(Text and Audio)
April 6th, 2025
Disciples are Dependent
Luke 9:1-6; 10:1-12; Matthew 10
Luke 10:1–12 (ESV)
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’
6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.
7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.
8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.
9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
Review:
Conversion
Following Jesus begins at conversion – no conversion, then no discipleship.
Devotion: (The new Christians devoted themselves to:)
Learn
Fellowship
Worship
Serve
Go
Fellowship – Partnership in the community of a local church
Following Jesus is a devotion to his people.
Introduction:
We have a lot of money, talent, knowledge, experience, and wisdom.
What would hinder us from conquering the world, or at least Ashland County, for Christ?
Or better yet,
Why did Jesus send his disciples out with nothing?
Part 1
Jesus sent his disciples out with nothing (including extra underwear) to teach them one of the most important factors in discipleship.
Christians must be depend on the grace of God.
Dependence is demonstrated in the first instruction – Pray.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Prayer has a more important goal for you and I than getting stuff.
It teaches us to rely on God. It aligns the mind on dependance.
Remember, it is God adding to his church. He is the Lord of the harvest.
It is vital to start ministry work (let alone each day of your life) with an open acknowledgment of dependence on God – by way of prayer.
And Jesus goes on with more instruction. He is going to teach them that they are defenseless.
“Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”
This might not seem so frightening as we know it was in the life and death of the Apostles.
But imagine we put a sweatshirt on Dan or Andy and on that sweatshirt it reads in Farsi, Jesus is both Savior and God. Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Then we send them to Iran to walk the streets in the capital.
If you can imagine that, then you can see the wolves.
There’s nothing quite like defenselessness and vulnerability to know how dependent you are, on the infinitely powerful God.
Knowing that the world hates God and anyone bringing a message from him would probably be enough to make all of us assume a very dependent attitude. After all, just picture Dan or Andy with that sweatshirt in Iran.
But that’s not where Jesus stops instructing them. He tells them more.
“Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.”
He wants them with empty-handed. He wants them fully dependent on the Father to supply their resources while on this ministry trip.
The text is not a unilateral instruction for all Christians in all times and locations to use literally in all ministry work.
It was a lesson for the disciples. It was preparation for ministry work when Jesus was gone.
It is a lesson for us today. We have no resources that make ministry possible. Or maybe better said, we do not need our resources to do ministry. God his the great provider and we are dependent on him. Yes those resources in our hands are for ministry, but never lose sight that all things are from the Father. He supplied what you and I have. Give thanks with a grateful heart.
Wait, there’s one more thing.
Remember those wolves?
Some of those wolves will never ever repent. They will never ever love God. They will hate him and hate you.
That might trouble your heart.
The treatment we might receive will likely lead to anger.
Anger is the result of moral wrongs. You’ll want that stopped.
Unfortunately you will have no power to stop it. The anger in your heart might roll into bitterness. It could become a debilitating sin.
What are you going to do about it?
Jesus has something to say about it.
“10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”
Jesus prepares his disciples for the many injustices they will experience in this life for his name’s sake.
The Disciples did not have to carry the burden in their hearts. They did not have to fill up the cup of wrath.
They and you and I are free to love.
God is the righteous judge. “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?”
Jesus contrasts the sin of rejecting the gospel to the sin of Sodom. It is a greater crime against God, to reject his rescue than it was for all the perversions of Sodom.
This is a sobering truth. Handle it carefully. Remember from where you came.
We were all sinners rebelling against God, and we loved it.
But God was rich in mercy. He rescued us from ourselves. He stopped our willful rejection of him. He found us and drew us to himself.
We must, with compassion, share God’s love and gospel. We must leave the vengeance to God. Either the rebel sinners will pay for their crimes through all eternity, or Jesus will pay for all of it himself.
We can depend on the Righteous Judge to do right. Let go of the temptation to sin by anger and bitterness.
So then, why did Jesus send out his disciples with empty hands?
Jesus sent out his disciples with no resources, so that they would learn to depend on him.
Part 2
I want to close with this illustration by way of the Apostle Paul and his personal lesson about dependence. Though we’ve had great instruction from Christ, this might be the most relevant to us.
Acts 9:19–22 (ESV)
19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.
20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”
22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
Acts 9:23–25 (ESV)
23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him,
25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV)
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
The lesson is this. To be a faithful Christian, we must be dependent on God. He alone will have the glory. No one will boast about anything in his presence. Q&A