What is the meaning of Luke 10:16?

Whoever listens to you listens to Me

• Jesus speaks these words while commissioning the seventy-two (Luke 10:1), underscoring that their message is His own.

• To “listen” means more than hearing; it involves receiving and obeying (cf. Matthew 7:24).

• Christ equates the apostles’ teaching with His voice, giving divine authority to Gospel proclamation (Matthew 10:40; John 13:20).

• When believers today faithfully share Scripture, they function as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), trusting that the Holy Spirit personalizes the appeal to every hearer (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

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whoever rejects you rejects Me

• The Lord warns that refusal of the messengers is refusal of the Messiah Himself (John 15:20).

• Rejection is not merely personal disdain; it is a spiritual verdict against the truth presented (Acts 13:46).

• This parallels God’s word to Samuel: “They have not rejected you, but Me” (1 Samuel 8:7), highlighting a timeless pattern of spurning God-sent representatives.

• Such rejection carries eternal consequences, because salvation is tied to believing the apostolic Gospel (Mark 16:16).

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and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me

• Jesus reveals His unity with the Father; to dismiss the Son is to dismiss the Father (John 5:23; John 12:44-45).

• The verse reaffirms that the Father “sent” the Son (John 3:17), anchoring salvation history in divine initiative.

• Rejecting Christ therefore severs fellowship with God altogether (1 John 2:23), leaving no alternate path to Him (John 14:6).

• Conversely, receiving Christ reconciles the sinner to the Father, fulfilling the purpose for which He was sent (Romans 5:1).

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summary

Luke 10:16 links the authority of Christ’s messengers, Christ Himself, and the Father in an unbreakable chain. Listening to the faithful proclamation of Scripture is listening to Jesus; rejecting that word is rejecting both the Son and the Father. The verse invites wholehearted reception of the Gospel and underscores the solemn weight carried by everyone who proclaims or hears it.