Luke 10

Jesus sends out seventy-two messengers to prepare towns for His coming, warns the towns that reject Him, and rejoices when the messengers return. A lawyer’s question about eternal life leads to the story of the Good Samaritan. The chapter ends at Martha’s house, where Jesus shows what matters most.

Luke 10:1

Jesus appoints a larger group beyond the Twelve and sends them in pairs to the places He Himself will visit. They are forerunners, preparing the way. Going two by two gave them company, support, and a trustworthy witness. Some manuscripts read seventy rather than seventy-two.

BSA: ahead of Him (“before His face, preceding Him”): They are not going on their own business; they go as His advance messengers, and He follows.

See also: Luke 9:1-2.

Luke 10:2

The need is huge and the helpers are few. Jesus’ first instruction is not a plan but prayer. The harvest belongs to God, and He is the one who sends workers. The disciples are first told to pray, and then they themselves are sent.

BSA: send out (“to expel”): The word is strong, like thrusting someone out; God pushes workers out of comfort into the field.

Greek: ἐκβάλῃ (ekbalē, G1544) — “throw out, thrust out.” The word is often used of casting out demons. Praying for workers asks God to push them out with urgency, not merely to invite them.

See also: Matthew 9:37-38.

Luke 10:3

Jesus is honest about the danger. Lambs are defenseless, and wolves are fierce. The messengers go without force, depending on their Shepherd. The mission will meet hostility, yet the One who sends them stands behind them.

BSA: lambs (“young sheep”): They are young and vulnerable, with nothing to protect them but their Master’s care.

See also: Matthew 10:16.

Luke 10:4

They are to travel light and trust God for provision. The ban on greeting people along the road does not mean rudeness. Eastern greetings could be long and time-consuming, and the task was urgent. Nothing was to slow the message.

See also: 2 Kings 4:29.

Luke 10:5-6

Peace was the ordinary greeting, but here it carries real blessing from God. If the household is open, the blessing settles there. If not, it is not wasted but returns to the speaker. The messengers carry a gift they can give freely.

BSA: man of peace (“son, child”): This is a Hebrew way of speaking: a person marked by and receptive to God’s peace.

See also: Matthew 10:12-13.

Luke 10:7

They should accept the hospitality offered and settle in one home rather than hunt for better meals or comforts. Receiving support is not shameful, since a worker deserves his pay. Staying put also keeps the focus on the work, not on comfort.

See also: 1 Timothy 5:18; 1 Corinthians 9:14.

Luke 10:8-9

Where a town welcomes them, they eat what is served, without fuss over food. They heal the sick and announce that God’s kingdom has come near. The healing gives a glimpse of the kingdom the words describe. The King’s rule is drawing close to them.

BSA: near (“has come close, is at hand”): The kingdom is not far off; its King is arriving in person, so the people must decide how to respond.

Greek: ἤγγικεν (ēngiken, G1448) — “has drawn near.” The verb is in a form that means it has arrived at close range and is now standing there. The kingdom is at the door.

Luke 10:10-11

Rejection is possible. Wiping dust from the feet was a sign that one would not take even a trace of that place along. It was a solemn warning, not a spiteful act. Even so, the message stands: the kingdom is near, whether they accept it or not.

BSA: testimony (“witness, evidence”): The dust becomes evidence that the town heard the message and turned it down.

See also: Acts 13:51.

Luke 10:12

Sodom is the Bible’s byword for wickedness and destruction. Yet Jesus says a town that refuses His messengers will fare worse on judgment day. The more light people receive, the greater their responsibility for how they answer it.

See also: Genesis 19:24-25.

Luke 10:13-14

Chorazin and Bethsaida had seen Jesus’ mighty works and still did not turn. Tyre and Sidon, pagan cities often condemned by the prophets, would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Privilege without response brings greater judgment. This is a sorrowful warning, not a cold curse.

