The Mission of the Seventy

101 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others , and sent them in pairs ahead e of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come . 2 And He was saying to them, " The harvest is plentiful , but the laborers are few ; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest . 3 "Go ; behold , I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves . 4 " Carry no money belt , no bag , no shoes ; and greet no one on the way . 5 "Whatever house you enter , first say , 'Peace be to this house .' 6 "If a man of peace is there , your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 "Stay in that house , eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages . Do not keep moving from house to house . 8 "Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick , and say to them, ' The kingdom of God has come near to you.' 10 "But whatever e city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say , 11 ' Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this , that the kingdom of God has come near .' 12 "I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city .

Woes to Unrepentant Cities

13 " Woe to you, Chorazin ! Woe to you, Bethsaida ! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago , sitting in sackcloth and ashes . 14 "But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. 15 "And you, Capernaum , will not be exalted to heaven , will you? You will be brought down to Hades ! 16 " The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me."

The Return of the Seventy

17 The seventy returned with joy , saying , "Lord , even the demons are subject to us in Your name ." 18 And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning . 19 "Behold , I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions , and over all the power of the enemy , and nothing will injure you. 20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this , that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven ."

Jesus Rejoices

21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit , and said , "I praise You, O Father , Lord of heaven and earth , that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants . Yes , Father , for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight . 22 " All things have been handed over to Me by My Father , and no one knows who the Son is except the Father , and who the Father is except the Son , and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." 23 Turning to the disciples , He said privately e , "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see , 24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see , and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear , and did not hear them."

The Good Samaritan

25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test , saying , "Teacher , what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?" 26 And He said to him, "What is written in the Law ? How does it read to you?" 27 And he answered , " YOU SHALL LOVE THE Lord YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART , AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL , AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH , AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND ; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF ." 28 And He said to him, "You have answered correctly ; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE ." 29 But wishing to justify himself , he said to Jesus , "And who is my neighbor ?" 30 Jesus replied and said , "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho , and fell among robbers , and they stripped him and beat e him, and went away leaving him half dead . 31 "And by chance a priest was going down on that road , and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side . 32 "Likewise a Levite also , when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side . 33 "But a Samaritan , who was on a journey , came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion , 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds , pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast , and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said , 'Take care of him; and whatever e e more you spend , when I return I will repay you.' 36 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" 37 And he said , "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same ."

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village ; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home . 39 She had a sister called Mary , who was seated at the Lord's feet , listening to His word . 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations ; and she came up to Him and said , "Lord , do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone ? Then tell her to help me." 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, " Martha , Martha , you are worried and bothered about so many things ; 42  but only one thing is necessary , for Mary has chosen the good part , which shall not be taken away from her."

Jesus' Teaching on Prayer

111 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place , after He had finished , one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord , teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples ." 2 And He said to them, " When you pray , say : 'Father , hallowed be Your name . Your kingdom come . 3 'Give us each day our daily bread . 4 'And forgive us our sins , For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation .' " 5 Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend , and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend , lend me three loaves ; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey , and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and from inside he answers and says , 'Do not bother e me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed ; I cannot e get up and give you anything.' 8 "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend , yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs . 9 "So I say to you, ask , and it will be given to you; seek , and you will find ; knock , and it will be opened to you. 10 "For everyone who asks , receives ; and he who seeks , finds ; and to him who knocks , it will be opened . 11 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish ; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish , will he? 12 "Or if he is asked for an egg , he will not give him a scorpion , will he? 13 " If you then , being evil , know how to give good gifts to your children , how much more will your heavenly e Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

A Divided House Cannot Stand

14 And He was casting out a demon , and it was mute ; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke ; and the crowds were amazed . 15 But some of them said , "He casts out demons by Beelzebul , the ruler of the demons ." 16 Others , to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven . 17 But He knew their thoughts and said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste ; and a house divided against itself falls . 18 "If Satan also is divided against himself , how will his kingdom stand ? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul . 19 "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons , by whom do your sons cast them out? So e they will be your judges . 20 "But if I cast out demons by the finger of God , then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 "When a strong man, fully armed , guards his own house , his possessions are undisturbed e . 22 "But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder . 23 " He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters .

