But one thing is needful. Jesus had been saying to this kindly but over-fussy friend, "Are you not too anxious about these household cares of yours?" and then he adds, "See, only one thing is really needful." Now, what is the exact meaning of these last words? Some expositors have taken the expression to mean "a single dish is sufficient" for my entertainment; so much careful, anxious thought is thrown away. A curious variation in the reading occurs here in some, though not in all the oldest, authorities. It seems as though some of the early copyists of the text of the Gospel were wishful to make the words, which they possibly understood as a lesson of the Master's on simplicity of food, clearer and more emphatic. This other reading is, "There is need of few things, or of one only." In other words, "Few things are enough for me and my friends to sit down to, or even one dish only." The teaching contained in Luke 10:7 gives a little colour to this quaint interpretation of the Master's words here, which sees in them a general warning against taking thought for the pleasures of the table. But, on the whole, the old reading contained in the received text is preferable, and the old interpretation, too, viz. that the true life of man needs but one thing, or, if the other reading be adopted, needs but few things. If we must specify the one, we would call it" love," or "charity." So John, we know, in his old days, summed up all man's duties in this "love." If, on the other hand, we are asked to name the few, then we would add to love, faith and hope. The parable of the "good Samaritan," that practical lesson of the love or charity the Master was alluding to, had just been spoken; it was Still, we may reverently assume, fresh in the Divine Teacher's mind. And Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. And Mary, his dear Bethany friend, had made her happy choice of the one thing, that love or charity which never fails; or, perchance, had made her choice of the few things needful (if we prefer the longer reading of those old manuscripts we have spoken of)—the few things would then mean that faith, hope, and charity which abide both now and in the ages of ages yet to come!
HOMILETICS
The mission of the twelve, and the mission of the seventy.
The differences between the two missions can be easily distinguished. The scene of the mission related in the ninth chapter is Northern Galilee; the scene of the mission related in the tenth chapter is Southern Galilee. The one speaks of a power delegated to the twelve apostles; the other, of an office and of gifts delegated to seventy—"other seventy also"—the two numbers of completeness, seven and ten multiplied. And these seventy are sent before the Lord's face, while the twelve are kept near to his Person. The one, although actually exercised for only a short time, is the sign of a work which, in its design and consequences, is coextensive with the world and its ages; the other refers to a merely temporary work—to objects local and immediate. But, different as the two missions are, they are connected in this homily because they set before us the great principles and features of Christian work in every time. The instructions in the ninth and tenth chapters are similar; and this, as we may conclude, because the instructions contain hints and suggestions to be embodied in ministries and services for Christ. No portion of the evangelical narrative more deserves to be attentively considered in connection with all that the hand of love finds to do. Let us regard some of its more salient features.
I. Observe, first, THE EVER-ABIDING-CHARACTER OF TRUE CHRISTIAN WORK. Luke 9:2 and Luke 10:9 give us the word "heal." And the meaning of this word "heal'' may be learned from the life and sacrifice of Christ himself. In both the sending of the twelve and the sending of the seventy, the spring of the action is the perception of a harvest waiting to be reaped (cf. Matthew 9:36-38). He sees the multitude around him tired and worn out, like sheep exhausted and scattered over a plain, with no shepherd. "The harvest truly is plenteous." It is the emotion thus expressed which always beats within his breast. "I am come," he cries, "that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." His presence is that of the Healer in a charnel-house of corruption. Before him evil spirits exclaim, "What have I to do with thee?" Foul shapes of sin and want are expelled by his touch. His works are more than wonders; they are signs of redemption, of healing—the overflow of that fountain of life which was enclosed in his Person. Now, it is in this, the sphere of the Lord's love and power, that the servant is to labour. He is sent to save. He is to calm the troubled. He is to exorcise the demons which prey on the life of man. He is to be a channel of the love which is neighbour to man in all man's need.
"The world's a room of sickness, where each heart
Knows its own anguish and unrest;
The truest wisdom there and noblest art
Is his who skills of comfort best."
