Sunday, July 6, 2025
Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church
308 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036
Lambs in the Midst of Wolves (or “Satan and Snakes and Scorpions, Oh my!)
[NOTE: This Sermon was preached also in a slightly different way at The United Church of Santa Fe on Sunday, June 29, 2025. *The Greek and English texts may be found at the end of the Sermon.*]
Preface
The followers of Jesus are born in a time of oppression, terror and despotism. We came into being as a loving community — a community of love whose ancestors in faith lived and proclaimed that the Eternal One, the One who made the heavens and the earth, the one who will meet us as the end of time, that one who lives with us and in us and through us now — that One implores us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Time after time, throughout history, we have lived and proclaimed this message — especially in times and places where tyrants pretend to the throne of the Eternal, where despots seek desperately to stand with feet upon the necks and throats of the poor, the sick, the needy, the ordinary, the humanity — and raising themselves up while all others they press lower and lower into the depths.
Time after time, we who follow Jesus have proclaimed love and peace and hope — even as the Pretenders seek to discredit, lie, threaten, torture, imprison, or worse — even then, we will not be stopped.
It is indeed as Bishop Desmon Tutu (1931-2921) wrote “Goodness is stronger than evil.” (see the conclusion of the Sermon.
— BLIII
+ In nomine Domini. Amen.
So — the very first question is: was it seventy followers that Jesus sent ahead or was it seventy-two? The reading we just heard (as well as the one in your bulletin, as well as the one in most Bibles) has it as “seventy.”
If you look in your Bibles you will read: “After this, the Lord appointed seventy others -” and then there should be a little footnote, mine has a small letter “d” — and the footnote reads: “Other ancient authorities read seventy-two.
So was it seventy, or was it seventy-two?
Greek is the language of the New Testament and there are some 5,800 manuscripts in Greek containing the books of the New Testament in various forms. Of those 5,800 manuscripts there are about 2,000 in which the Gospels are contained [Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.] And in those 2,000 manuscripts, the number of those sent out in Luke’s story is about equally divided —half read seventy, and half read seventy-two.
What happens is this: the New Testament in your Bible is the translation of the Greek Text, and to put it as simply as I can, the Greek Text is an agreed upon text — and while this has changed a bit throughout time as more and more manuscripts were found, the main thing is that it is produced by an Academic Committee or Committees.
What is the classical joke? “a camel is a horse designed by a committee.” Well, one might say that the New Testament is a book put together by a committee.
The members of the committee, incredibly talented Biblical Scholars, look at the readings and when there is a choice, the committee takes a vote.
What the committee decided for verse 1 of the 10th chapter of Luke’s Gospel in the Greek text is to print ἑβδομήκοντα (“seventy”) and [δυο] (“two”); but the committee put the [δυο] in “[ ]” (brackets). So, when you open your Greek New Testament to Luke 10.1 (as I did the last two weeks, many times) you have a choice: you can translate that as “seventy” or you can translate it “seventy [two]” — either way.
That is the answer to the first question.
The second question is: does it make any difference‽
No, absolutely not — but it does make a difference how we translate the word the author of Luke’s Gospel chose just before: and that word is ἀνέδειξεν.
I hold in my hand a book in the Cambridge Greek Testament series. It is specifically the Gospel of Luke. This book, and several others, came to me from Dr. Gladys H. Freed (of blessed memory) who was my Greek Professor at Susquehanna University, and from whom I learned the ancient Greek language which I love and adore to this day. I was, as I found out when I changed my Major from Philosophy to Greek, that I was the only Greek major on campus. This helped me when I first met Beverly. We met somewhere on campus and she was wearing her Kappa Delta Sorority Sweatshirt. I read aloud the words printed on the fabric: τα καλα διωκομεν! Bev asked, “Do you know what means?” And I said, “Yes — let us strive for the finest, the most beautiful, things.” She asked, “How do you know that?” I said, “Because I’m a Greek Major.” Well after that, let us just say that I am still a student of the Greek Language, and Beverly and I are still married, 55 years later.
