These very solemn words of our Lord demand our attention the more, because his thought is so fully illustrated. They suggest or convey to us three truths.

I. THAT GREAT INIQUITY MAY LOOK FOR SIGNAL PUNISHMENT AT THE HAND OF GOD. Jesus does not intimate that Tyre and Sidon suffered any more than they deserved, that Sodom had a retribution which was in the smallest degree out of proportion to its guilt. These cities deserved their doom; they sowed the wind, and reaped the whirlwind. That which happened to them was exactly what they might have expected; and it is just what such cities as they were may always look for. It does not require a desolating army or a miraculous storm to bring disastrous evil upon the head of shameful wrong. Without such particular instruments as these, the blow which slays and buries will certainly descend. If destruction comes not on the wings of one wind, it will come on those of another; whether we think of the vicious city or the profligate man, we may be sure that great guilt will, sooner or later, work out the downfall and extinction of the evil-doer. By human history and the record of the lives of men, as well as by the sacred page, "the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness of men;" they cannot and will not "escape the judgment of God."

II. THAT NEITHER SWIFTNESS NOR APPARENT SEVERITY IN PUNISHMENT IS A SURE CRITERION OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CRIME. Destruction had come down suddenly and terribly on Sodom; Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida were still existing, and were still rejoicing in outward prosperity. Was the ancient city so much guiltier in God's sight than the (then) modern towns of Galilee? No, replied the great Teacher. Had these ruined cities of a former age enjoyed such privileges as the citizens of his own time were possessing but neglecting, they would have repented and would have been spared. We must take care how we argue from sudden and severe evils to the relative guiltiness of the sufferers. These evils may clearly indicate wrong; they may (though in some cases they do not) indicate very great wrong-doing; but they do not prove that those on whom they descend are more guilty than others who are spared.

1. God may think well, in one case, to manifest his holiness by severe visitation, and in another case to illustrate his patience by delaying long the stroke of justice.

2. God may punish one city (or man) by physical and visible inflictions; he may chastise another by letting his moral laws do their appointed work, and bring down the men themselves to that low spiritual estate which is the saddest and direst consequence of sin.

III. THAT PRIVILEGE IS VERY PRECIOUS, BUT IT IS ALSO VERY PERILOUS. Capernaum was "exalted to heaven," raised very high indeed in privilege. There the Son of God abode; there he wrought his mightiest works; there he lived his holy, patient, loving life; there he spake his deep, broad, ever-living truths; there God was manifested in power and grace. It was favored above all cities in the height of its spiritual privileges. But it knew not the day of its visitation; it drew not nigh in reverence to its Lord; it rejected his doctrine; it remained afar off from God and heavenly wisdom. And it incurred thereby the Savior's strong condemnation; it accumulated guilt, and laid up for itself wrath against the day of wrath; it was "thrust down to hell" in reproach and retribution. We learn, more particularly:

1. That humility of spirit, rather than reproachfulness of tone, becomes us.

2. That the children of special privilege have great reason for devout heart-searching, lest they should find themselves the heirs of Divine condemnation. - C.

I. THE OBJECT TO WHICH THIS ALLEGATION RELATES — "The kingdom of God."

1. The gospel is designated "the kingdom of God," because it is constituted by God. There is claimed on its behalf, strictly and truly, a Divine origin.

2. The gospel is designated "the kingdom of God," because it is the ordained instrument of God to restore His authority over the minds of men.

II. THE FACT WHICH THE ALLEGATION AFFIRMS. "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you" —

1. In the sacred and inspired writings.

2. In the proclamations and appeals of the ministry.

3. In the conversion of other men.

4. In the partial impressions of your own mind.

III. THE DEPORTMENT WHICH THE ALLEGATION DEPRECATES.

1. Continued carelessness of the truth.

2. Continued rejection of the truth.

(J. Parsons.)

I. WHEN MAY THE KINGDOM OF GOD (OR THE GOSPEL) BE SAID TO COME NIGH TO AN INDIVIDUAL OR A PEOPLE?

1. When it comes within the hearing of the ear.

2. When it reaches the understanding.

3. When it gains access to the conscience.

II. WHY THE GOSPEL SALVATION IS BROUGHT NIGH TO SOME WHO ARE FINALLY LOST.

(D. A. Clark.)

