The Book of Luke

Luke 10 opens with this famous and very practical prayer, “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.” Jesus is commissioning these followers to go two-by-two ahead of Him to share the good news of God. He knew His time on Earth was coming to an end and could see just how ready the people were to receive salvation. These seventy-two followers would have understood his reference of a farmer looking out across this field, seeing it ripe for the harvest but not having enough workers. Crops that were not harvested, would eventually die. He is calling them, and us to pray and go. He says, “pray earnestly to  the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers…”. If we are going to live our lives in such a way as to see the Lord move, our hearts must first move in prayer for those who have not yet heard the good news.

Jesus makes no promise that this task will be easy. He tells them to take the bare minimum of supplies and be dependent upon other people for housing and food. Next, He makes an epic statement in verses 8-9, “ Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.  Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ Wow.  When we walk in obedience to the Lord and share in spreading and saying out loud the good news of Jesus, we can rest in the assurance that whether people accept it or not, the kingdom of God has come near.

Read Luke 10 and answer the reflection questions to help you process the passage.