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LUKE 10:1-24
Lesson #30
THE LORD OF THE HARVEST

• Memory verse: 1Cor 2:7
• After training the disciples and our weeks of discussing the different aspects of Jesus’ discipleship plan covered in Luke 9 (in Lessons 27, 28, and 29), we come to chapter 10.
• In Luke 10 Jesus sends out a group of 70 disciples to begin ministry.
  • Remember that Jesus sent out the 12 disciples to minister in power and authority at the beginning of Luke 9.
  • Now he sends out 70 disciples to prepare the way for Him as He walks toward Jerusalem.
• Read Luk 10:1-20 Sending out 70 disciples before judgment comes
  • In the same way that Jesus sent out the 12 in Luke 9, He sends out the 70 in Luke 10.
    • They are given the same spiritual power and authority as the 12 disciples.
      • The power to heal the sick. (9)
      • The power over demons. (17)
    • They are told to take nothing with them in the way of physical comforts as we saw with the 12 that Jesus sent out in Luk 9.
  • Why don’t we know more about these 70 disciples?
    • Only the Gospel of Luke tells us about these 70 disciples.
    • Their walk with the Lord as disciples was temporary as Jesus was already headed for the crucifixion.
    • In the beginning of the book of Acts, that tells us about the beginning of the early-church movement, we find 120 believers in the upper room waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
      • Where did the 120 believers come from?
      • Probably 70 of them were from this group of 70 disciples.
  • ^“ Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” (2)
    • What did Jesus mean by this verse?
    • Usually when the Bible speaks about “harvest” it is a word picture for judgment. (Isa 17:11 Jer 51:33 Joel 3:13 Mat 13:38-42 Rev 14:15)
      • If Jesus is talking about judgment with this verse, to which judgment does this verse refer?
        • Beginning in the book of Genesis, God marks dispensations of time by establishing a covenant with man that had certain conditions. For each dispensation and each covenant God tested their faith. Would they be obedient to God or not?
        • When man failed to live up to the conditions that God established in a covenant, God pronounced judgment.
        • Then God would begin again with a new covenant, a new test of faith, and a new judgment.
        • In the Bible there are 7 dispensations of time and various covenants.

THE SEVEN DISPENSATIONS OF TIME AND THEIR COVENANTS

TYPE OF DISPEN-SATION	AGE	COVENANT	INCLUSIVE SCRIPTURE
Law	#1 The Age of Simplicity	The Covenant of Eden Gen 1:28-29 Gen 2:15-19	Gen 1:28-Gen 3:23
Grace	#2 The Age of Conscience	The Covenant with Adam Gen 3:14-21	Gen 3:24-Gen 8:19
Law	#3 The Age of Self-government	The Covenant with Noah Gen 8:21-22 Gen 9:1-17	Gen 8:26-Gen 11:9
Grace	#4 The Age of Promise	The Covenant with Abraham Gen 12:2-3,7 Gen 13:15-17 Gen 15:1, 5-6, 18 Gen 17:1-11 Gen 22:17-18	Gen 12:1-Exo 14:31
Law	#5 The Age of Law	The Covenant with Moses Exo 19-31The Covenant about the Land Deu 30:1-9 The Covenant with David 2Sam 7:13-16	Exo 19:1-Joh 19:30
Grace	#6 The Age of Grace	The New Covenant Heb 8:7-10	Act 2:1-Rev 3:22
Law	#7 The Age of Messiah	The Sermon on the Mount Mat 5-7	Rev 20:4-5

• • • • At the time when Jesus spoke this verse about harvest, He was living in #5, the Age of Law governed by the Law of Moses. Therefore, He was speaking about the judgment on His dispensation of time.
        • That dispensation of time was ending with the crucifixion of Christ.
        • The test was this: Would the people believe in Jesus Christ as God in the flesh?
        • The Jewish people as a whole did not believe in Jesus which brought about a judgment.
        • The judgment that came was in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, the nation of Israel, the temple the animal sacrifice, and the Jewish priesthood.
      • How do we know Jesus was referring to judgment with this verse about the harvest?
        • Notice the theme in verses 12 and 13 where Jesus refers to judgment.

“But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.” (12)

The city that rejects the gospel will suffer a greater judgment than the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

“Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.” (13)

Jesus mentions Gentile as well as Jewish cities.

• • • • • The rejection of the believers that Jesus sent out is the same thing as rejecting Christ.

We have seen that believers identify themselves with Christ.

Now we see that Christ identifies himself with us.