To "shake off the dust of their feet" as a witness against any city which had wholly rejected their message, signified that they had no more part or lot with the inhabitants — that they would retain nothing of theirs, no, not so much as what accidentally cleaved to their sandals. This was one of the many outward significant symbolical acts of which the special messengers of God made constant use. Thus Jeremiah put on a yoke, and hid a girdle by the side of the Euphrates; thus Agabus bound St. Paul's girdle round his own hands and feet; and Paul himself and Barnabas on one occasion used this very sign of shaking off the dust of their feet against the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia, who had rejected God's word spoken by their mouth. We have given up altogether the use of such signs, and I believe have lost much by our rejection of them.

(M. F. Sadler.)

The Rev. William Grimshaw, an early Methodist of eccentric manner, frequently would preach before the doors of such as neglected the parish worship. "If you will not come to hear me at the church," he would say on these occasions, "you shall hear me at home; if you perish, you shall perish with the sound of the gospel in your ears."

(G. Stevens.)

Jesus, Martha, MaryBethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, Jericho, Jerusalem, Road to Jerusalem, Sidon, Sodom, TyreBetter, Endurable, Sodom, Tolerable, Town1. Jesus sends out at once seventy disciples to work miracles, and to preach;
13. pronounces a woe against certain cities.
17. The seventy return with joy;
18. he shows them wherein to rejoice,
21. and thanks his Father for his grace;
23. magnifies the happy estate of his church;
25. teaches the lawyer how to attain eternal life,
30. and tells the parable of the good Samaritan;
38. reprimands Martha, and commends Mary her sister.

Luke 10:12

     2363   Christ, preaching and teaching
     4275   Sodom and Gomorrah

Luke 10:1-12

     2012   Christ, authority
     7953   mission, of church

Luke 10:11-16

     9240   last judgment

Luke 10:12-15

     2333   Christ, attitude to OT
     6750   sin-bearer

Definiteness of Purpose in Christian Work
TEXT: "Salute no man by the way."--Luke 10:4. Luke is the only one of the Evangelists giving us the account of the sending out of the seventy. The others tell us that Christ called certain men unto him and commissioned them to tell his story; but in this instance after Jesus had said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head," he calls the seventy and sends them forth prepared to endure any sacrifice or suffer any affliction if only …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

October 28 Evening
The Enemy.--LUKE 10:19. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.--Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 14 Evening
Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.--LUKE 10:41. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap. Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not. Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content . . . They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 9 Evening
One thing is needful.--LUKE 10:42. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.--O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 8. "Pray Ye Therefore" (Luke x. 2).
"Pray Ye therefore" (Luke x. 2). Prayer is the mighty engine that is to move the missionary work. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His harvest." We are asking God to touch the hearts of men every day by the Holy Ghost, so that they shall be compelled to go abroad and preach the Gospel. We are asking Him to wake them up at night with the solemn conviction that the heathen are perishing, and that their blood will be upon their souls, and God is answering …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Good Samaritan
LUKE x. 33, 34. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. No words, perhaps, ever spoken on earth, have had more effect than those of this parable. They are words of power and of spirit; living words, which have gone forth into the hearts and lives of men, and borne fruit in them of a hundred …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

The Tables Turned: the Questioners Questioned
'But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Messengers: their Equipment and Work
'After these things, the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place whither He Himself would come. 2. Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. 3. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. 5. And into whatsoever …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Neighbours Far Off
'And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26. He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27. And he, answering, said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Sanctification
SANCTIFICATION [1] St Luke x. 42.--"One thing is needful." I have read many writings both of heathen philosophers and inspired prophets, ancient and modern, and have sought earnestly to discover what is the best and highest quality whereby man may approach most nearly to union with God, and whereby he may most resemble the ideal of himself which existed in God, before God created men. And after having thoroughly searched these writings as far as my reason may penetrate, I find no higher quality than …
Johannes Eckhart—Meister Eckhart's Sermons

