Rejecting or Responding Luke 10:13-24 Two people taking their shoes off by the side of the road and shaking the dust off them would have been understood by the people then as it is today. That is evidence that they refused the teaching they had heard and wanted nothing to do with the kingdom of God near them. Refusing the messenger is the same as rejecting the message and the One who sent it. It would have been startling to those sent out to hear from the Lord Jesus Christ that what they were doing and telling the people had such eternal consequences. Those who heard and responded to the message given were blessed eternally. Those who rejected the message rejected the Lord and were eternally damned because of their own choice. The Lord Jesus named three cities that His gracious healing ministry and teaching had favored. They were told how they could enter God's kingdom, but they rejected Him. They were in a worse spiritual condition, and their eternal future would be worse than wicked cities in a different country they had looked down on and despised.
When we know the importance of what we do and the consequences of those who either accept or reject our message, an urgency motivates us to keep pressing despite obstacles. We need to remember that the people to whom we speak will be in heaven or hell after this life is over. Whether they respond in faith to or reject the Gospel message, the Lord is involved and knows their decision. It is a solemn and serious matter when we present the truth of God. When it is accepted in all its fullness, many blessings accompany it. If it is rejected, there are awful, fatal, and eternal consequences that cannot be avoided. We must not compromise nor water down the truth of God. We must also present it in a way that is consistent with its importance.
Those seventy people rejoiced when they returned to report their work to the Lord. It is a great privilege to be part of a high-stakes work, and it sobers us to realize that there are eternal consequences that other people accept because of what we tell them. The Lord knew there would be victory over Satan, and He was willing to give authority to those people to overcome the enemy's power. We, like them, should not find joy in what we do for God but in what He does for us and is willing to do through us. Knowing our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life is the real cause of our joy.
We have nothing to glory in of ourselves because, at best, “we are unprofitable servants.” However, even though we are like little children before God, He has allowed us to enter a limited knowledge of divine truth and a measure of participation in His work. What a privilege it is to have fellowship with God and share in the joy and glory He receives when people respond in faith to the Gospel and believe in Him. Our Lord Jesus was full of joy at what the Father did in those who obeyed and served Him with their hearts.
There are three truths about Himself He passed on to His disciples. The first is that the Father has given everything to the Son. Second, nobody really knows who the Son is except those to whom the Father reveals Him. This happens through the word of God and the Spirit of God. Thirdly, only the Son can reveal the Father to those who know Him. Those people in those days had a special blessing: they could see the One, whom many before and after could not see. Yet, there is a greater blessing for those who have not seen Him and yet believe in Him. We have heard through His word who He is and what He has done and will do in the future. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Because of what we have heard and know to be true, we have put our faith in Him personally and live daily by faith in Him. “The just shall live by faith.”