Notice what this healing includes. The apostles (Luke 10:1) were endowed with authority over all devils, and power to cure diseases. "Go and preach," commands Jesus; but also, "Go and heal the sick." The clergyman and the medical man represent the two halves of the Christian ministry. We shall never rise to the height of the Church's calling until we realize more systematically the conjunction of these aspects. To some extent we do. In our medical missions we do, In the increased care of Christian communities as to sanitary regulations, nursing, and so forth, we do, But much remains to be developed. And what we need, as the sustaining spirit of all work, is the conviction that Christ has given his Church power to heal, to cure diseases. Those who magnify "faith-healing" have hold of a truth, though they press it unduly, and indeed often give it a twist which makes it practically an untruth. They are right in the contention that it is Jesus Christ who makes whole, that the power of the cure is with him, and that, in respect of the cure, as of all else, the way of blessing is the way of prayer. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. On this, undoubtedly, faith should build. But why oppose this to the use of means? Or why suppose that there is a higher faith in trusting him and dispensing with ordinary means, than in trusting him and availing ourselves of the medicinal properties with which he has endowed things in nature, or of the knowledge and skill which also are gifts of God? God answers prayer as really in making the means effectual, as in restoration without the application of surgeon's or physician's art. The essential point is that the power over body and soul is his, and delegated by him to men. Let the Church's devotion be, not less theological, but less polemical; more emphatic, first in the requirement of personal righteousness, and next in such work as "shall deliver the poor and him that crieth, the fatherless, and him that hath none to help him."
II. Now, this general position assumed, observe, secondly, THE CONDITIONS WHICH CHRIST LAYS DOWN AS REGULATIVE OF ALL TRUE CHRISTIAN WORK. Putting ourselves alongside of the twelve and the seventy, let us listen to our marching orders, our code of instructions. Condition the first: "Begin at the point next you." The twelve (Luke 9:6) are sent through the towns preaching the gospel. The seventy (Luke 10:1) are sent "into every city' and place, whither the Lord himself would. "come." Let us not mistake. These are special embassies. By-and-by the word is, Witness in Jerusalem, and Judaea, and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." The principle is this—there are times when attention should be concentrated on the field that is at our own door. And generally, the beginning, though not the end, of all work, is with our own. We are to work outwards from the circle that is next us; thence are to be extended, outwards, ever outwards, the golden pipes through which the healing oil empties itself. Condition the second: "Proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." The twelve (cf. Matthew 10:6, Matthew 10:7) are to speak this to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The seventy (Luke 10:9) are to stand by the sick, and, while they heal, preach the advent of the kingdom. They are to raise a supreme expectation. Not halting to give elaborate courtesies. As men hastening, full of a great word, they are to sound in the ear, now in trumpet-tones, now in gentle whispers, "God's kingdom is coma close to you." To tell poor weary men and women of the Christ who is behind them, of the love that is seeking them; to hold before their gaze the reality of a kingdom which is, not a name in a book, not a Utopia of priest or poet, but a living fact, a kingdom which "is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,"—this is the burden of the preaching—the free giving of that which they have freely received. Condition the third: "Willingly, wholly, give yourselves to the work, trusting in the Lord whose it is." The pith of the Master's charge is, Be not anxious as to worldly provision—'purse, scrip, shoes.' Confer not with flesh and blood. Lo! I have sent you." Let us distinguish between the letter and the spirit. To act on the mere letter, in the conditions of nineteenth-century civilization, would be fanaticism. "The sterility of missionary labour," writes Dr. Farrar, "is a constant subject of regret and discouragement among us. Would it be so if all our missions were carried out in this wise and conciliatory, in this simple and self-abandoning, in this faithful and dauntless spirit? Was a missionary ever unsuccessful who, being enabled by the grace of God to live in the light of such precepts as these, worked as St. Paul worked, or Francis Xavier, or Henry Martyn, or Adoniram Judson, or John ]Eliot, or David Schwartz?" Undoubtedly not; yet, are Christian people to demand of missionaries what they are not, in some measure, practising themselves? Are they to insist that the missionary shall have all the self-denial whilst they take all the ease? Is it not better for each person to aim at levelling up to the mark required of the missionary? to ask what his or her Christianity amounts to? what is given for it? what living, working force is in it? what of self sacrifice is really prompted by it? Oh for a more heroic trust in the King, and devotion to the kingdom! "Lord, here am I." And condition the last: "Your whole conduct in the discharge of your mission is to be marked by courtesy." "Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house" (Luke 10:5). First—before the character of its inmates is declared. The house is the home of men and women. No matter what it may prove to be, it is to be treated with respect. Christ's disciples are to be pre-eminent for the kindly courtesies which are the beauty of Eastern life. Contrast the sketch in the Book of Ruth, of Boaz coming to the reapers, "The Lord be with you," and the reapers answering, "The Lord be with thee;" with the picture of our worlds of capital and labour, each too often addressing the other in tones suspicious, if not defiant. All that is rude and bitter in speech and thought should be alien to the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. There is a time to be firm. "The wisdom which cometh from above is first pure, then peaceable." He who commands the gracious politeness tells the seventy that against the city which will not receive them, they are to testify, "The very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you." But first, and always, let the Christian see that the name of gentleman is not, in service for Christ, soiled by any "ignoble use."
So much for the nature and conditions of Christian ministry. Note, in conclusion:
1. The twelve and the severity go in the strength of the Lord God. They are solemnly appointed to the work. God is a God of order; and ordinance is always honoured. But, with the ordination, they receive the power; and the power is in Christ for them, and from Christ into them. Let us recollect that Christ is risen. He has received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost. The Church is his body—"the fulness of him who filleth all in all." The strength which inspired apostle and evangelist in the first days is waiting for all who will to serve the Lord.
2. The seventy are sent, two and two, before his face. Economy and helpfulness in ministry are thus secured. The order of the "two and two" in the ranks of the apostles is given by St. Matthew—Simon and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James and Jude, Simon and the son of Carioth. By some law of affinity these Companionships were formed. In the Church there are alliances also. For two are better than one, and mutual sympathy and tenderness are Christ's rule.
Utterances on the return of the twelve, and of the seventy.
These passages are separated by an interval of time. But as the missions of the apostles and of the seventy were considered together, tracing in them the great laws and principles of Christian ministry, so let us connect the utterances called forth by the reports of the two companies, tracing in them the expression of all that is to be most vividly realized by those who yield to the command, "Go work to-day in my vineyard." A threefold lesson seems to be conveyed.
1. A lesson as to the spirit of mind proper to the servant of Christ.
2. A lesson as to the ministry appointed to the servant of Christ.
3. A lesson as to the confession of him demanded from the servant of Christ.
I. THE SPIRIT OF MIND PROPER TO THE TRUE SERVANT OF CHRIST. Turn, for guidance as to this, to the words contained between the seventeenth and twenty-fourth verses of the tenth chapter. The seventy have returned triumphant. They have succeeded far beyond their expectation. Healing of the sick? "Even the devils are subject to us through thy Name." What a strange new sensation! Men, hitherto utterly obscure, the custodiars of a power so marvellous, beholding, at the word which passes from them, the most marvellous results in the lives and characters of men! There is no such jubilation in the tone of the twelve when they return; perhaps the issue had fallen below their expectations. But the seventy, the special and temporary executive of Jesus, are filled with the supreme joy of the conqueror—"the devils are subject to us." Now, there is no rebuke of this spirit. On the contrary (Luke 10:19), they are told that, in Christ's strength, they shall tread on all sorts of evil spirits—on the serpent and the scorpion, opposing them in serpent and scorpion-like natures—on "all the power of the enemy." And the Lord shares their elation. In their tidings (Luke 10:18) he sees the presage of the complete victory of the good over the evil. He pours forth (Luke 10:21) a fervent stream of praise that, at length, and through these poor babe-like souls, his holy love has been declared as victorious over the kingdom of darkness. Was not the message brought (Luke 10:22) a new sign of the Father's acceptance of the Man Christ Jesus, and of the universal sovereignty which had been assigned to him? But mark the "notwithstanding" of Luke 10:20. It is the interposition of a great check. Undoubtedly, nothing is more thrilling than the sense of strength. It may be tyrannous to use, but it is great to have, a giant's strength. But there is nothing more hurtful than a complacent resting on the evidences and results of power. Many a good man is spoiled by the overweening consciousness of force; he becomes inflated with pride; and, as he does so, he loses rank before God; he is not far from the loss of power even with men. Therefore the importance of Christ's "Notwithstanding, rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." "Not, i.e. in the tokens of command, but in the capacity of service; not that you rule, but that you are ruled; that God in his grace has called you to work with him, has written your name in the register of the citizenship of heaven, has allowed you a part in the heavenly life and ministry." Both in what he thus said, and in the glimpse into his own mind (Luke 10:21, Luke 10:22), he indicates that the true disciple finds his joy, not in what he does, but in what God does by him; not in trophies of power, but in signs of Divine acceptance and anointing; not in the subjection of spirits to him, but in the subjection of his own life to, and his sympathy with, the eternal Father and the purpose of his love.
