One of the women companions of Jesus reflects on a change of mood:

There has been such an air of excitement ever since the crowd returned.  Even Jesus has been caught up in it.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so joyful – so delighted – no matter how many laughs we have shared together in the past.  Clearly something has changed, and it has really lifted his heart!

Even before they left, I sensed that things were changing.

For a start, the sheer number that Jesus enrolled and sent out was a new thing.  It wasn’t just the twelve this time, but maybe seventy or there abouts. I’m not sure exactly…  it may have been a couple more, who knows?  (No doubt someone will have counted and found something symbolic in the number – they always do!)  For my part it reminded me of Moses appointing the seventy elders to share his duties.  I thought Jesus was making a wise move doing much the same.

Now, obviously, I didn’t know all of them personally.  So, I can’t tell their names.  Nor where they came from, even.   What I can tell you, is that Jesus chose them and sent them out. That will have to be enough.  If you or I can’ t name them, what does that really matter?  Jesus has assured them that their names are written in Heaven. (That sounds good to me!)

And yet, they were in a very subdued mood when they departed.  Clearly, they were nervous and feeling very vulnerable.  Jesus understood this; admitting that he was sending them out like lambs among a pack of hungry wolves!  So, he did his best to prepare them, giving them detailed instructions about what to expect, and what and what not to do or say.  It wasn’t going to be easy, but he was certain they would find people ready to welcome them and their message. These were the ones they should seek out. 

Jesus himself seemed to have taken on a new sense of urgency.   That is why he sent out so many.  That is why he instructed them to not allow themselves to be side-tracked in conversation along the way.  That is why he told of terrible consequences for those who rejected the messengers, while at the same time urging his followers not to put off by the first rejection.  Instead, they were to keep on going until they found the ones who were ready to welcome them and hear his message of peace.

Some how it felt that a dark cloud had settled over everyone, and Jesus was urging them to hurry about their mission before the rains came pouring down.

But, as they began to trickle back from their journeys, it soon became obvious that the cloud had passed. The mood began to shift rapidly.  They had found a welcome, each returning pair eagerly reported.   And, as more and more gathered, the relieved laughter of the group grew louder as they shared their stories.  It had not been as they feared and expected.  Even the demons, it seemed, had fled before them!

It was at this point that Jesus joined the euphoria.   ‘You saw demons fleeing?  Well, I saw Satan falling from his throne!’  

Never have I seen a group of people so lifted as when they heard him say that!  On the face of it, they had only visited a few small villages and shared the message with a mere handful of people but, never-the-less, what they had done clearly brought Jesus such joy.  As he celebrated, he opened their eyes to see the huge significance of it all.  The hold of hell had been broken!  Satan’s lies had been exposed!

How can that be, you might ask?   

Well, what was it the message Jesus sent them out with? ‘Peace be with you!’   You’d reckon most people would like that, wouldn’t you?  But if you think like that, then, I’m sorry, but you have not understood the mindset of our time.    Most people hereabouts do not want peace.  They want war.  They are caught up in a deception that tells them the only way to freedom is through violence and killing. They hope and pray every day for a Messiah who will lead his people to wipe the Romans from the face of the earth.  We are God’s people. This is God’s land.  So, we will rise up for God and country with God on our side!   

But this is a lie!  It is Satan’s deception!   Although, most of us don’t see it that way.  As a nation we have been fed the propaganda and bought it wholesale.  Jesus’ counter message is not popular.  It sounds like unpatriotic doom-mongering to most.  He warns that, unless we turn, we are on a pathway heading to our own destruction!  But will we listen?  Are we ready to welcome his way of Salvation?  Are we ready to embrace his Kingdom of peace?

Today we have discovered that some are!  

It may be hidden from the wise and powerful, and many may reject it still, but in every town and village there are those who see it and welcome it.  God has opened their eyes to the truth.  Satan’s lies are exposed.

‘No-one will listen!’, he whispers. 

‘You will be rejected!’, he plays on our fear.

‘Not so’, says Jesus. ‘The field is ripe for harvest; it’s the labourers who are in short supply!  Pray for more messengers willing to make themselves vulnerable in order to share Christ’s message of peace!’

And this willingness to be vulnerable is, I believe, the key.    He sends us out, not on some crusade or holy war; not armed to the teeth, kitted out with all the latest fire-power to overcome every enemy; but empty handed, reliant on hospitality, offering only his peace.   

This is the way of his Kingdom.  Today we have seen it.  Those who dare to go, despite fear and trepidation, come back rejoicing.  And Jesus rejoices too!