• • • • • Therefore, we can see that the test of faith at the end of the age was whether or not people would either receive Christ or reject Him.
    • Often this verse is used to encourage evangelism and service to Christ.
      • Because there is always a harvest (or judgment) to come where many people will be tested as to what they believe, there is always a need for believers to sow the seed of the gospel.
        • Believers are to be the laborers that plant and water the seed of the gospel of the Word of God.
        • The final harvest is reaped by the angels.
      • Read Rev 14:14-20
  • The reaction of the 70 disciples that returned from their missionary journey
    • The spiritual success was so great that pride entered into the disciples’ reaction that even demons obeyed their commands.
      • Read Psa 91:13
      • This is a prophecy that Jesus and His believers would have power over Satan and all the powers of Satanic activity represented symbolically by “serpents” and “scorpions”. (19)
    • Jesus reprimanded them to keep a balanced perspective in ministry. What is a balanced perspective?
      • It is not how many people get healed or how many demons get cast out when a believer demands it.
      • It is whether or not a person’s name is written in the Lamb’s book of life so that he has salvation for eternity.
  • “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” (18)
    • The fall of Satan from heaven occurred before the creation of Gen 1.
    • Read Isa 14:12 (Eze 28:11-19)
    • Jesus as the second member of the Holy Trinity was present from the foundation of the world and witnessed the fall of the angel Lucifer that came to be called Satan after he appears in the Garden of Eden.
• Read Luk 10:21-24 The mysteries of the kingdom
  • God has chosen to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom to “babes”. (21)
    • God reveals His mysteries to believers that have the right heart attitude:
      • An attitude of humility.
      • An attitude of openness to God.
      • An attitude to use what God shows you for His glory.
    • Jesus knows the true character of God the Father, and God knows the true identity of Jesus the Son.
  • Jesus Christ reveals these mysteries of the kingdom to His believers. (22)
    • The word “mystery” in the Bible is a special word with a special meaning.
      • The word “mystery” means = a specific truth revealed only in the New Testament.
      • This truth may be hinted at, but is never revealed in the Old Testament.
    • Paul throughout his New Testament writings gives us eleven of these New Testament mysteries:

The Mystery Revealed	The Explanation of the Mystery	Scripture
=1= The Mystery of the Kingdom of God	There are two kingdoms at work in this world, the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God. They are opposed to each other. The kingdom of God exists in heaven, in the hearts of believers, and will exist on earth for 1000 years, and in eternity future.	Mat 13:11 Mar 4:11 Luk 8:10
=2= The Mystery of Israel’s Blindness	Because of Israel’s rejection of Christ, God has placed on them spiritual blindness that will endure until the second coming of Christ when all Jews finally accept Jesus Christ as their savior.	2Cor 3 Rom 11:25
=3= The Mystery of Iniquity (Sin)	The mystery is that God permits sin to exist in this world even though He is all powerful and could destroy all sin and all sinners in a heartbeat, but He does not. Instead he will permit iniquity in this world for His purposes.	2The 2:7 Mat 13:33
=4= The Mystery of Babylon	The false world religious system called Babylon has existed from the time of Genesis and has endured through the ages. It will finally be manifested in the Tribulation period as a religious system that controls the world.	Rev 17-18
=5= The Mystery of the Rapture of the Church	At some point in time Jesus Christ will descend from heaven to gather all believers in Jesus Christ and to remove them from this world.	1The 4:13-18 1Cor 15:51-52
=6= The Mystery of the Church as one Body of Believers	God’s plan is that Jews and Gentiles be one universal church in Jesus Christ.	Eph 3:1-11 Eph 6:19 Gal 4:3
=7= The Mystery of the Church as the Bride of Christ	God’s church on earth is a mixed group of born-again believers, who live in all levels of spiritual immaturity and struggle, will be a spotless bride of purity and perfection at the second coming of Christ.	Eph 5:28-32
=8= The Mystery of the 7 Stars in Christ’s Right Hand	The Lord Jesus Christ holds the pastors of His church in His hand. He controls them and works through them.	Rev 1:20
=9= The Mystery of Christ Living in Us	When a person receives Jesus Christ in his heart, he receives the indwelling Holy Trinity.	Gal 2:20 Col 1:26-27
=10= The Mystery of Christ, the Fullness of the Godhead Bodily	Jesus Christ, during his 33 ½ years on earth, contained the presence of the Holy Trinity of God living in a human body.	Col 2:2,9 1Cor 2:7
=11= The Mystery of God’s Likeness Restored to Man in Christ	The born-again experience in Jesus Christ gives man the possibility of becoming like Christ.	1Tim 3:16

Homework
Luke 10:25-42

• Application of Luk 10:1-24
  • Because a harvest of judgment is coming upon this world at the end of the church age, what is it you as a believer should be doing?
  • How faithful are you in fulfilling your part as a disciple of Christ?
• Preparation for Luk 10:25-42
  • Read Luk 10:25-42
    • What is wrong with the lawyer’s question in verse 25?
    • What did Jesus’ answer mean in verse 28?
    • What should the lawyer have asked?
    • What is the relationship between the parable of the Good Samaritan and the situation between Mary and Martha? (38-42)
• Memory Verse: Rom 10:9