New Testament Commentary - Luke 10

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 10 Jesus calls, empowers, and instructs the seventy—They preach and heal—Those who receive his disciples receive Christ—The Father is revealed by the Son—Jesus gives the parable of the good Samaritan.
1 AFTER these things the Lord ^aappointed other ^bseventy also^a, and sent them ^ctwo and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. 2 Therefore said he unto them, The ^aharvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.	1^a the Lord appointed other seventy also Whether this is the first seventy or an additional seventy we must presume. Let it be presumed that the twelve only were the first to teach and preach the gospel and baptise and have the power of the ministery. That is not exactly the order of the restored gospel proceedings, but perhaps this is the 'first seventy' which were so ordained and sent forth as the gospel and church of Jesus Christ began to spread and to the world. This would be Christ's finally great orgainizing of his kingdom personally, though his apostles would have that power after him. And he had organized and sent out his twelve and his seventy during this last year of his ministry, his church was began and so spread in but a couple of years of his ministry and before his own death at Jerusalem.	1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as ^alambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither ^apurse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and ^bsalute no man by the way. 5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, ^aPeace be to this house. 6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. 7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the ^alabourer is worthy of his ^bhire. Go not from house to house.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they ^areceive you, eat such things as are set before you: 9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The ^akingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, 11 Even the very ^adust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. 13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.
15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. 16 ^aHe that ^bheareth you heareth me; and he that ^cdespiseth you ^ddespiseth me; and he that ^edespiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
17 ¶ And the ^aseventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld ^aSatan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you ^apower to ^btread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means ^churt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this ^arejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather ^brejoice, because your names are ^cwritten in heaven.
21 ¶ In that hour Jesus ^arejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things ^bfrom the wise and ^cprudent, and hast revealed them unto ^dbabes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. 22 All things are ^adelivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth ^bwho the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will ^creveal him.
23 ¶ And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the ^aeyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many ^aprophets and ^bkings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
25 ¶ And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him^a, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit ^aeternal life?^b 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy ^aheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt ^alive.	25^a a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him This is no 'just by chance' occurance. It is a calculated attempt to entrap the Lord in a trap of words. Jesus, to teach the truth, would teach the great commandment to love God and the next commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself. It had be taught so in the Old Testament and it awaited upon the ready lips of the lawyer to reply as such thinking his trap to ready closure upon the words of the Lord. If the Lord aswered the question, of 'Who is my neighbor according to the mind set of many of the pious Jews, he would have to qualify that the much despised Samaritan and Gentile did not strickly qualify under Jewish traditional law to be treated as a 'neighboring Hebrew' would be treated. Yet if the Savior did so disqualify certain people from the 'inner circle' then he would be speaking against the very law of God, the He is no respector of persons. But the Lord knew well the minds and entrapments of men. Thus he turned the table and made a 'certain Samaritan' to be he who would be the 'ministering' neighbor to another. And in the depth of the parable, the Lord not only thwarted the lawyers entrapment to either alienate the Hebrews by showing respect to Samaritans or defining truth by being a respector of persons; but he also set for and proclaimed in the depth of the meaning of the parable the 'He', Jesus Christ was that 'Certain Samaritan', both symbolically and in reality, being the literal heir of Joseph and Ephraim of the Covenant of the firstborn and also of mixed heritage with those of other nationalities outside the Hebrew nationality, which made him a Samaritan himself, as it was know to the learned that any and all of the house of David must so be considered.
Parable ~ Good Samaritan
29 But he, willing to ^ajustify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my ^bneighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and ^awounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
A Certain Samaritan
33 But a certain ^aSamaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had ^bcompassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took ^acare of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the ^ahost, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.	A Certain Samaritan The depth of meaning in this single parable is universal and eternal. Both symbolically and in every since in reality, that 'Certain Samaritan' is Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah. He who comes to our aid and delivers us from the beating of this world is Jesus Christ. He binds up our wounds and heals our infirmities. And he is literally that very particular and 'certain' Samaritan. He is the rightful heir of Ephraim whose ancestry consists of those who are not Israelite in nationality, from Ruth to Bathsheba the heir of Ephriam has mixed in ancestry with those of other nations. He is indeed a Samaritan in the traditional since of the word. The Pharasees said well that he was a Samaritan, but they blamshemed in that he is not possessed of a devil, being God, the Son of God.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Martha, Martha
38 ¶ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named ^aMartha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art ^acareful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath ^achosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.