Bowl Of Cherries

Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. 

Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ 

Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.” (Luke 10:1-12)

Jesus is the new Moses.  Jesus appointed 72 disciples. Not by coincidence, Moses had appointed 70 elders (Numbers 11:16-18): "Then the LORD said to Moses: Assemble for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the tent of meeting. When they are in place beside you, I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will confer it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you…”    

Using the Moses theme, Gospel writers determined the 12 apostles from the 12 “scouts” of Moses (Numbers 13:1-15):  The LORD said to Moses: Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, which I am giving the Israelites. You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe, every one a leader among them. So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, at the direction of the LORD. All of them were leaders among the Israelites. These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal; for the Josephites, from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, son of Sodi; for the Josephites, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur, son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, son of Vophsi; from the tribe of Gad, Geuel, son of Machi.  These were the 12 tribes of the Israelites.

“Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves” is another memorable passage.  We’re reminded of Isaiah 11:6-9 that reads: "Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall graze, together their young shall lie down; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the viper’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea."

I always thought the “lambs among wolves” statement meant the disciples would be in danger during their journeys.  Now I believe the Isaiah link indicates otherwise: “The wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, etc.” meaning the disciples will encounter peace.  But if not, shake off the dust and then move on to the next peaceful encounter.

We should do the same.  Seek and promote peace, but when it cannot be found, move on to start again.  Life is not always a bowl of cherries.  People let us down.  But life is short, so seek out and find the cherries and spit out the pits.

Deacon David Pierce