The Mission of the Seventy

101 Now after these things, the Lord made selection of seventy others and sent them before him, two together, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. 2 And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain. 3 Go on your way: see, I send you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Take no bag for money or for food, and no shoes; say no word to any man on the way. 5 And whenever you go into a house, first say, Peace be to this house. 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will be with him: but if not, it will come back to you again. 7 And keep in that same house, taking what food and drink they give you: for the worker has a right to his reward. Do not go from house to house. 8 And into whatever town you go, if they take you in, take whatever food is given to you: 9 And make well those in it who are ill and say to them, The kingdom of God is near to you. 10 But if you go into a town where they will not have you, go out into the streets of it and say, 11 Even the dust of your town, which is on our feet, we put off as a witness against you; but be certain of this, that the kingdom of God is near. 12 I say to you, It will be better in that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woes to Unrepentant Cities

13 A curse is on you, Chorazin! A curse is on you, Beth-saida! For if such works of power had been done in Tyre and Sidon as have been done in you, they would have been turned from their sins, in days gone by, seated in the dust. 14 But it will be better for Tyre and Sidon, in the day of judging, than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, were you not lifted up to heaven? you will go down to hell. 16 Whoever gives ear to you, gives ear to me; and whoever is against you, is against me; and whoever is against me, is against him who sent me.

The Return of the Seventy

17 And the seventy came back with joy, saying, Lord, even the evil spirits are under our power in your name. 18 And he said, I was watching for Satan, falling from heaven like a star. 19 See, I have given you power to put your feet on snakes and evil beasts, and over all the strength of him who is against you: and nothing will do you damage. 20 Do not be glad, however, because you have power over spirits, but because your names are recorded in heaven.

Jesus Rejoices

21 In that same hour he was full of joy in the Holy Spirit and said, I give praise to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things secret from the wise and the men of learning, and have made them clear to little children: for so, O Father, it was pleasing in your eyes. 22 All things have been given to me by my Father: and no one has knowledge of the Son, but only the Father: and of the Father, but only the Son, and he to whom the Son will make it clear. 23 And, turning to the disciples, he said privately, Happy are the eyes which see the things you see: 24 For I say to you that numbers of prophets and kings have had a desire to see the things which you see, and have not seen them, and to have knowledge of the things which have come to your ears, and they had it not.

The Good Samaritan

25 And a certain teacher of the law got up and put him to the test, saying, Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life? 26 And he said to him, What does the law say, in your reading of it? 27 And he, answering, said, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and for your neighbour as for yourself. 28 And he said, You have given the right answer: do this and you will have life. 29 But he, desiring to put himself in the right, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus, answering him, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he got into the hands of thieves, who took his clothing and gave him cruel blows, and when they went away, he was half dead. 31 And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he went by on the other side. 32 And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side. 33 But a certain man of Samaria, journeying that way, came where he was, and when he saw him, he was moved with pity for him, 34 And came to him and put clean linen round his wounds, with oil and wine; and he put him on his beast and took him to a house and took care of him. 35 And the day after he took two pennies and gave them to the owner of the house and said, Take care of him; and if this money is not enough, when I come again I will give you whatever more is needed. 36 Which of these three men, in your opinion, was neighbour to the man who came into the hands of thieves? 37 And he said, The one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said, Go and do the same.

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

38 Now, while they were on their way, he came to a certain town; and a woman named Martha took him into her house. 39 And she had a sister, by name Mary, who took her seat at the Lord's feet and gave attention to his words. 40 But Martha had her hands full of the work of the house, and she came to him and said, Lord, is it nothing to you that my sister has let me do all the work? Say to her that she is to give me some help. 41 But the Lord, answering, said to her, Martha, Martha, you are full of care and troubled about such a number of things: 42 Little is needed, or even one thing only: for Mary has taken that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

Jesus' Teaching on Prayer

111 And it came about that he was in prayer in a certain place, and when he came to an end, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, will you give us teaching about prayer, as John did to his disciples? 2 And he said to them, When you say your prayers, say, Father, may your name be kept holy and your kingdom come. 3 Give us every day bread for our needs. 4 May we have forgiveness for our sins, as we make free all those who are in debt to us. And let us not be put to the test. 5 And he said to them, Which of you, having a friend, would go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, Friend, let me have three cakes of bread; 6 Because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to put before him; 7 And he, from inside the house, would say in answer, Do not be a trouble to me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; it is not possible for me to get up and give to you? 8 I say to you, Though he will not get up and give to him, because he is his friend, still, if he keeps on making his request, he will get up and give him as much as he has need of. 9 And I say to you, Make requests, and they will be answered; what you are searching for, you will get; when you give the sign, the door will be open to you. 10 For to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire; and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open. 11 And which of you, being a father, will give a stone to his son, who makes request for bread? or for a fish, will give him a snake? 12 Or for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If, then, you who are evil are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who make request to him?