II. This being the spirit of the mind, look back to the narrative from Luke 10:10-17 of Luke 9:1-62., and recognize in it A SYMBOL OF THE TRUE DISCIPLE-WORK—the work in which,Master and scholar are at one. This work is set forth in its essential character, and its Divine order, or method.
1. Its essential character is giving. (Luke 9:13.) "Give ye them to eat." The most typical pictures of the Divine love are those which most purely bring out the relation of the Giver—man wanting, God supplying; man's argument, "I need," God's argument, "I have." The babe cries, settles at once to the kindly bosom—the argument being the need. The mother has, and her abundance is the life of the child. This is a reflection of God and man. So, on that grassy plain near Bethsaida, we are introduced to a scene and work most significant of the love of God in Christ. All the evangelists relate it. It is the occasion of one of the most memorable of Jesus' discourses—that concerning the Bread of life. Altogether, it is a notably royal act, the picture of the ministry of the kingdom of God. How it came about we are told (Luke 9:10-12). The compassionate heart of Jesus is moved with pity by the sight of the great multitude which has followed him. "Send them away, Master," is the whisper. "We are here in a lonely place. They are hungry; they may become furious; let them go into the towns and villages, and lodge, and get victuals." The answer is, "Give ye them to eat." This is the manifestation of God in the flesh—God in his power, no less than his will. "What! Master," exclaims Philip, "all our store consists of five loaves and two fishes: shall we go and buy meat for all the people?" Oh, it is the unbelief, the slow-heartedness of man, which thus speaks out. "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" Does not faith need to be reminded that the little brought to Christ is multiplied a hundredfold? "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
2. Notice the order or method of the work. Christ is always orderly. He sent the twelve, and the seventy, two by two, giving them their rules of procedure. Here, again (Luke 9:14), "Make the men sit down in companies of fifties." Dr. Farrar reminds us of the expression of Mark, "reclined in parterres, like a multitude of flower-beds in some well-cultivated garden." Organization is thus implied. And yet the life, the strength, is not in the organization. It is "the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich" (verse 16). The outstretched arm, the food held up to heaven, the look, the blessing, the breaking, the giving to the Church, and, through the Church, to the world,—every part of the action is sacramental, every part is expressive of some aspect of the truth as to the dispensation of the Bread of life. And then note, in verse 17, the care as to the fragments—the teaching of thrift even in the midst of abundance. The transaction, from beginning to end, is inlaid with suggestions which admit of endless applications to the changing circumstances and the varying conditions of the world and the Church.
III. Finally (in verses 18-22) we have THE RECORD OF A PRIVATE INSTRUCTION—one given "as he was alone, praying, his disciples with him"—TO THOSE WHOM THE LORD HAD CALLED INTO HIS MINISTRY. It is the instruction which gives the third of our lessons—that as to the confession of Christ which is demanded of the disciple. Observe:
1. There is the confession (verses 15-21) which is a secret between the soul and the Lord himself—that which is apart from all that men say, which is the expression of the personal loyalty and devotion. "Whom say the people that I am?" "Whom say ye that I am?" Parent, teacher, worker, pastor, is thy labor, is thy life, built on Peter's noble testimony, "The Christ of God"?
2. There is the living out of that inward life—the bold and fearless testimony for that preference as dominating all the action (verses 22, 23). The Master lays a cross on the back of his disciple, and bids him carry that cross daily, in token of his being grafted into a suffering, sacrificed Son of man. Solemn and searching are the words about the willing to come after him, and all which this involves. May our hearts answer, Amen!—amen to the daily following," amen "to the losing of life for Christ's sake, "amen" to the sturdy witnessing for him in the midst of the crooked and perverse nation; our "amen," rising, upwards to receive his when he shall come "in his own glory, and in the Father's, and of the holy angels."