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)
People do not choose Jesus but Jesus chooses and it is he who appoints the disciples. They are not just followers of him in the sense of going behind him but rather they are also asked to go ahead of him to prepare for his coming. So the disciples in a sense are to be like John the Baptist. They have to prepare the people and get them ready to receive Jesus as he comes with the kingdom.
The disciples have to realize that there awaits a lot of work for them. In fact they have more work than they could do. This is the reason that they are asked to pray for more workers in the vineyard of the lord. Working for the kingdom is demanding and it implies a lot of work. There is a need for greater number of workers. The disciples are asked to pray for, ask for and probably work for more labourers.
Jesus gives his disciples a list of things they ought to do. It is a code of conduct as they go about with the work of preparation. Jesus also gives formation to his disciples. He tells them what to do and what not to do. He forms them in the mission. Formation is given as they go about with the work of the kingdom.
