Daily Devotional • June 4
A Reading from Luke 10:17-24
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 At that very hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Meditation
We take a pause from the prophetic work to be reminded by Jesus of the gift of praise. He has sent out his seventy-two, and they return, filled with joy, to find that they have become conduits of his power. Jesus’ words here sound like an admonishment at first–almost a “silly disciples, I have more power than you” sort of redirection. Yet, he shares in their joy, so much so that we hear a proclamation of praise from his lips thanking God for the work of these disciples.
If it were not for the fact that the one speaking is Jesus, we might discern a bit of surprise in his voice. And, indeed, what has happened is something that we should all feel surprised about: the wise and the intelligent have not been given the gifts of the Kingdom; instead these, as Jesus names them, “infants” of the faith are the ones who are doing the miraculous works. Jesus is not surprised, of course, but he names a source of joyful surprise amid the disciples whose works have become effectual in spite of their littleness.
The prophetic work we have been considering over the past few readings is arduous. It involves great risk to the prophets and the disciples who do such things. Sometimes, as we saw in yesterday’s reading, it will send those who follow God into places where they are not welcome. But in the places where the word is received and the message heard, miracles emerge—great works of God that we did not think ourselves capable of being proximate to. When that happens, we ought to pause like Jesus does here, lift our faces to heaven, and rejoice in the Holy Spirit.
Ian Edward Caveny serves as pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Alton in south-central Illinois and as an occasional lecturer for the John Martinson Honors Program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Austin, Texas
The Diocese of Mpwapwa –The Anglican Church of Tanzania
