Today’s Gospel represents one of the fundamental biblical texts for mission. It contains the valuable teachings of Jesus to his disciples when “he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.” The rich missionary content of the Gospel passage we heard will be analyzed, in detail, in the Pontifical Missionary Union’s next book, “The Biblical Texts of Mission. An Annotated Anthology. Volume 1: The Gospels.” For now, let us reflect briefly on some of the most relevant aspects.
1. Why “Seventy-Two Others” and Why “in Pairs”? The Universalism of Mission and Salvation
Among the evangelists, only St. Luke recounts this sending of “seventy-two others” by Jesus. The word “others” here is significant because of its double function. On the one hand, it connects with Jesus’ usual practice, along his final journey to Jerusalem, of sending “messengers ahead of him […] to prepare for his reception” (Lk 9:52), as mentioned in the previous episode in Luke’s gospel (which we heard last Sunday).
On the other hand, “others” also seems to refer to the earlier act of Jesus who first “summoned the Twelve […] and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal [the sick]” (Lk 9:1-2). Thus, this is the second sending, after the first one involving the Twelve. Such a sequence makes it clear that these “seventy-two others” designated and sent by Jesus were actually continuing and sharing the same mission begun by the Twelve on Jesus’ “commission.” Moreover, although the sendings addressed to different people (and perhaps even persons of diverse dignity), both came from Jesus himself and all cooperated in the one mission He was accomplishing for the Kingdom.
In this context, the number 72 of the envoys seems to have a highly symbolic value, as did the Twelve for the previous mission. If the latter corresponds to the number of the tribes of Israel, the figure 72 seems to allude to the total number of families of Noah’s sons who survived after the universal flood, from which “the nations of the earth branched out,” as mentioned in Genesis chapter 10 in the Bible’s Greek version, used by early Christians (in the corresponding Hebrew text we have 70) (cf. Gn 10:32). If the Twelve apostles were sent to the twelve tribes of Israel, these “seventy-two others” are now designated and sent to prepare for Jesus’ coming as a symbol of a mission to all nations on earth.
Thus, we can glimpse in this the desire of Jesus to bring the Good News of the Kingdom to all humankind and to ensure that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Lk 3:6; cf. Is 40:5 [Greek version LXX]). This is a highly symbolic significant act (for we do not know if Jesus will actually physically make it through all the villages that the 72 visited!). The mission of Jesus, and consequently that of his disciples, was and always is to the whole world, to the ends of the earth, as He himself will state in his missionary command to them, before His Ascension (cf. Acts 1:8). This mission will never be confined only within Israel or to one people, but will always go forth to proclaim God’s salvation to all those in need.
Even more, the universality of the mission desired by Christ also concerns the persons called to that task at all times, who are actually represented by these designated “seventy-two others” (symbolically from all nations on earth). They will be “from every nation, race, people, and tongue,” just like the host of the redeemed described in Revelation (Rev 7:9; cf. Rev 5:9). This is the universalism of the missionary vocation of Christ’s disciples. In Him, there is no longer a distinction between Jews and non-Jews, as St. Paul reminds us, and he emphasizes again in the second reading: “For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision, but only a new creation. Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule and to the Israel of God.”
Why are the disciples sent “in pairs”? Some might answer that so they could have prayed the psalms in two choirs along the way! Some Church fathers (such as St. Gregory the Great), on an even more spiritual and symbolic level, saw here an analogy with the twofold love, for God and for neighbor, that the disciples are to represent and pass on to the people. Both of these explanations are possible, but the main reason for sending “in pairs” is more about the legal aspect. Just as it is established in the Jewish Law, “a charge shall stand only on the testimony of two or three witnesses” (cf. Deut 19:15; Mt 18:16), so the disciples are sent on mission in pairs, to give validity to their announcement of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Based on this, Pope Francis points out in his Message for World Missionary Sunday 2022: “the witness of Christians to Christ is primarily communitarian in nature. Hence, in carrying out the mission, the presence of a community, regardless of its size, is of fundamental importance.”
2. Pray-Go-Proclaim: The Basic Missionary Actions
It is very curious, and at the same time significant, that the first action recommended by Jesus after the designation of the 72 was: “ask [pray] the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest,” since “the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” Obviously, the general tone of the sentence suggests that it is a recommendation addressed to all those present at the time (we can imagine the circumstance of a sending “ceremony”). However, the literary context seems to indicate that the first recipients of this exhortation were the disciples themselves appointed for the mission. From this perspective, more than all others, Christ’s missionaries are asked to pray to God that the various sendings of laborers for the Kingdom will be more and more abundant, including even their own sending! In other words, envoys have the primary task of praying for their own calling and for the calling of other envoys. In this regard, it is worth recalling Pope Francis’ constant affirmation that prayer “plays a fundamental role in the missionary life” (Message for World Mission Sunday 2022). Moreover, such prayer of missionaries for vocation helps those who pray to cultivate within themselves the heart of Christ that throbs for God’s “abundant harvest” in the world.
