So much in Luke 10! It starts off with the sending of the 70, and verse 4 makes it clear how urgent this is to witness and declare that the Kingdom of God has come near ("Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals . . . ") Have we lost that urgency? Our declaration that the Kingdom of God has come near is not to simply be made in words; in fact, if that is all we do--say the words--then they will fall on deaf and unbelieving ears. This chapter focuses on healing to proclaim God's kingdom.
One of the favorite parables is here: the Good Samaritan---an example of the Kingdom of God coming near. So, who is "healed" in this parable? I would say that there are three players who experience the Kingom of God: the Samaritan, the man who was beaten, and the innkeeper.
We are made to heal, to restore wholeness, to be agents of God. This is exactly what the Samaritan does; he lives the great Commandment. He experiences the nearness of God's Kingdom by being God's agent. The beaten man experiences God's Kingdom by receiving the healing, by being loved by God through the Samaritan. And the innkeeper? Well, he is a firsthand witness to it all; he watches the Kingdom unfold before his very eyes and is invited to take part in it. In fact, the only ones who do not benefit (and probably do not even recognize) the Kingdom of God drawing near are those who go out of their way to avoid it.
Who will you be today?
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