Delegated Authority

Has God ever asked you to do something for Him that didn’t seem exactly like the way you would want it? Welcome to being a disciple.

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. 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.¹

‘After this’ is the previous chapter where Jesus fed the 5,000, was confessed by Peter as the Christ, had the moment when He was encouraged not to be true to the purposes of God, reminded the disciples of the cost of following Him, seen by three disciples Transfigured and acknowledged by the LORD as His Chosen One worthy of being listened to, and then again emphasizes the cost of the disciples ‘putting their hand to the plow to do what is fit for the Kingdom of God.’ Then, the ‘after this’ of sending out the seventy-two disciples into the harvest field to prepare the way before Jesus’s ministry and message.

Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.²  

Sounds like we are going out unprepared, that there should be more consideration for our well-being and provision but Jesus is indicating His disciples are to go in the Way He is going, that they are to serve the LORD the same Way He serves God, that they are to be agents in the image of God:

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 
And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” ³

‘Appointed,’ ‘sent,’ ‘given authority’—these are not only learners but delegates representing the LORD! While they may see things that impress in the natural, it is the very fact that they are servants of the LORD that is significant. ‘Don’t rejoice in what you can do but rejoice in your relationship with the One who empowers you to life in Him.’ What they have seen is only the beginning of what God desires to do and which will be revealed by Him.

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” ⁴

Just as ‘All things have been handed over to Me by my Father’ so I am delegating you disciples to use this same Authority in the Name of the LORD, according to His desires and not your own.

Then there is the legalist in the crowd that misses the point of ministering in the image of Jesus, laying down his ‘want-to’s’ to serve beyond himself. Jesus answers the man who seeks to justify himself without repentance and change by giving the parable of the Good Samaritan. First a Jew traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho is robbed, beaten and left alongside the road. A priest passed by distancing himself to remain ceremonially clean, then another holy servant avoids the plundered man; finally a Samaritan–an outcast to Jews–notices, stops, renders aid, takes to lodging, provides for care with the promise of covering expenses. Jesus finishes the parable with the challenge, “Which proved to be a neighbor to the robbed man?” ⁵

Jesus concludes this series of teaching with the “You go, and do likewise” which sums up the mission of a true disciple in Jesus. What about us—do we see anyone beat up and plundered by our world, abused, mistreated, left alone? What would Jesus do?