Dr. Freed, before she died, sent me a number of her books explaining in a letter that these were her “friends” and she wanted them to have a good home. I was and am deeply touched by this gift.
Back to the word in Luke 10.1 before the seventy/seventy-two.
As I opened St. Luke in the Cambridge Greek Testament series (this very book Dr. Freed used to teach us how to translate the Greek of Luke’s Gospel) in verse one that word ἀνέδειξεν she underlined and in pencil in the margin wrote the definition: appoint.
Why? Because Dr. Freed wanted us, her students, to understand clearly that Luke wants us understand clearly that the followers of Jesus (like you, like me, like us) are not just summoned or gathered together— they/we are appointed; they are given a task.
And then (word following the 70/72) they are ἀπέστειλεν — we get the word “apostle” from it; it means “send out”. Followers of Jesus are sent out! They are not just a collection of warm and loving people who gather around Jesus, who follow him hither and yon, leaning on his every word, receiving his every blessing, capturing his every loving and forgiving and uplifting and assuring moment — no, they are released into the world. That’s the whole meaning of this part of Luke’s Gospel, maybe of the Gospel itself!
The old Mass in Latin ended with the priest saying to the people: Ite! Missa est!
Missa is where the word “Mass” comes from; it’s really not that exotic, but it’s that direct! Ite! Missa est! is always translated, “Go, the Mass has ended.” But literally it means: Go! You are Sent! (or) Go! It is the Sending!
Every liturgy, every act of worship ends in a sending. We do not remain here after the Benediction, we are released into the world.
With a message of Good News, of Hope and Promise and Love and Forgiveness and Peace.
Two weeks ago in Santa Fe, NM where we live was the Pride Parade. How many people, how many different, wonderful, beloved people walked in that parade, and not just in Santa Fe! It was indeed a Rainbow Sea of People — LGBTQ+ we say: how more inclusive can you get? Well, if you follow Jesus, you know the answer, it’s out there, not hiding inside.
The arms of the church are to be open [like this] not closed [like this].
I remember in our parish we used to print up little brochures for PRIDE Weekend. On the outside page was printed in LARGE CAPITAL LETTERS:
WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY?
And when you opened up the brochure, the inside pages were — blank!
On the back page was printed simply: “That’s right, Jesus never said anything about homosexuality; BUT, he had a lot to say about: Love, Inclusiveness, Acceptance, Forgiveness and more.” And then there was an invitation to come to worship and so forth where one would be welcome no matter what.
I remember one young woman came up, looked at the brochure and [thinking it was going to be another Biblical Condemnation of who she was] sort of scrunched her face in disgust. “Take one,” I said, “Open it and read it.” So she did, and her eyes opened wide and she laughed and smiled and actually wept. “How many of these can I have?” she asked, “I’m going to a family gathering next week — you would not believe how toxic it is and what a chance I’m taking.” She took 100 brochures.
Jesus warns his followers that it’s not going to be easy. There will be difficulties. “Lambs you will be, and there are wolves out there.” I remember thinking as that young woman took those brochures that she was indeed a lamb going to a family dinner with every one around the table looking at her (and her partner‽) like hungry wolves.
※ § ※
So, what is the SENDING supposed to look like (if we read this story) (and believe it)? Don’t take a lot of things with you! Be simple, be humble, be receptive, be peaceful, speak peace — and not just “to the house” — but to the people inside the house! We often forget that. During the Greeting of Peace, when we turn to each other and say, Peace be With you, Blessings, however we do it — we have to mean it! It’s not just a handshake, or a gesture, it’s a gift — we give each other peace.