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 16, "He that Rejecteth You Rejecteth Me. "
1. What our Lord Jesus Crist at that time spake to His disciples was put in writing, and prepared for us to hear. And so we have heard His words. For what profit would it be to us if He were seen, and were not heard? And now it is no hurt, that He is not seen, and yet is heard. He saith then, "He that despiseth you, despiseth Me." [3300] If to the Apostles only He said, "He that despiseth you, despiseth Me;" do ye despise us. But if His word reach to us, and He hath called us, and set us in their …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 2, "The Harvest Truly is Plenteous," Etc.
1. By the lesson of the Gospel which has just been read, we are reminded to search what that harvest is of which the Lord says, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest." [3262] Then to His twelve disciples, whom He also named Apostles, He added other seventy-two, and sent them all, as appears from His words, to the harvest then ready. What then was that harvest? For that harvest was not among these …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 38, "And a Certain Woman Named Martha Received Him into Her House," Etc.
1. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ which have just been read out of the Gospel, give us to understand, that there is some one thing for which we must be making, when we toil amid the manifold engagements of this life. Now we make for this as being yet in pilgrimage, and not in our abiding place; as yet in the way, not yet in our country; as yet in longing, not yet in enjoyment. Yet let us make for it, and that without sloth and without intermission, that we may some time be able to reach it. 2. …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Again, on the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 38, Etc. , About Martha and Mary.
1. When the holy Gospel was being read, we heard that the Lord was received by a religious woman into her house, and her name was Martha. And while she was occupied in the care of serving, her sister Mary was sitting at the Lord's Feet, and hearing His Word. The one was busy, the other was still; one was giving out, the other was being filled. Yet Martha, all busy as she was in that occupation and toil of serving, appealed to the Lord, and complained of her sister, that she did not help her in her …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On Dissipation
"This I speak -- that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." 1 Cor. 7:35. 1. Almost in every part of our nation, more especially in the large and populous towns, we hear a general complaint among sensible persons, of the still increasing dissipation. It is observed to diffuse itself more and more, in the court, the city, and the country. From the continual mention which is made of this, and the continual declamations against it, one would naturally imagine that a word so commonly used …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The one Thing Needful
The mere posture of sitting down and listening to the Saviour's word was nothing in itself: it was that which it indicated. It indicated, in Mary's case, a readiness to believe what the Saviour taught, to accept and to obey--nay to delight in, the precepts which fell from his lips. And this is the one thing needful--absolutely needful; for no rebel can enter the kingdom of heaven with the weapons of rebellion in his hands. We cannot know Christ while we resist Christ: we must be reconciled to his …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Good Samaritan
(Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.) S. LUKE x. 30. "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves." The scene of the parable is a wild, lonely road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is a road with an evil name for murder and robbery, and is called the red, or bloody way. The mishap of the traveller was common enough in our Lord's day, and is common enough now. But I would take the scene of this parable in a wider sense; I would ask you to look at it as the wayside of …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

Zeal.
13th Sunday after Trinity. S. Luke x., 23. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" INTRODUCTION.--The Kingdom of Heaven, said our Lord, is like unto a treasure hid in a field. One day a man is turning over the stones which lie in a heap in a corner of the field, and he finds under them an iron chest, and this chest he believes to be full of gold. Then he carefully covers it up again with stones and earth, and goes off in the greatest excitement to the owner of the field, and offers him a price, …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Lorimer -- the Fall of Satan
George C. Lorimer was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1838. He was brought up by his stepfather who was associated with the theater, and in this relation he received a dramatic education and had some experience on the stage. In 1855 he came to the United States, where he joined the Baptist Church and abandoned the theatrical profession. Later he studied for the Baptist ministry, being ordained in 1859. He died in 1904. His direct and dramatic, pulpit style brought him into great popularity in Boston, …
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 8

Question on the Religious State
Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders? Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders? The Lord declared that Mary's was the best part, and she is the type of the contemplative life.[491] Religious Orders differ from one another primarily according to the ends they have in view, but secondarily according to the works they practise. And since one thing cannot be said to be superior to another save by reason of the differences between them, it will follow that the superiority of …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Christian Perfection
Definition of perfection: Unblemished, blameless, pure. We are commanded to be perfect. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."--Matt. 5:48. "For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."--2 Cor. 13:9, 11. "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, …
J. W. Byers—Sanctification

The Christian's Fellow Man
Scripture references: Luke 10:29-37; Matthew 7:12; 5:16; Luke 12:13-15; 1 Corinthians 13; Matthew 7:3-5; 5:42-49; John 21:21, 22. MAN AND OTHER MEN The Question of Relationship.--One of the most important questions is that of the relation which a man shall hold to other men. 1. It is fundamental in every system of philosophy and religion. The answers, which are given, show their widespread practical bearing in the social, industrial and political spheres, as well as in the religious. 2. It is imperative …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Luke 10:12 NIV
Luke 10:12 NLT
Luke 10:12 ESV
Luke 10:12 NASB
Luke 10:12 KJV

Luke 10:12 Bible Apps
Luke 10:12 Parallel
Luke 10:12 Biblia Paralela
Luke 10:12 Chinese Bible
Luke 10:12 French Bible
Luke 10:12 German Bible

Luke 10:12 Commentaries

Bible Hub