The Bible presents demons as real spiritual beings — fallen angels who oppose God. Jesus cast them out. Paul warned about them.

0 Chapters0 Books0 People0 Places

Day 5 of 6

Mary Chose the Better Part

Back to plan

The Story That Changed the Question.

Q: What Is the Significance of Oil in the Bible?

Oil in the Bible symbolizes the Holy Spirit, healing, joy, and consecration. It was used to anoint kings, heal the sick, and light the temple lamps.

Q: Why Was Hospitality So Important in Bible Times?

In the ancient Near East, hospitality wasn't optional — it was sacred. Refusing a traveler food and shelter was a grave offense. Abraham hosted God himself without knowing it.

Q: Is the Bible Against Women?

The Bible elevated women in a world that did not.

Luke 10 — A lawyer wanted a loophole, and Jesus gave him a mirror

8 min read

Key Takeaways

Jesus flips the lawyer's question from 'who qualifies as my neighbor?' to 'am I willing to be a neighbor?' — one question draws boundaries, the other erases them.

Your identity isn't built on what you can do for God — it's rooted in the fact that God already knows you by name.
God doesn't hide truth from the intelligent — he reveals it to the humble, because humility is the only posture that can actually receive it.
Martha's story isn't about productivity being wrong — it's about filling your schedule with good things until you've crowded out the best thing.

📢 Chapter 10 — The Story That Changed the Question 🛤️

was on the move. He'd set his face toward , and the journey was picking up speed — but he wasn't just walking toward a destination. He was building a movement. And in this chapter, that movement expands in a way nobody expected: seventy-two ordinary people get sent out with nothing but a message, a gets told that humanity has never stopped talking about, and a quiet moment in a living room redefines what it means to be close to God.

Inside this Chapter

Love Rest & Burnout Faith Justice Purpose Community Relationships

Events in this Chapter

Parable of the Good Samaritan Sending Out the Seventy-Two

Questions about this Chapter

culture

What Is the Significance of Oil in the Bible?

culture

Why Was Hospitality So Important in Bible Times?

application

What Is the Parable of the Good Samaritan?

application

Is the Bible Against Women?

theology

Are Demons Real?

From the Spotlight

news

Racial Injustice and the Bible

The early church's first major crisis was racism. Acts 10 records how God personally intervened to end it.

Share this chapter

Link copied!

Reflect

Are you more like Martha or Mary? Be honest.

Paul says to be anxious for nothing. What would your day look like if you actually believed that?

This chapter covers a lot of ground. Mission trips, spiritual warfare, a legal debate, an unforgettable story, and a dinner party that almost went sideways. But underneath all of it is one question: what does it actually look like to live in the ?

Seventy-Two With Nothing to Carry 🚶

had already sent the twelve out on a mission. Now he widened the circle — dramatically. He appointed seventy-two others and sent them ahead of him, two by two, into every town he was about to visit. And before they left, he gave them their instructions:

"The harvest is huge, but there aren't nearly enough workers. So pray — ask the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into his fields.

Now go. I'm sending you out like lambs into a pack of wolves. Don't bring a wallet. Don't bring a bag. Don't even bring extra sandals. And don't stop to chat with people on the road.

Whatever house you enter, start by saying, 'Peace to this house.' If someone there is open to that peace, it will rest on them. If not, it comes right back to you. Stay in that house. Eat what they give you. Don't shop around for a better offer — the worker deserves to be taken care of.

When a town welcomes you, eat what's set before you. Heal the sick there. And tell them: 'The Kingdom of God has come near to you.'

But when a town doesn't welcome you? Walk into their streets and say: 'Even the dust from your town that's stuck to our feet — we're wiping it off. But know this: the kingdom of God came close to you.' I'm telling you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on judgment day than for that town."

Think about what he asked them to do. No money. No luggage. No backup plan. Just go, speak , and trust that God will handle the . Most of us wouldn't leave the house without our phone, let alone walk into a strange town with nothing but a message. But that was the whole point. The mission wasn't powered by their resources — it was powered by his authority. The less they carried, the more obvious that became.

The Towns That Saw Everything and Shrugged 🌩️

Then turned his attention to specific towns — places where he'd already done extraordinary things. And his tone shifted:

"How terrible for you, Chorazin. How terrible for you, Bethsaida. If the Miracles done in your streets had happened in Tyre and Sidon, those cities would have turned their lives around a long time ago — sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But on the day of judgment, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

And you, Capernaum — you think you'll be lifted to heaven? You'll be brought down to the grave.

Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

This is sobering. These weren't pagan cities. These were Jewish towns in that had front-row seats to Jesus' ministry. They'd seen the healings. Heard the teaching. Watched things happen that couldn't be explained away. And they just... moved on. There's something uniquely dangerous about proximity without response. Seeing the real thing and treating it like background noise.