BSA: repented (“turned from sin, changed their minds”): Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a changed life, shown outwardly by sackcloth and ashes.

See also: Ezekiel 26:3; Jonah 3:5-8.

Luke 10:15

Capernaum was the home base of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and so was especially blessed. Its pride in that favor is met with a stark reversal. The town hoped to be lifted high but would be brought low. The words echo a taunt against a proud king of Babylon.

BSA: Hades (“the place of the dead, hell, the grave”): It is the realm of the dead, the opposite of heaven’s height.

See also: Isaiah 14:13-15.

Luke 10:16

A messenger carries the authority of the one who sends him. To receive Jesus’ messengers is to receive Jesus, and through Him, the Father. To turn them away is to turn away God Himself. This is both a weighty responsibility for the messengers and an encouragement.

See also: John 13:20; Matthew 10:40.

Luke 10:17

The seventy-two come back full of joy, surprised that even demons obeyed them. They are quick to credit Jesus’ name, not their own power. The authority they carried was borrowed from Him.

BSA: submit (“are subject, obey”): The demons come under the messengers’ orders, since the messengers act under Jesus’ authority.

Luke 10:18

Jesus looks at their report and sees something bigger. Satan’s power is breaking, and it falls swiftly, like a flash of lightning. Their victories over demons are signs that the enemy’s rule is ending. Christians have understood this saying in different ways, but all agree it points to Satan’s defeat.

See also: John 12:31; Revelation 12:9.

Luke 10:19

Jesus gives real authority over every power of the enemy. Snakes and scorpions stand for dangerous forces of evil, as well as literal dangers. The promise that nothing will harm them is about ultimate safety in God’s care, and does not mean they would never suffer.

BSA: authority (“power, freedom to act”): It is delegated right to act in Jesus’ name, not strength of their own.

See also: Psalm 91:13.

Luke 10:20

Success in ministry is a good thing but not the best reason for joy. Their deepest gladness should rest on something that can never be lost: they belong to God, and their names are recorded in heaven. Their place there is by grace and not by results.

BSA: written (“recorded, enrolled”): Their names are enrolled like citizens in a register, a settled, secure belonging.

See also: Philippians 4:3; Exodus 32:32.

Luke 10:21

Jesus bursts into joy in the Holy Spirit and praises His Father. God’s truth is not found by clever people on their own; it is given to those who humbly receive it. The Father is pleased to work this way. This is one of the few places where all three Persons of the Godhead appear together.

BSA: little children (“the humble, the innocent”): Children depend on others and trust, which is the attitude needed to receive God’s revelation.

See also: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.

Luke 10:22

The Father has placed everything in the Son’s hands. The two know each other fully, and no one else can truly know God unless the Son opens the way. We come to know the Father by being shown Him through Jesus, who gladly does so.

BSA: reveal (“disclose, make known”): Knowing God is not just discovered by effort; the Son uncovers Him to those He chooses.

See also: John 1:18; John 14:9.

Luke 10:23-24

Turning to His disciples, Jesus calls them truly fortunate. They are living in the time that the prophets and kings of old longed to see. What earlier generations waited for is now standing in front of them: the promised Messiah, speaking and acting.

BSA: Blessed (“happy, supremely fortunate”): The disciples hold a privilege that no earlier generation had, and the word marks them as deeply favored by God.

See also: 1 Peter 1:10-12; Matthew 13:16-17.

Luke 10:25

An expert in the Law, a man who studied the Scriptures, stands up to test Jesus. His question sounds sincere but is meant to see how Jesus will answer. Still, it is the most important question anyone can ask: how does one inherit eternal life?

BSA: inherit (“receive as a gift, possess”): An inheritance is received, not earned, which quietly cuts against the idea of working for it.

See also: Luke 18:18.

Luke 10:26-28

Jesus sends him back to Scripture. The lawyer quotes the two great commands: love God with everything, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus agrees. The law’s summary is love. Yet doing it perfectly is the challenge, as the next question will expose.

