 19,1-23).
The mention of Sodom makes for a suitable lead-in to the woes which now follow in the interlude between the sending out and return of the missionaries, 10,13-16. In the earlier sending out of the Twelve, we saw that the interlude spoke of Herod wondering who was Jesus (9,7-9).The call to repentance in these which is expressed in traditional language such as "sackcloth and ashes" in verse 13 (see Jonah 3,6, for example), provides a more general missionary theme. This is followed up on the return of the disciples.
Verse 16 though forms the conclusion of the mandate. Listening is there, but rejection is emphasised.
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The Sunday Gospel
The Church is missionary by its nature and for the Church this passage above all is the missionary Gospel. It is not a mission restricted to the Twelve as in 9,1-6 but for a much larger group. This could well reflect the missionary needs of the evangelist's own community several decades later Hence the importance of the passage for the Church and the frequency with which it is read at Mass.
The reading from Isaiah certainly has peace as a link with the Gospel. Especially in the late chapters of Isaiah, it is helpful to equate Jerusalem with the Church. Thus the Church is the missionary base and to the Church will return the missionaries with the new converts to Christ and his peace.
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