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

24 " When the unclean spirit goes out of a man , it passes through waterless places seeking rest , and not finding any, it says , 'I will return to my house from which I came .' 25 "And when it comes , it finds it swept and put in order . 26 "Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself , and they go in and live there ; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first ."

True Blessedness

27 While Jesus was saying these things , one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, " Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed ." 28 But He said , "On the contrary e , blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."

An Evil Generation Seeks a Sign

29 As the crowds were increasing , He began to say , " This generation is a wicked generation ; it seeks for a sign , and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah . 30 "For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites , so will the Son of Man be to this generation . 31 "The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and behold , something greater than Solomon is here . 32 "The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah ; and behold , something greater than Jonah is here .

The Light of the Body

33 " No one , after lighting a lamp , puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket , but on the lampstand , so that those who enter may see the light . 34 " The eye is the lamp of your body ; when your eye is clear , your whole body also is full of light ; but when it is bad , your body also is full of darkness . 35 "Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness . 36 "If therefore your whole body is full of light , with no e dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined , as when the lamp illumines you with its rays ."

Jesus Denounces the Pharisees and Lawyers

37 Now when He had spoken , a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal . 39 But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter ; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness . 40 " You foolish ones , did not He who made the outside make the inside also ? 41 "But give that which is within as charity , and then all things are clean for you. 42 " But woe to you Pharisees ! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb , and yet disregard justice and the love of God ; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others . 43 "Woe to you Pharisees ! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places . 44 " Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs , and the people who walk over them are unaware of it." 45 One of the lawyers said to Him in reply , "Teacher , when You say this , You insult us too ." 46 But He said , "Woe to you lawyers as well ! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear , while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers . 47 " Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets , and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 "So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers ; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 "For this reason also the wisdom of God said , ' I will send to them prophets and apostles , and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute , 50 so that the blood of all the prophets , shed since the foundation of the world , may be charged against this generation , 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah , who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes , I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation .' 52 "Woe to you lawyers ! For you have taken away the key of knowledge ; you yourselves did not enter , and you hindered those who were entering ." 53 When He left there , the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects , 54 plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say e .

Jesus Rejected by the Jews

22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem ; 23 it was winter , and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon . 24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How long e will You keep us in suspense e ? If You are the Christ , tell us plainly ." 25 Jesus answered them, " I told you, and you do not believe ; the works that I do in My Father's name , these testify of Me. 26 "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep . 27 "My sheep hear My voice , and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never e perish ; and no one will snatch them out of My hand . 29 "My Father , who has given them to Me, is greater than all ; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand . 30 " I and the Father are one ." 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father ; for which of them are you stoning Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy ; and because You, being a man , make Yourself out to be God ." 34 Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law , ' I SAID , YOU ARE GODS '? 35 "If he called them gods , to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot e be broken ), 36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world , 'You are blaspheming ,' because I said , ' I am the Son of God '? 37 " If I do not do the works of My Father , do not believe Me; 38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works , so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father ."

39 Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp . 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing , and He was staying there . 41 Many came to Him and were saying , "While John performed no sign , yet everything John said about this man was true ." 42 Many believed in Him there .

Matthew Henry's Commentary on John 10:22-42

Commentary on John 10:22-30

(Read John 10:22-30)

All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them should perish; for the Son and the Father were one. Thus he was able to defend his sheep against all their enemies, which proves that he claimed Divine power and perfection equally with the Father.

Commentary on John 10:31-38

(Read John 10:31-38)

Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in the Father, that he knew the whole of His mind. This we cannot by searching find out to perfection, but we may know and believe these declarations of Christ.

Commentary on John 10:39-42

(Read John 10:39-42)

No weapon formed against our Lord Jesus shall prosper. He escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows how to deliver the godly our of their temptations, and to make a way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive Christ and his gospel our of their own city or country, but they cannot drive him or it out of the world. When we know Christ by faith in our hearts, we find all that the Scripture saith of him is true.