The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages he planned to visit.
These were his instructions to them: "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields.
Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.
Don't take along any money, or a traveler's bag, or even an extra pair of sandals. And don't stop to greet anyone on the road.
"Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing.
If those who live there are worthy, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you.
When you enter a town, don't move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide you. Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.
"If a town welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you
and heal the sick. As you heal them, say, 'The Kingdom of God is near you now.'
But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say,
'We wipe the dust of your town from our feet as a public announcement of your doom. And don't forget the Kingdom of God is near!'
The truth is, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on the judgment day.
"What horrors await you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago, clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.
Yes, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the judgment day than you.
And you people of Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to the place of the dead. "
Then he said to the disciples, "Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God who sent me."
When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, "Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!"
"Yes," he told them, "I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning!
And I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.
But don't rejoice just because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered as citizens of heaven."
Then Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
"My Father has given me authority over everything. No one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, "How privileged you are to see what you have seen.
I tell you, many prophets and kings have longed to see and hear what you have seen and heard, but they could not."
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"
Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?"
The man answered, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied with an illustration: "A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
"By chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.
A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
"Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity.
Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.
The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. 'If his bill runs higher than that,' he said, 'I'll pay the difference the next time I am here.'
"Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked.
The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."
As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home.
Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught.
But Martha was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me."
But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details!
There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it--and I won't take it away from her."