Exhorting to prayer, Jesus kicks off the mission with the terse command “Go on your way” and with very detailed instructions on what to do and what not to do in the mission. Prominent among the things to be done is the recommendation of the announcement of the coming of the Kingdom (“say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”), just as explicated for the first sending of the Twelve (Lk 9:2: “he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God”; cf. Lk 9:6). The phrase announced about the Kingdom is the same that Jesus had proclaimed from the very beginning of his public activities. It, literally, expresses not so much a static closeness (“it is at hand” and stands by), but as a dynamic reality that “it has been approaching” and still continues its movement toward every man and woman who welcomes it.
In this way, the going out to the nations of Christ’s 72 envoys seems to mark that concrete and palpable approach of the Kingdom that then finds full fulfillment with the coming of Christ himself. So much so that with the proclamation of the Kingdom, they are asked to proclaim, indeed to transmit, “whatever house you enter” God’s peace, fruit and sign of the presence of the Kingdom. In this, we see the fulfillment of what God promised through the prophet Isaiah that we heard in the first reading: “Lo, I will spread prosperity [literally peace] over Jerusalem like a river,” that shalom “peace” that indicates prosperity, well-being, communion with God in his Kingdom. Moreover, even for those who do not welcome Christ’s envoys for now, it is recommended to reiterate the objective fact of the approaching Kingdom as a gift to all: “Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.” Thus, going and proclaiming constitute the two basic actions in mission, which form with praying the fundamental triad to be accomplished in missionary activities as recommended by Christ.
3. What Not to Do in the Mission and Why “Like Lambs Among Wolves”?
In Christ’s instructions to the 72 missionaries, several particular recommendations require some brief explanation.
Firstly, the instruction to “greet no one along the way” does not mean authorizing them to be rude on the way or to prevent them from saying good morning or good evening to the people they meet. Such a recommendation seems to simply emphasize the urgency of bringing the announcement of the Kingdom to the recipients, which cannot wait for any delay (for a similar case, see 2Kgs 4:29). So much so that the greeting of peace is then recommended at the very entrance to houses and towns, that is, when the goal of the journey is already reached.
Secondly, the recommended action of “shaking off the dust from their feet” is for towns that will not receive Christ’s envoys. This is an intentionally “spectacular” act, like those of God’s prophets in the Old Testament, to leave the recipients with some precisely “prophetic” message. It serves to show clearly that the envoys have nothing in common (and therefore no responsibility) with the rejection of the Kingdom by the inhabitants of the town. Such radical action also seems to be intended to shake the conscience of these citizens who, in their freedom, have self-isolated themselves from the peace of the Kingdom. Therefore, it was stressed, that even for these the door of the Kingdom remained open: “Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.”
Finally, Jesus’ clear warning of the dangers in mission: “behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” This is a “strange” promise of Jesus for his envoys, for He seems to have wanted to throw them helpless into the prey of rapacious predators! Nevertheless, such a statement actually reflects the same fate that He, the “Lamb of God,” faces in his mission. Such full sharing, between Jesus and his envoys, even of the labors and “sorrows,” implies a de facto mystical union between them and, consequently, suggests the missionary disciples hold tightly to the Master, to fix their gaze always on him, to draw from him strength, wisdom, tenacity in adversity along the missionary journey.
In this regard, Pope Francis’ explanation in the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, 3 July 2016, is illuminating:
With what spirit must disciples of Jesus carry out this mission? First of all they must be aware of the difficult and sometimes hostile reality that awaits them. Jesus minces no words about this! Jesus says: “I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves” (v. 3). This is very clear. Hostility is always at the beginning of persecutions of Christians; because Jesus knows that the mission is blocked by the work of evil. For this reason, the laborer of the Gospel will strive to be free from every kind of human conditioning, carrying neither purse nor bag nor sandals (cf. v. 4), as Jesus counseled, so as to place reliance solely in the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ. This means abandoning every motive of personal advantage, careerism or hunger for power, and humbly making ourselves instruments of the salvation carried out by Jesus’ sacrifice.
4. Bonus: The Joy of Mission
In constant union with the One who sent them, Christ’s missionaries will experience the joy of mission even “among wolves” who always want to swallow them, because in their weakness and poverty God’s multifaceted power against the power of evil is manifested. Such a feeling indeed accompanied these 72 envoys, who “returned rejoicing” for seeing that “the demons are subject” to them. However, as specified by Jesus himself, the true joy of the envoys will have to be rather about the salvation that God has in store for them and for all, thanks to their mission: “rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” It will be precisely this universal salvation, the ultimate reason for all the missionary commitments of the disciples of Christ, Son of God who “for us and for our salvation” was incarnate, suffered, died, and rose.
Let us therefore pray:
O God, who in our baptismal vocation calls us to be fully available for the proclamation of your kingdom, give us apostolic courage and evangelical freedom, so that we may make your word of love and peace present in every walk of life. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