Think of that! Where else this week or last week did you, could you get a gift of peace? It’s not a peaceful time — just open up the newspaper each morning, turn on the morning news, listen to NPR — there are demons out there, narcissistic most of them, who care not one whit for “Love God, Love Neighbor, Love Creation” — not one whit. Instead they would draw God into their own creation, as they drop lethalities and deadliness upon their global neighbors; as they vote on and pass a bill for billionaires, trampling down the poor, the needy, the ordinary — what kind of fireworks celebration is that‽
That’s not the Gospel at all. When you and I go out into the world, meaning here and now, we must say that, we must speak that truth, if we are followers of Jesus!
※ § ※
Now, here comes one of my favourite parts of the Gospels. What happened? What was the result?
The seventy [two] come back and report in μετὰ χαρᾶς says the Greek, “with JOY!”
“Even the demons submitted,” they say, “in your name.” Aha! It’s not because of anything we do by ourselves that evil is conquered, but only by the power of love given to us by the one who sends us! That’s the Gospel.
Jesus responds, “Yes! I watched as τὸν Σατανᾶν lit. “The Tempter” [Satan] fell from heaven like a flash of lightning. [Think of that the next time you see lightning and hear thunder — you will automatically remember this text!]
And then this — and you must know by now that I’m just drawn to the strange and weird and wonderful things in Scripture, especially the strange and weird and wonderful in Greek and Hebrew.
Jesus says: “See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.”1
You know what an earworm is, also called “stuck music syndrome” or involuntary musical imagery (INMI) — that piece of music, just a few bars of a song, that goes around and around in your head. All week long the earworm in my head has been: “Satan and Snakes and Scorpions, oh my! Satan and Snakes and Scorpions, oh my!”
There is an offshoot of Christian Worship devoted to snakes. You can go and look it up this afternoon in Wikipedia™: “Snake Handling in Christianity.” Οφις is the word in Greek for snake, and as far back as the 2nd Century CE, the Ophites2 of Gnostic Sects handled snakes during their worship. The practice of snake handling crept (no pun intended) into American Christianity around 1910 in the South. And today there are maybe 50-100 congregations whose worship is built around this practice — based upon a serpentine (pun intended) reading of this verse [Luke 10.19].
My brothers and sisters, THIS VERSE IS NOT TO BE READ OR TAKEN LITERALLY! It is a figure of speech. It means that the followers of Jesus are given power by Jesus to conquer evil, to trample it under foot (as it were), to rise above it. It is the power from God, from Jesus, from the Spirit.
My dear friend (of blessed memory) Fr. Richard Murphy (who was the Rector of St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, a colleague, beloved friend, and of course a fellow-Irish (even though his family was from the North and mine from the Republic), I miss him deeply — he once told told the story of bringing Desmond Tutu (Bishop of the Anglican Church of South Africa) from the airport to General Theological Seminary in New York3, where Dick was a student. Tutu was exhausted. He had spent the entire day at the United Nations, trying to persuade the assembly against Apartheid and more. There at the Seminary he rose to address the gathered Seminarians and visitors and many more. He took a long time to begin, said my friend; and after putting his head nearly down on the podium, he began to laugh — quietly at first and then louder and louder. Soon the laugher filled the whole assembly as everyone began to laugh louder and louder. And then, finally, Tutu began to speak: “You know what?” he said, “They don’t know. They don’t understand. We have already won. The victory is ours!”
And there it is: Satan, Snakes, Scorpions, the Narcissistic Pretenders to the Kingdom — all mean nothing! We have already won. What we must do now is to go out, be sent, and tell the story.
Tutu wrote a hymn and I want us to sing it together as we end this Sermon together, as we remember that when this liturgy ends, we join our ancestors of faith back in the 1st Century, they were 70 or 72, but now we join them and we are SENT OUT, let us sing together “Goodness is Stronger than Evil” — we will sing it through twice.
Goodness is stronger than evil; Love is stronger than hate; Light is stronger than darkness; Life is stronger than death; Victory is ours, victory is ours through Him who loves us. Victory is ours, victory is ours through Him who loves us.
And let us all say: Amen.
