The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
July 4, 2010
Vol. 13 no. 26
If there ever is a case for the people who study the history of the text of the Bible, this Sunday’s Gospel reading is one of the star witnesses. Jesus decides to send out into the country “seventy others” to prepare the populace for his arrival and to make the 70 put into practice what they had seen and learned from him. He sent them out two by two - who else went “two by two”? - and the verb “to send out” is the root of the word “apostle.” An apostle is one who is sent out on a mission.
The ambiguity is that many copies of the early New Testament text list 72 apostles, not just 70. Add to this the usual situation that the number itself is symbolic, not exact, and there were probably 69 send-outs. Obviously, the different numbers do not change the shape of the Gospel. The interesting part is that the evangelist writes that it was 70-odd “others” - not disciples presumably - so the Jesus company was actually rather large, not the intimate little group we usually imagine. Room for us in it, still.
This sending-out was not a reward, but an opportunity with no guarantee of success. Being “lambs in the midst of wolves” is an old saw, but not just words here. The apostles were not out to conquer people for the kingdom, but simply to help others for the sake of helping them. And simplicity is the key word: no bags packed, no full wallet or credit cards, no purse for that matter. Stay and eat with whoever is hospitable and don’t hunt around for better quarters. The sticky part comes when some people are not hospitable, perhaps even hostile, having heard of Jesus and not wanting his ilk around. Seems that attitude is back with a vengeance - many people and institutions are suspicious of any religious talk. Perhaps we are stuck with always being dusty.
Robert Kitchen
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan