The narrative in Luke 10:1-12 speaks of the Seventy that Jesus sends to go ahead of him in the towns and places he intends to visit. It is a group distinct from the Twelve, and the command given to them is longer than what was given to the Twelve (Compare with Luke 9:1-6). Verses 10:2-12 shares similarities with Matthew 9:37-38;10:7-16.
The sending of the Seventy (Two) can be found in Luke alone. As in the previous case of the Ten Leper, Luke makes use of recollections of Jesus sending out emissaries or advance parties as a narrative framework within which he locates the theological basis of his experience of the vibrant missionary Church during his time (The letters of Paul and Acts witness to the exuberance and vivaciousness of Christian missionary activities). The number Seventy (Two) is more theological rather than historical. The number corresponds to the number of nations as found in Genesis 10:2-32
[Note: The number varies: there are seventy in the Massoretic, but seventy-two in the LXX. This fluctuation is also seen in the manuscript tradition in this passage of Luke. Even an exegete has observed that the canons of Textual Criticism cannot be applied with success to this problem of Seventy/Seventy-Two).
Perhaps even the Q sayings that Luke has put together in this composition are the same ones that were carried by the early missionaries in their forays around and across Palestine and the Mediterranean. As appearing in Luke, the sayings (vv. 2-12) look like guidelines or short directives for action:
10:2 : The Saying About The Harvest.
10:3: Saying About Lambs Sent Among Wolves
10:4: What Not To Bring; Decorum On The Way
10:5-11: What To Do When Welcomed Or Not Welcomed
10:12: The Fate Of Those Who Would Refuse.
The first guideline is about prayer with a specific content: that the Master of the Vineyard send more laborers for the harvest. "Harvest" points to the coming of the Lord who will gather the nations under the one rule of God. This eschatological nuance is strongly confirmed by "on that day" in verse 12 and the sayings in verses 13-15 which fit seamlessly with this current section.
The second guideline (v. 3) is more a reminder about the difficulty of the missions. The missionary will be like a lamb before a pack of wolves. Perhaps this passage is best read in conjunction with texts like 2 Cor. 11:24-28:
Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.
The third guideline resembles the command given to the Twelve except for the last part about not greeting anyone on the road. The missionary must not tarry along the way; he must head to his destination straightaway. The fourth is again a more detailed prescription (almost rubrical) for the way one should behave when welcomed in a house. The command: "Do not go from house to house" does not have an equivalent in Matthew. The fate of the town that does not welcome the missionary will be worse than what befell Sodom. And the justification is given in a subsequent passage: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." (v. 16) Finally, the Seventy (Two) are sent in pairs because apart from the psychological support that can be given by another, a testimony must be corroborated by another.
