The Gospel for this Fourth Sunday after Pentecost is the account of the sending forth of the seventy (seventy-two in some manuscripts) from Luke 10:1-20. When we think of Jesus' followers in the New Testament, we usually focus on the Twelve. The Twelve are certainly important, but we should remember that there are others involved in Christ's mission from the beginning.
The mission of the Seventy is to prepare localities for the personal ministry of Jesus. On this preparatory mission, the disciples travel lightly and bring the message of repentance and faith in the kingdom of God. They also do deeds of healing and mercy. They are warned not to expect universal success. Some people and some places will not be open to Christ and His message. In such cases, the disciples are not to waste their time and energy. Rather, they are to warn people of the dangers of rejecting Christ and move on to minister elsewhere.
In our time, Christians still have a similar mission. We still try to prepare people to receive Jesus Christ. We continue to perform deeds of mercy and call people to repentance and religious faith in Christ and His kingdom. Yet, we also recognize that everyone will not be open to the Gospel. So at times, we must simply warn people of spiritual danger and move on. Finally, as Christ tells the disciples in Luke 10:20, we should not rejoice in our external successes, "but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
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