Breaking the Word

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)  

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." He replied to him, "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?" Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, 'What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?' And he said, 'This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!" But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." (Lk 12:13-21)

Jesus refuses to be a judge between brothers. Brothers are fighting for their right to share of property. Only people of greed fight for property and they go to judges to demand for shares. Jesus also says that life does not consist in possessions. Right from day one Jesus was very sure of his moves. God was everything for him and Godly kingdom.

Parable also communicates the same message. Man might think that all what he has (possesses) will make him happy and live long. But life is not in his control. There is someone beyond him and his planning. It is God who controls the events of life. Man cannot plan for his life. Man may have everything he wants but to plan for the future is not in his hands. He has to fall into the plan of God.

The rich man is not the one who possesses lots of things on this earth. Richness consists in possessing things of God. Jesus was sure of this and he continued to preach on this. He lived his life also accordingly. We are in this world but we do not belong to this world. We are all creatures of God and we are to return to God. Only those who are aware of this and live accordingly are truly rich.