The Real Thing to Celebrate 🌠

The seventy-two came back absolutely buzzing. The mission had worked — and then some:

The seventy-two returned full of excitement, saying, "Lord, even the Demons obeyed us when we used your name!"

And responded with something stunning:

"I watched Satan fall from heaven like a bolt of lightning. I've given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overpower every force of the enemy. Nothing will hurt you.

But don't celebrate that the spirits submit to you. Celebrate that your names are written in Heaven."

Catch the redirect. They were thrilled about the power — and who wouldn't be? But Jesus gently steered their somewhere deeper. Spiritual authority is real. But it's not the headline. The headline is that your name is known in . That God knows you. That's not something you earned by performing well on a mission trip. That's something that was written before you left. Your identity doesn't come from what you can do for God. It comes from what God has already done for you.

Hidden in Plain Sight 🙏

Right then — in that same moment — something unusual happened. was filled with through the , and he prayed out loud:

"I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you've hidden these things from the wise and educated and revealed them to children. Yes, Father — this is exactly what pleased you.

Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son truly is except the Father. And no one knows who the Father truly is except the Son — and anyone the Son chooses to reveal him to."

Then he turned to his privately and said:

"Blessed are the eyes that see what you're seeing. I'm telling you — Prophets and kings longed to see what you see, and they never did. They longed to hear what you're hearing, and they never got to."

There's something here worth sitting with. The greatest minds of that generation missed what seventy-two ordinary people experienced firsthand. God doesn't hide things from smart people because he's against intelligence. He reveals things to the because humility is the posture that can actually receive them. If you think you've already figured it out, you're not listening anymore. The people who saw Jesus most clearly were the ones who showed up with open hands and nothing to prove.

The Question Behind the Question ⚖️

Then a legal expert stood up to test . Not to learn — to test:

The lawyer asked, "Teacher, what do I need to do to inherit Eternal Life?"

Jesus didn't take the bait. He flipped it:

"What's written in The Law? How do you read it?"

The lawyer answered:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself."

Jesus told him:

"That's exactly right. Do this, and you'll live."

Simple enough. But here's the thing — the lawyer already knew the answer. He was a professional in religious . He could recite those words in his sleep. Jesus wasn't giving him new information. He was asking him whether he actually lived it. There's a massive gap between knowing the right answer and letting it reshape your life. The lawyer was about to discover just how wide that gap was.

The Story Nobody Saw Coming 🛤️

The lawyer wasn't done. He wanted to narrow the scope — draw a line around "neighbor" so he could feel good about the people on the other side of it:

He asked, "And who exactly is my neighbor?"

And answered with a story:

"A man was traveling the road from Jerusalem down to Jericho when he was jumped by robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and left him on the side of the road, barely alive.

A priest happened to be heading down that same road. He saw the man — and crossed to the other side.

A Levite came to the same spot. He saw the man too — and crossed to the other side.

But then a Samaritan came along. When he saw the man, he was moved with compassion. He went straight to him, bandaged his wounds, poured oil and wine on them. He put the man on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him through the night.

The next day, the Samaritan handed the innkeeper two silver coins and said, 'Look after him. Whatever else it costs, I'll pay you back when I return.'

Now — which of those three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked?"

The lawyer answered:

"The one who showed him mercy."

Jesus said:

"Go and do the same."

Here's what made this story hit like a freight train for the original audience. The and the were the religious insiders — the people everyone expected to help. The was the outsider. Jews and Samaritans had generations of hostility between them. Making a Samaritan the hero of the story would have been genuinely offensive to the lawyer's worldview.

And notice what Jesus did with the question. The lawyer asked, "Who is my neighbor?" — which is really asking, "Who am I required to care about?" Jesus told a story that flipped it completely. The question isn't "who qualifies as my neighbor?" The question is "am I willing to be a neighbor?" One question draws boundaries. The other erases them. The lawyer wanted a checklist. Jesus gave him a mirror.

The One Thing That Matters 🏠

The chapter ends in a living room. opened her home to — she wanted to host him well. Her sister sat down at Jesus' feet and just listened.

Martha, meanwhile, was overwhelmed. She was doing everything — preparing food, setting things up, managing the details. And she finally snapped:

Martha said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister left me to handle all the serving by myself? Tell her to come help me."

Jesus answered gently:

"Martha, Martha. You are worried and stressed about so many things. But only one thing is really needed. Mary has chosen the better part — and it's not going to be taken from her."

This isn't a story about cooking being bad or productivity being wrong. Martha's service was generous. But she'd gotten so caught up in doing things for Jesus that she missed being with Jesus. And that's a trap that's incredibly easy to fall into — filling your schedule with good things until you've crowded out the best thing. The to-do list will always be there. The chance to sit at his feet and listen? That's the thing worth protecting.