Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way. ( Lk 10,4)
Jesus sending out seventy (two) for a mission.
This is an added mission to the twelve who were sent earlier.
It is because the harvest is plenty.
But why these restrictions?
Why no money, no bag, no sandals etc?
Only when one enters the temple he is asked
to remove his sandals and not to carry any bag with him
and money has no purpose (value) in the temple.
One goes to the temple only to meet the Lord and
to be with him. All the other material things are of
no use in the temple.
So by making these restrictions Jesus is telling
his disciples that the mission they are undertaking is
as good as entering the temple.
They should have no material intentions in their
ministry. Purely God centered.
Why does he say not to greet anyone on the way?
If you read 2Kings 4,29, the Prophet Elisha tells his servant thus:
"Gird your loins," Elisha said to Gehazi, "take my staff with you
and be off; if you meet anyone, do not greet him,
and if anyone greets you, do not answer.
Lay my staff upon the boy."
He is asked not to greet anyone because he is on a
life saving mission. There is no time to exchange pleasantries.
No distractions, no wasting of time.
So Jesus by sending the seventy on a mission says that
mission is like worship; it is divinely; no materialism involved.
It is also a life saving mission and hence no time to waste.
