Jesus has his followers pray for harvesters and sends them out to proclaim the Gospel. They return and are enthusiastic because "even the demons submit to us in your name".
There are similarities and differences to when Jesus sent out the twelve. The similarities involve the format:
- he has them first pray about the harvest
- take little provisions
- rely on the hospitality of those they meet
- shake off the dust of their feet if they meet someone hostile to the Gospel. (this probably is how Jesus "cursed" the Samaritan town when the disciples suggested incineration)
As for differences:
- the numbers - the twelve involved the core disciples. Here, there is a least of crowd of 72 people that Jesus entrusts and anoints with his power.
- the initial 12 was exclusively male, but here, the group of 72 might involve women. The Bible is silent as to their identity.
- the text includes the reaction of the 72 - they're happy. When the twelve returned, the story immediately transitioned to the aftermath of the death of John the Baptist and the feeding of the 5,000.
We also get some more detail on what Jesus did before the incarnation and appearance on earth. He does not talk about this time period much, but he does here. As it turns out, he saw "Satan fall like lightning from the sky to earth". Wow.
Jesus cautions them that they (the 72) should not rejoice that they the demons submit to them, but rather that their names are written in Heaven. I see few things here.
First, if we presume that Judas Iscariot was in this crowd, since he was when the 12 went out, that means that Judas' name is written in Heaven.
Second, the ultimate goal of spiritual warfare (casting out demons) is to bring people to Jesus and that brings joy. If one loses track of this and gets too obsessed with the casting out the demons part of it, things can go haywire.
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