(a) Give an account of the Mission of the Seventy. (b) What two problems are encountered by evangelists today?

Answer Details

(a) The Mission of the Seventy (Luke 10:1-20)

After this the Lord appointed seventy (or seventy-two) others and sent them two by two ahead of Him into every town and place where He Himself was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest."

He sent them out with these instructions:

• They were going as lambs in the midst of wolves.
• They should carry no purse, no bag and no sandals, and greet no one on the road, so as not to be distracted or delayed.
• Whatever house they entered, they should first say, "Peace be to this house." If a son of peace was there, their peace would rest on him; if not, it would return to them.
• They should remain in the same house, eating and drinking what was provided, for the labourer deserves his wages, and not move from house to house.
• In any town that received them, they should eat what was set before them, heal the sick and say, "The kingdom of God has come near to you."
• In any town that rejected them, they should go into its streets, wipe off even its dust from their feet as a testimony against it, and declare that the kingdom of God had come near. He warned that it would be more tolerable for Sodom on the day of judgement than for that town, and pronounced woes on Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.
• He added, "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" Jesus told them He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, and that He had given them authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Yet He told them not to rejoice that the spirits were subject to them, but rather to rejoice that their names were written in heaven.

(b) Two problems encountered by evangelists today

• Rejection, persecution, insults and hostility from those they preach to.
• Financial hardship, inadequate resources and lack of support for the work of the mission.