We have all heard someone say, “I have good news and bad news.” When confronted with such a choice, most of us will say, “Give me the bad news first.” We want to get it over with. It’s easier to listen to bad news when we know some good news will follow it. 

In Luke 10:10–16, the Lord has some good news and some bad news for a group of seventy disciples. They don’t ask Him to give them the bad news first, but He does. 

Christ is sending these seventy men to all the towns in Israel. They are to tell the people in these towns that Jesus is the Christ. He is offering the kingdom of God to that generation of Jews. 

These seventy men were believers. I’m sure they were excited about what the Lord was sending them to do. They probably thought the people would be thrilled to hear their message. 

However, the Lord has some bad news. He speaks of towns that will reject the message these men bring. We can guess why people would refuse to listen. The nation’s religious leaders had proclaimed that Jesus was a false teacher. The miracles that He and His disciples had done were said to be done by the power of Satan (Matt 12:24). Jesus had not gone to the approved religious educational institutions. He was from a poor family in an insignificant town in Galilee. Many people would mock these seventy men when they said that Jesus was the king of an eternal and righteous kingdom. 

These disciples of the Lord were to rebuke the rebels in the strongest way possible. They were to stand in a public place and shake the dust off their feet. This was a sign that God was going to judge these towns. This judgment would be worse than what happened to notorious pagan cities such as Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon. Those pagan cities were enemies of God, and the towns in Israel had made themselves God’s enemies when they rejected the news that Jesus was the King (Luke 10:10–15).

As these seventy men heard these words, we can imagine what they thought. They would have to tell their fellow countrymen, and in some cases their neighbors, that God was going to destroy them. That is exactly what happened in AD 70, when the Romans severely punished the nation and scattered the Jews among the nations. The capital of the country would be burned to the ground. Around one million Jews would be killed. Who would like to tell their friends that such events would take place? 

That was certainly bad news. It was made all the worse because these men thought they were bringing great news to the nation. I am sure they were depressed and discouraged when they heard what Jesus said. 

But then the Lord gave them the good news. When they went to these rebellious cities, they went as servants of the King. The Lord tells these men that they should not take the rejection personally. The people were not rejecting them. They were rejecting Him. When they pronounced the coming judgment, they were speaking for the Lord (10:16). 

Christ told the seventy that they were partners with the King when their fellow Jews rejected them. What a privilege it was to share His suffering. 

We are not the seventy. We are not sent to Israel to offer the nation the kingdom of God. But in one obvious way, all believers are like these men. After believing in Jesus for eternal life, believers are given the opportunity to serve Him as disciples. If we are faithful as disciples, He will reward us by making us great in His kingdom. 

And if we decide to follow Him in discipleship, the Lord has good news and bad news. The bad news is that the world will hate us and our message. Like the seventy, we will experience opposition. 

The good news is that we will be serving the King. We will be doing His work. The good news makes hearing the bad news a piece of cake (2 Cor 4:17).