Lambs among wolves

On 14^th March 2010, we were privileged at CDC to have Dr.Matt Rawlins speak on the sending out of the seventy from Luke 10.

In this famous passage, we see the Lord appointing seventy of his disciples, two by two into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. In the sending out, we see in particular the grand strategy of our Lord, who sent out his disciples to first prepare each place for His coming. They were told to go with nothing at all, no food, no money, not even an extra pair of sandals. And they were to look for a house where a son of peace would welcome them. Looking at the amazing logic of Jesus, it made sense because a kind man of such peace would also naturally draw others in the community towards himself. However, the key verse of the text for the morning was Jesus statement : Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves”.

To understand this text, Dr.Matt actually brought us back to the Creation of the world in Genesis, where God first created Adam and Eve, the ancestors of all men. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately felt shame and sought to hide themselves from God, but God asked them “Where are you? Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not to eat?” Throughout the Gospels, who asked the most questions? It was Jesus, of course! Asking questions was one of God’s primary way of communicating with his people. And it is the best way that we can learn, by being curious, by asking….. Little children learn so much just by asking Daddy and Mummy and Teacher – Why and what and where and who? However, as we grow older, the education system actually starts to teach us the opposite – to ask less questions, but to simply accept what is taught, memorize and churn it out during exams.

Adam responded “The woman whom You gave to be with me gave me the fruit and I ate it.” In effect, Adam was not just blaming Eve, but also blaming God! In analyzing the response of Adam, we begin to understand the natural defensiveness that all of us have as human beings. There is a natural tendency to deflect blame from ourselves, a sort of self-protection mechanism inborn in us. It can be used for good, and should have been used in dealing with the serpent, but at the same time, it can cause us to walk down the path of disaster, by not facing our shortcomings honestly.

However, when Jesus sent out his disciples with nothing, like lamb among wolves, it was challenging them to do the opposite of defensiveness. They were going out completely defenseless, and just depend on God to provide all their needs and indeed God did.

The main lesson of this passage is that we must learn to let go of our natural defensiveness with God, but to open ourselves to Him in honesty and really be ourselves with Him and let Him use us as we are, in spite of our weaknesses, in spite of our shortcomings. With God, the helpless lamb is in fact more powerful than the powerful, dangerous wolf.

May the Lord help us learn to trust Him like that, as a sheep trust their Shepherd, even through the valleys of the shadow of death. In Jesus name, Amen.