A Divided House Cannot Stand

14 And he was sending an evil spirit out of a man who was without the power of talking. And it came about that when the spirit had gone the man had the power of talking; and the people were full of wonder. 15 But some of them said, He sends out evil spirits by Beelzebul, the ruler of evil spirits. 16 And others, testing him, were looking for a sign from heaven from him. 17 But he, having knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom in which there is division is made waste; and a house in which there is division comes to destruction. 18 If, then, Satan is at war with himself, how will he keep his kingdom? because you say that I send evil spirits out of men by the help of Beelzebul. 19 And if I, by Beelzebul, send out evil spirits, by whose help do your sons send them out? so let them be your judges. 20 But if I, by the finger of God, send out evil spirits, then the kingdom of God has overtaken you. 21 When the strong man armed keeps watch over his house, then his goods are safe: 22 But when one who is stronger makes an attack on him and overcomes him, he takes away his instruments of war, in which he had put his faith, and makes division of his goods. 23 He who is not with me is against me, and he who will not give me help in getting people together is driving them away.

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of a man, goes through dry places, looking for rest; and when he does not get it, he says, I will go back to my house from which I came. 25 And when he comes, he sees that it has been made fair and clean. 26 Then he goes and gets seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they go in, and take their places there: and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.

True Blessedness

27 And it came about that when he said these things, a certain woman among the people said in a loud voice, Happy is the body which gave you birth, and the breasts from which you took milk. 28 But he said, More happy are they who give hearing to the word of God and keep it.

An Evil Generation Seeks a Sign

29 And when a great number of people came together to him, he said, This generation is an evil generation: it is looking for a sign and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 For even 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 come up on the day of judging and give her decision against the men of this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: for they were turned away from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; but now something greater than Jonah is here.

The Light of the Body

33 No man, when the light has been lighted, puts it in a secret place, or under a vessel, but on its table, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 The light of the body is the eye: when your eye is true, all your body is full of light; but when it is evil, your body is dark. 35 So take care that the light which is in you is not dark. 36 If, then, all your body is light, with no part of it dark, it will be completely full of light, as when a flame with its bright shining gives you light.

Jesus Denounces the Pharisees and Lawyers

37 Now, while he was talking, a Pharisee made a request that he would come to a meal with him; and he went in and took his seat at the meal. 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised because he came to the meal without first washing himself. 39 And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the plate clean; but inside you are thieves and full of evil. 40 O you foolish ones! did not he who made the outside in the same way make the inside? 41 But if you give to the poor such things as you are able, then all things are clean to you. 42 But a curse is on you, Pharisees! for you make men give a tenth of every sort of plant, and give no thought to right and the love of God; but it is right for you to do these things, and not let the others be undone. 43 A curse is on you, Pharisees! for your desires are for the most important seats in the Synagogues and for words of respect said to you in the market-place. 44 A curse is on you! for you are like the resting-places of dead men, which are not seen, and men go walking over them without knowledge of it. 45 And one of the teachers of the law, answering, said to him, Master, in saying this, you give a bad name to us as to them. 46 And he said, A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for while other men are crushed under the weight of the rules you make for them, you yourselves do not put so much as one finger to them. 47 A curse is on you! for you make resting-places for the bodies of the prophets, but your fathers put them to death. 48 So you are witnesses and give approval to the work of your fathers; for they put them to death and you make their last resting-places. 49 For this reason the wisdom of God has said, I will send them prophets and teachers, and to some of them they will give death and cruel pains; 50 So that punishment may come on this generation for the blood of all the prophets which was given from the earliest days; 51 From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who was put to death between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I say to you, It will come on this generation. 52 A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you did not go in yourselves, and you got in the way of those who were going in. 53 And when he had come out of that place, the scribes and the Pharisees came round him angrily, questioning him about more things; 54 And watching him, for a chance to get something from his words which might be used against him.

Jesus Rejected by the Jews

22 Then came the feast of the opening of the Temple in Jerusalem: it was winter; 23 And Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon's covered way. 24 Then the Jews came round him, saying, how long are you going to keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, say so clearly. 25 Jesus said in answer, I have said it and you have no belief: the works which I do in my Father's name, these give witness about me. 26 But you have no belief because you are not of my sheep. 27 My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me: 28 And I give them eternal life; they will never come to destruction, and no one will ever take them out of my hand. 29 That which my Father has given to me has more value than all; and no one is able to take anything out of the Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one. 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to send at him. 32 Jesus said to them in answer, I have let you see a number of good works from the Father; for which of those works are you stoning me? 33 This was their answer: We are not stoning you for a good work but for evil words; because being a man you make yourself God. 34 In answer, Jesus said, Is there not a saying in your law, I said, You are gods? 35 If he said they were gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Writings may not be broken), 36 Do you say of him whom the Father made holy and sent into the world, Your words are evil; because I said, I am God's Son? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not have belief in me; 38 But if I am doing them, then have belief in the works even if you have no belief in me; so that you may see clearly and be certain that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.

39 Then again they made an attempt to take him; but he got away from them. 40 And he went again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John first gave baptism; and he was there for a time. 41 And a great number of people came to him, saying, John did no sign: but everything John said of this man was true. 42 And a number came to have faith 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.