July 3, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Isaiah 66:10-14; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Not just 12, but 70. Luke multiplies the other Gospel narratives’ number of disciples: 70 of them, two by two. Jesus sends them ahead to prepare the way, to find a meeting place, to do logistics, to plan and listen and share over food and drink. To make a way when it seems there is no way to bring hope, peace, stability, and a future.
Jesus says he is sending them out “like lambs into the midst of wolves.” We live in a time of constant news and information. Intimacy is erased, privacy laughable, rhetoric rude and rusty. In such a context, the notion of going out as lambs to wolves seems apt, even if the wolves and lambs themselves may be interchangeable.
Yet Luke’s message is one of peace and opportunity—because, as the 70 are to proclaim, the kingdom or realm of God is near. All people everywhere are to hear this news, this story that echoes an inclusive priority: God speaks to all people, invites all people. No one is to be left out of hearing this news about the gift of life.
