Luke 10:1-3 - What On Earth Am I Here For?

As we begin this study in Luke 10, I want to encourage you to take the time to read the entire chapter. There are at least three scenes in Luke 10 that illustrate the threefold ministry of every Christian believer, and they answer the question, “What on earth am I here for?” Why didn’t the Lord just take us on to heaven as soon as we got saved? Since I am left here on earth in this world, what should I be doing a believer, as a follower of Jesus Christ?   In the first scene in Luke 10:1-24, Jesus is sending out the seventy. First, from this we learn that we are the Lord's ambassadors, sent to represent Him in this world. The Apostle Paul spells this out very clearly in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”   Wow!!!! What an honor to be appointed and called to be an ambassador for Christ and His kingdom on earth! But also, what a tremendous responsibility that we have to actually stand in Christ’s stead and plead with those around us to find peace with God, and be reconciled to Him, through the death of His Son Jesus Christ!   Secondly, in the next scene in Luke 10:25-37, we are given a lesson on what it means to be a neighbor with the story of the “Good Samaritan”. As neighbors we should be looking for opportunities to show mercy to those in need around us in the name of Jesus Christ!   Finally, in the last scene in Luke 10:38-42, we find at the heart of our ministry there should be devotion to Jesus Christ. We must be worshipers, who take the time to sit at His feet like Mary, listening to His Word and communing with Him! Whether we are in the harvest field, on the highway, or in the home, our highest privilege and our greatest joy is to do the will of God.   As you begin reading Luke 10 you can’t help but notice that it sounds very familiar to the first verses in Luke 9. But this event should not be confused with the sending out of the Twelve (Matthew 10; Luke 9:1-11). There are similarities in the charges given, but this is to be expected since both groups were sent by the same Master to do the same basic job. The 12 Apostles ministered throughout Galilee, but these men were sent into Judea, and the men in this chapter are not called Apostles. They were anonymous disciples.   It is also interesting that this event is recorded only by Luke, and why did Jesus select seventy men instead of some other number?  We can’t say for sure, but just as the Twelve were associated in number with the twelve sons of Jacob and the twelve tribes of Israel, so the Seventy may be associated with the seventy nations listed in Genesis 10. Luke's emphasis is on the universality of the Gospel message, so it seems reasonable that he would be led by the Holy Spirit to include this event. It was a symbolic way of saying, "Jesus wants the message spread to all nations."   So, what on earth are we here for? We are ambassadors for Christ, loving our neighbors, and living a life of worship and devotion to Him! Are you fulfilling this today?   God bless!