After this the Lord appointed seventy (-two) others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.' (Lk 10:1-9)
Jesus sent seventy (two) followers ahead of him to prepare for his arrival. He was preaching the kingdom and the disciples were sent ahead to prepare for the visit of the master. One way of preparing is to pray for the labourers of the kingdom. Disciples should be aware that they are sent only to prepare and to pray for the arrival of the master.
They were not supposed to carry money, bags, no sandals and they should not greet anyone on the way. All these seem to be strange. But only those who enter into the temple do no carry bags and do not put on sandals and so on. So their journey should be as if they were entering the temple. Their ministry should be as if they were doing their worship.
They were asked to communicate only peace as they go around. If they were of men of peace then they should continue to serve them. So peace was one of the main requirements for the ministry. If the people were not in line with this then the ministry would be ineffective. If people have no mind for peace then the disciples were asked to shake off the dust of their feet. This would imply that they have nothing to do with them (because they were not of the same making – out of dust)