Deo Gratias (+) The Rev. Benjamin Larzelere III, Retired
1ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν τὴν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων
2From the Greek οφις
3440 W 21st St, New York City, NY 10011-2981 www.gts.edu
LUKE 10.1-11, 16-20
1 Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἀνέδειξεν ὁ κύριος ἑτέρους ἑβδομήκοντα [δύο], καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς ἀνὰ δύο [δύο] πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ εἰς πᾶσαν πόλιν καὶ τόπον οὗ ἤμελλεν αὐτὸς ἔρχεσθαι.2 ἔλεγεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς, Ὁ μὲν θερισμὸς πολύς, οἱ δὲ ἐργάται ὀλίγοι· δεήθητε οὖν τοῦ κυρίου τοῦ θερισμοῦ ὅπως ἐργάτας ἐκβάλῃ εἰς τὸν θερισμὸν αὐτοῦ.3 ὑπάγετε· ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω ὑμᾶς ὡς ἄρνας ἐν μέσῳ λύκων.4 μὴ βαστάζετε βαλλάντιον, μὴ πήραν, μὴ ὑποδήματα, καὶ μηδένα κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἀσπάσησθε.5 εἰς ἣν δ’ ἂν εἰσέλθητε οἰκίαν, πρῶτον λέγετε, Εἰρήνη τῷ οἴκῳ τούτῳ.6 καὶ ἐὰν ἐκεῖ ᾖ υἱὸς εἰρήνης, ἐπαναπαήσεται ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἡ εἰρήνη ὑμῶν· εἰ δὲ μή γε, ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἀνακάμψει.7 ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ οἰκίᾳ μένετε, ἐσθίοντες καὶ πίνοντες τὰ παρ’ αὐτῶν, ἄξιος γὰρ ὁ ἐργάτης τοῦ μισθοῦ αὐτοῦ. μὴ μεταβαίνετε ἐξ οἰκίας εἰς οἰκίαν.8 καὶ εἰς ἣν ἂν πόλιν εἰσέρχησθε καὶ δέχωνται ὑμᾶς, ἐσθίετε τὰ παρατιθέμενα ὑμῖν,9 καὶ θεραπεύετε τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ ἀσθενεῖς, καὶ λέγετε αὐτοῖς, Ἤγγικεν ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ.10 εἰς ἣν δ’ ἂν πόλιν εἰσέλθητε καὶ μὴ δέχωνται ὑμᾶς, ἐξελθόντες εἰς τὰς πλατείας αὐτῆς εἴπατε,11 Καὶ τὸν κονιορτὸν τὸν κολληθέντα ἡμῖν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ὑμῶν εἰς τοὺς πόδας ἀπομασσόμεθα ὑμῖν· πλὴν τοῦτο γινώσκετε ὅτι ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ.
16 Ὁ ἀκούων ὑμῶν ἐμοῦ ἀκούει, καὶ ὁ ἀθετῶν ὑμᾶς ἐμὲ ἀθετεῖ· ὁ δὲ ἐμὲ ἀθετῶν ἀθετεῖ τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με.17 Ὑπέστρεψαν δὲ οἱ ἑβδομήκοντα [δύο] μετὰ χαρᾶς λέγοντες, Κύριε, καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια ὑποτάσσεται ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου.18 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτοῖς, Ἐθεώρουν τὸν Σατανᾶν ὡς ἀστραπὴν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πεσόντα.19 ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν τὴν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, καὶ οὐδὲν ὑμᾶς οὐ μὴ ἀδικήσῃ.20 πλὴν ἐν τούτῳ μὴ χαίρετε ὅτι τὰ πνεύματα ὑμῖν ὑποτάσσεται, χαίρετε δὲ ὅτι τὰ ὀνόματα ὑμῶν ἐγγέγραπται ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!’ 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’
The following verses are omitted in the Reading for this Sunday [with good reason, for they take any Sermon preached hereupon down another road.]
12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town. 13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.
The text continues:
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” 17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Nota(ble) Be(n)e 