Sermon from January 29, 2025

“The Lord of the Harvest”

Luke 10:1-9

Let us pray: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.” Amen. (Psalm 19:14)

Just before our text, in Luke 9:51, we hear that when “the days drew near for Him (Jesus) to be taken up” (to suffer and die and rise again for our salvation). Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem.” This is where His final saving work would take place, and He knew it. He and His 12 disciples had spent much of their time in the Northern part of Israel. Now, He wanted to go South again to Judea and the area around Jerusalem to share the Good News of peace and salvation with the people there, too, as His time of public ministry was getting shorter.

As our text begins, in Luke 10, Jesus “appointed 72 others” who had become believers in Him and “sent them on ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to go.” This was only a temporary mission trip, getting people ready for the coming of Jesus Himself, as John the Baptist had done before. Notice that these 72 were to take few provisions with them and to trust that the Lord would care for them and that the people they spoke with would help and support them. They were to take “no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals,” etc.

They were simply to proclaim God’s peace and hope to people and that “the Kingdom of God was coming near to them.” These disciples were not the important ones. They were only preparing the way for Jesus Christ, who would bring the Kingdom of God to people through Himself and His saving work.

Jesus also warned these disciples that it would not be easy work for them. He said in v.3, “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” They would be vulnerable while doing this work. Some would hear of the peace of God coming and, by the grace of God, would come to faith in Jesus. Others, however, would not receive these disciples or their message and would reject Jesus and the Kingdom of God drawing near, and would resist coming to Him as Savior, and even treat the disciples badly and persecute some.

Jesus Himself had already been rejected by people in His own town of Nazareth, who tried to throw Him off a cliff. And the religious leaders and many others were opposed to Him. And John the Baptist had predicted that he would be, we say in our Communion liturgy, the ultimate “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

We have heard, in the last few weeks, of our former President of the United States and our new President pardoning lots of people for wrongs they had been convicted of and even of wrongs they might be convicted of in the future. They were pardoned, but no one actually paid the full penalty for wrongs that were actually done.

It was different with Jesus. As the sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus suffered not only the physical pain of beatings and crucifixion on the cross. He also suffered the penalties we and the whole world deserved for our many sins.

The Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, predicted that “the Lord would lay on Him,” the coming Savior (Jesus), “the iniquity"(the sin) “of us all… He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement (the punishment) that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

The Scriptures say, “The wages of sin” (what we have earned and deserved of our sins) “is death,” physical and eternal (Romans 6:23). But Paul writes of what is of “first importance” - that “Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way, “Because of His suffering of death, by the grace of God, Jesus tasted death for everyone….” “Through death He destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” and “He made the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:9,14,17).

And in the Book of Revelation, John sees a vision of the saints, all believers in Christ, and angels, singing praises to the Risen Lord Jesus, saying, “Worthy are You, the Lamb Who was slain, for You were slain, and by Your blood, You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a Kingdom” (Revelation 3:9-12).

All this is the best news in the world. “The wages of sin is death.” We know that and see that and feel that in our sinful, troubled world. “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). It’s not like a presidential pardon where wrongs are written off, almost like a bad debt forgotten.

Jesus actually paid the penalty for all sins. He took care of them all, in our place, for us. That’s why He set His face to go to Jerusalem, to suffer and die and pay for every sin. That is why He sent the 72 disciples out to tell people of the Kingdom of God that He was bringing.

Jesus was bringing the best news in the whole world to people. But He reminds also in the text that this Good News needs continually to be shared with more and more people so that they could receive the benefit of His saving work by faith and trust in Him. Jesus describes this as a great harvest field. The harvest field is plentiful. In fact, the Scriptures say that Christ died for all, and God wants all to be saved. The Lord Himself is the Lord of the Harvest. He brings people to faith through Christ and the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God and the gift of Baptism. But He works through people to bring and share His gifts with others. Jesus asked the 72 disciples also to pray earnestly for more workers to be sent out into the harvest field, and he gave patterns for future work through what he told these workers.

Jesus sent these workers out, not alone, but two by two, so that they could encourage one another and make sure they were doing the right things together and were sharing the faith as they should. And as we read on in the Book of Acts, we see Peter taking a few others with Him the first time He visited a non-Jewish home. And we hear of other teams of two going out - Barnabas and Saul (later known as Paul), Judas (not the Judas who betrayed Jesus) and Silas, Barnabas and Mark, Paul and Silas, Paul and Timothy, Timothy and Erastus, Paul and Titus, about whom there was a focus in worship this past Sunday, and we could go on and on.

These teams often started at Jewish synagogues, but when they faced rejection and persecution, as they often did, they moved on to homes where the Peace of God was accepted by the grace of God and built churches from there, just as the 72 disciples visited homes and reached out from them. We hear again, in Acts, of the homes of Simon, a tanner; Lydia, whose heart was opened by the Lord to listen to the Word of God; Jason; Aquila and Priscilla; and on and on.

Six times we hear in the Book of Acts summary statements like, “The Word of God continued to increase” (as it was spread to more and more people), “and the number of disciples multiplied greatly,” and the Good News of Jesus Christ was shared “by witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8,
6:7, etc.).

And how wonderful that the Good News of Christ has come to our own country and this community and to this congregation, now for 175 years, and that we can know that the Words and promises of Christ are true for each one of us, too, for we have heard and believed these Words and been baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, by the grace of God. When we hear the Words of absolution, we know that Christ has already paid for every sin, and we really are forgiven, in spite of our problems and struggles at times. The same is true of Christ’s Real Presence in the Lord’s Supper when He actually comes to us, and we do receive His forgiveness and strength. We know the sure and certain promises of Christ that He will be with us always and that "the free gift of God of eternal life is already ours, in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And may we do as Jesus asks us to do in our text and pray earnestly for more laborers to work in the harvest field, more pastors and teachers and other church workers, so that more can hear the truly Good News in Christ, and may we see ways that we can be in ministry, too, in more temporary ways, as needs arise in our church and community, just as the 72 disciples did.

Let us pray: “Now may the peace of God, which passes all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds safe,” only where they can be safe, “in Christ Jesus our  Lord.” And may we reach out to others, too, that more and more may be safe in Christ, as well. Amen.