The Good Samaritan
After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit. Luke 10:1 · Berean Standard Bible
Jesus appointed seventy-two others and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every town and place He planned to visit. The mission was growing beyond the inner circle.
The Twelve were not enough. Jesus needed more workers and He had been preparing them. This is a picture of how God's mission always expands: He involves more and more people in the work.
Luke describes Jesus' expanded commissioning.
Jesus was scaling up. Seventy-two new missionaries, sent in pairs, fanning out across the region to prepare the way. The mission was bigger than twelve people could handle.
The Lord appoints hebdomēkonta duo ('seventy-two') others and sends them ana duo ('two by two') ahead of Himself to every polin kai topon ('city and place') He intended to visit. The number seventy-two may correspond to the nations listed in Genesis 10 (LXX), symbolizing a universal mission.
This commissioning, unique to Luke, expands beyond the Twelve to a larger group, foreshadowing the broader mission of Acts. The pairing in twos follows Jewish legal requirements for valid testimony (Deuteronomy 19:15) and provides mutual support.
Luke narrates Jesus' commissioning of a larger group of disciples.
Jesus expanded His mission force by appointing seventy-two additional disciples, sending them in pairs ahead of Him to every town and place on His itinerary, signaling that the kingdom's work required far more than twelve workers.
1After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit.
2And He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.
3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
Read all of Luke 10 — A lawyer asks how to inherit eternal life and gets an answer he doesn't expect. The hero of the story is the one everyone despises.
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