BSA: heart (“the seat of thoughts and emotions”): Love for God is meant to engage the whole inner person, not just outward actions.

See also: Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18.

Luke 10:29

The man wants to prove he is righteous, so he narrows the command by asking who counts as a neighbor. Often we limit love to make it manageable. Jesus’ answer will not draw a line around who deserves our love but will break it open.

BSA: justify (“show himself righteous, vindicate”): He wants to be seen as already in the right instead of facing his need.

Luke 10:30

Jesus tells of a man attacked on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. It was a steep, winding, lonely road of about seventeen miles, falling sharply in height and known for robbers. The victim is stripped, so there is nothing to show who he is, and he lies near death.

BSA: half dead (“severely injured, almost dead, on the brink of death”): He is utterly helpless and cannot ask for anything.

Luke 10:31-32

A priest and a Levite, both men who served in God’s temple, see the wounded man and cross to the other side. Perhaps they feared danger or ritual uncleanness from a corpse. Whatever the reason, religious position did not produce mercy. Knowing God’s law is not the same as keeping its heart.

Greek: ἀντιπαρῆλθεν (antiparēlthen, G492) — “passed by on the opposite side.” The word pictures a deliberate move across the road to keep distance. It is repeated for both men, which stresses the chosen avoidance.

Luke 10:33

The hero is a Samaritan, a member of a people the Jews despised. He does not just see the man; he is moved with compassion. His love begins in the heart and quickly becomes action. The one who looks least likely proves to be the one who obeys the law of love.

BSA: compassion (“pity, sympathy, to pity”): The feeling was deep and moved him to act at his own cost.

Greek: ἐσπλαγχνίσθη (esplanchnisthē, G4697) — “was moved in his gut.” The word comes from the word for the inner organs, the seat of deep emotion. His pity was felt in the depths of his being.

See also: John 4:9.

Luke 10:34-35

The Samaritan gives care that is practical and costly: he cleans and bandages the wounds with oil and wine, lifts the man onto his own animal, pays for lodging, and promises more. Two denarii covered many days of lodging. His mercy was personal, generous and ongoing.

BSA: took care (“showed compassion, provided for”): His care did not end with first aid but continued until the man was looked after.

Luke 10:36-37

Jesus changes the question. The lawyer asked who deserves his love, but Jesus asks who acted like a neighbor. The lawyer cannot even say the word Samaritan, but he answers rightly. Jesus’ reply gives all of us a call: show mercy as this man did.

BSA: mercy (“kindness and concern for others”): Neighbor love is shown in practical kindness toward whoever is in need.

See also: Micah 6:8; James 2:13.

Luke 10:38-39

In a village, Martha opens her home to Jesus. Her sister Mary sits at His feet listening. That was the posture of a disciple, a place usually taken by men. Jesus welcomes her there, treating her as a student of His word.

BSA: listening (“hearing, giving attention”): Mary’s attention stays fixed on His word and does not wander to other things.

See also: John 11:1.

Luke 10:40

Martha’s service is good, but it has swallowed her attention. Burdened and resentful, she blames Jesus and her sister. When good work is done without rest in Him, it can become a source of irritation and can crowd out the One we serve.

BSA: distracted (“cumbered, pulled away”): Her many tasks were dragging her attention in every direction, away from Jesus Himself.

Greek: περιεσπᾶτο (periespato, G4049) — “was pulled around, drawn away.” The verb pictures being dragged in circles by many demands. Martha was not lazy but over-busy.

Luke 10:41-42

Jesus corrects her gently, repeating her name with affection. Many things pull at her, but one matters most: time at His feet. Mary has chosen what is truly good, and nothing can take it from her. Jesus does not scorn service but puts listening first.

BSA: portion (“part, share”): It is a share that is hers to keep, a lasting gift from Christ.

See also: Psalm 16:5; Psalm 27:4.