#69 Lu. 9:10 REPORTING IN TO JESUS Introduction: In verses 1-6 Luke told about Jesus sending out the twelve apostles. In verses 7-9 he talked about Herod the Tetrarch and his reaction to the news of Jesus. In our text today he tells about the twelve returning from their mission and reporting in to Jesus. I. A quick review of the assignment Jesus gave the apostles Jesus had sent the apostles out in pairs. Since there were twelve men that means that there were six pairs. They were sent to the cities and villages of Israel. They were told to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They were not to go into Gentile cities and villages. They were given power and authority over demon spirits and over all lmanner of disease. They were to use their power and authority to cast demons out and to heal the sick. Yet the chief objective of the apostles was to preach the gospel. The apostles were to take no provisions with them for their journey. Neither were they to take money with them for the purchase of provisions. If some city or village should not receive them then they were to shake the very dust off their feet and move on to some other place where they might be well received. This was to be a testimony in the day of jugment against the people of the people of the town which rejected them. II. Their meeting back with Jesus V. 10, And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida." Luke does not give the details of this meeting. Perhaps Jesus listened without interruption. Perhaps He asked specific questions which they were required to answer. Keep in mind that Jesus did not need their report in order to learn what had taken place. He did not need to ask questions. Jesus would know all about their travels whether or not they would tell Him anything. Jesus wanted them to report to Him in order that He might impress cupn them that He held them accountable for carrying out the mission that He assigned in the manner that He had instructed. The apostles must have been anxious to to see Jesus. This was their first time to be away from Him since they had begun to follow Him. It would be a joy to see His face and hear His voice again. It must have also been a very joyous experience for Jesus to see them. He loved them and would be very happy to see them. It must have also been a joy for the apostles to see one another. They had been sent out in pairs. This would mean that there were ten of the apostles that they had not had the privilege of fellowshipping with during the time of their journey. They loved one another and surely missed one another. It would, therefore, be a joy to meet and clasp one another by the hand and perhaps embrace in a very warm Christian friendship. Over in chapter ten, verse seventeen when the seventy later reported in to Jesus on a similar occassion, they seemed overjoyed that demon spirits had been subject to them and that they were able to cast demons out and healed the sick. The apostles must have also been just as joyous for the same reason. They had witnessed Jesus casting out demons and healing the sick and afflicted. Now, for the first time, they have done the same thing. Can you imagine the excitment of it as two of them would say to Jesus, "We went into such and such cities and were well received by the people. They were anxious to hear the gospel and we healed lots of people"? Can you imagine others saying, others saying, " We went to such and such a city and were insulted and abused. We shook the dust off our feet and left as you instructed us to do"? For the most part this meeting must have been very joyous, but there is the possibility that some of the questions which Jesus asked were embarassing to them. If some of them were neglegent in carrying out the mission which Jesus had assigned then they would have been embarassed at the answers they would have to give. For the life of me I cannot imagine any of the apostles saying, "Lord, we did not even attempt to do what you told us to do. Instead we went over to Joppa to the beaches and we had a wonderful vacation." Nor can I imagine some saying, "We went up into the mountains and we really enjoyed it. The scenery up there is just beautiful." No. They all had at least attempted to do what the Lord had told them to do. III. A meeting yet in the future The Lord has sent us on a mission. Some day we must report in to Jesus and give account to Him. No doubt there will bemuch joy for us on this occassion. Whereas the apostles were seeing Jesus for their first time in a while, we will be seeing Jesus for our very first time. We will also be seeing the apostles and others for the very first time. We will be seeing fellow Christian whom we have known here on earth that we have not seen for quite some while. We will see Christians whom we have let to Christ. We will meet some Christians who were led to Christ by some missionary whom we helped to support. There will be much joy for all. There will be a special joy for some. Some will hear the Lord say to them, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." I think I can safely say that this is what all of us would like to hear Him say to us. Yet there will be a noticable absencene of some. Judas, for instance, will not be there. No doubt, some of the people we have witness to and prayed for will not be there. There might even be somebody who is present in this service who will not be there. They have heard the gospel but they neglected to believe it and they will not be there. There is one thing about that occassion which may not be so joyful for us. We may be embarrased that some of the people to whom we had opportunity to witness and failed to do so will not be there. What would make it even more embarassing to us would be for Jesus to ask us, "Why did you not witness to so-and-so? Why did you not tell him about me and tell him how to be saved? That could be very embarrassing for us. Conclusion: Listen! I am calling on all who are lost to turn to Jesus and put your trust and faith in Him as your Savior. I am calling on you today to get prepared to meet God. I am calling on you to get saved right here right now. I am also calling on all who are saved to commit yourself to faithfully serve Jesus. Turn to Jesus right now and surrender yourself to Him who has saved your soul.