Jesus told them not to rejoice in the fact that the demons were subject to them, but that their names were recorded in heaven. Luke 10:1,17, 20
Later in chapter 10, Martha implored Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help her with serving the guests.
Jesus pointed out that Mary had made a good choice to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to His word. (v.39)
It strikes me as important that wedged between the story of the seventy returning, and Martha imploring Jesus, we read the story of the good Samaritan. This made me wonder why the good Samaritan story was told by Jesus at this point between the reinforcement of two truths.
The story of the robbery victim was a picture-story that Jesus used to demonstrate neighbourly behaviour. It is a picture of faith in action, and followed the question of the lawyer, "Who is my neighbour?" (v.29)
The priest and the Levite, both who were expected to be men demonstrating faith in action, failed to act on what was good. The one who was supposedly the enemy was the one who acted in love.
Martha was distracted and failed to recognise what was best - to listen to the word of God from the very mouth of the Creator Himself! The seventy missed the important point - their names are recorded in the Book of Life!
But the Samaritan did not miss it. He was a reflection of God's love in action: he had his eye on the ball.
I recently read another account of God's love in action - someone who did not miss the point; I think it's worth reproducing here. It's a short interchange between an evangelist and a self-proclaimed atheist.
I've taken this from an online forum "Philippians1v21" at https://philippians1v21.wordpress.com/about/. I'm not endorsing Jake McWhirter's forum because I don't know enough about him, but I see from this exchange that he loves his neighbour and has kept his eye on what is important. (I've edited it slightly for brevity).
The striking point in this exchange is the love that the evangelist has for someone who is appearing as the enemy through personal attack, but deep down, he's not the true enemy...
Keep your eye on the ball. Remember what really matters, that your name is in the Lamb's Book of Life, that the Word of God is Living and Active, and that the Lord of the Harvest desires to send each of us out as labourers to our neighbours to prepare for His harvest.
Luke 10:2 ... "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.Heb. 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Rev. 20:15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Images: http://manaylab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/keep-your-eye-on-the-ball.gif
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/14/54/60/145460f0b09e6be6447588dc4ef22fed.jpg
Master Atheistic,
You may certainly deplore my “gullibility” and “childlike idiocy” if you want, but why do you care? What is it to you? If I am gullible and childlike, why does that anger you? It does not anger or upset me that you do not believe in Jesus. It simply doesn’t affect me... Why does this produce such a reaction in you? I am sure that you believe differently than many people on other things that don’t illicit this vulgar and critical of (sic) a response from you. There is something unique, though, about this particular issue, isn’t there? ...
I might suggest that there is something else below the surface here that creates this visceral reaction in you. As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, “He doth protest too much, me thinks!” Is there perhaps even a nugget in what I have written that you know deep down is true, and that you are trying to overcome by your attack of anyone who accepts this truth? It’s something for you to think on and consider. If you say this isn’t the case, how do you explain to yourself why it upsets you that I believe in Jesus? You and I may disagree on other points as well (like who’s the better football team, or if the dress is white/gold or blue/black, or if Coldplay is a good band, or if Lost is a good TV show... But I doubt any of these issues would cause you to write a complete stranger calling them a “gullible, childlike idiot"...
You are welcome to share your perspective and opinion here as long as you can do so in a manner that displays mutual respect and civil dialog. It is natural and expected that we don’t all agree on these issues. This is ok, and everyone should be entitled to their opinion. You won’t see me attacking another individual for their beliefs here. I will not allow others to do so, either. If you can’t contribute intellectually, or within the framework of logical discourse, then I will certainly not allow your comments to be posted here. It is NEVER fair or valid debate to claim someone’s ideas are untrue, and to support this claim by merely attacking their character, their intelligence, or their person...
I certainly don’t hate you or wish you ill will. I wish you the best, and desire nothing but good for you. I don’t deplore you for not believing the same way as I do...