“A Great Commission with a Great Twist”
Original sermon given on Sunday, July 6, 2025 written and delivered by Pastor Jeff Leininger at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Watch the sermon live.
“A Great Commission with a Great Twist”
Luke 10.1-11, 16-20
Luke 10.1-11, 16-20
In the name of the living God and the risen Christ. Amen.
Our Lord has previously sent the 12 among the 12 tribes of Israel — to his own Jewish people — but now he commissions the 70 for an even greater mission. St. Luke’s gospel and its follow up, the book of Acts, emphasize the universality of the gospel message — it is to all the nations. Seventy (indeed 72 in some manuscripts) is a number that in the Old Testament represented all the nations of the earth (you hear 70, you think global). That’s why when they translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, the legend is that they used seventy scholars for the job. That’s why they call it the Septuagint (literally, 70).
The message of Jesus would now extend beyond just those who crossed the Red Sea at the Exodus, received the Law at Mt. Sinai, and were led to the promised land. Now through the message and ministry of these 70, all nations would be given victory over death and the devil, would have the New Law written on their hearts, and would be led to an eternal promised land.
But this size-70 mission comes also with a great warning. Jesus sends them out as sheep among wolves. There will be opposition. There will be resistance. Not all will hear and receive: “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me,” Jesus said.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when someone tells me I’m going out amongst the wolves and there’s going to be resistance, I’m thinking I’ll bring as much equipment as possible. Isn’t it strange how Jesus trims them all down to practically nothing? No money, no backpack, no extra kit, no hiking boots or combat boots. Don’t even stop for any chit-chat along the way. This is because of the urgency of the mission and its provision. The Lord will take care of them. All they need is him. He just needs them to go. Now. No over-planning, over-preparing. No fear. It’s his mission, he will provide, and it begins now.
And we’re told that this size-70 mission met with amazing success. (Not every strategic plan works out this well, right?) Demons quake before them; miraculous preservation accompanies them; an abundant harvest is given them because of the name of Jesus. You get the impression that they went out because of the command of Christ (Jesus said “go”), but Jesus’ mission brought results that they couldn’t have imagined — and it filled them with wonder and joy.
So, this is all pretty amazing — a size-70 mission of great urgency, of great provision, of great power — a mission into which we are all called as representatives of Jesus, filled with his Spirit, to obey even if we don’t know what results will follow.
But then there’s a great twist. It’s a great commission with a great twist. When they come to him rejoicing that even the demons submit to them in his name, Christ responds, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” It’s a gentle reminder, or perhaps even a rebuke, of what it’s all about in the end. The biggest miracle of all was their own salvation — that God loved them and saved them and had written their names in the book of life. In short, amid all the incredible things you will behold and experience as you do the work of God on earth, never lose sight of the fact that the gospel is for you too.
You see, the joy of the gospel cannot be taken from us, even when we fail at work, at ministry, at life. And the gospel also remains our greatest joy even when we do succeed at work, at ministry, at life. This great twist, this surprising joy is for you and me today, regardless of our failures or successes. The Kingdom of God is at hand this morning too. It is here. He is here. The time is now. It matters not whether you are Jew or Gentile, pious or a scoundrel, wealthy or poor, educated or ignorant. The one and only factor determining our life’s worth and our eternal destiny is our Lord’s work for us — his mission to us — at the cross.
It’s a size-70 mission, friends. It has his promise and his provision. He will bless it in amazing ways. But the most amazing thing about it is that it will always be for you.
Come soon Lord Jesus. Amen.