After this, the Lord chose the other seventy [disciples] and sent them two by two before His face to every city and place where He Himself wanted to go, and said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send laborers into His harvest. You go! I send you as lambs among wolves.

In the book of Exodus it is written: "And they came to Elim; there were twelve springs of water and seventy date trees" (Exodus 15:27). What happened then historically and figuratively has now come true in reality. Elim means ascent. This means nothing else than that we, ascending to the most perfect understanding and spiritual maturity, and not stopping at the Law, as the Jews do, but flowing into Christianity, shall find twelve sources, that is, the twelve chief apostles, who are the sources of all sweetest teaching. We will also find seventy date stalks, that is, (seventy) apostles. They are not called springs, but dates, as being brought up and guided by the apostles (supreme). For although Christ chose these seventy apostles, they were inferior to the twelve, and afterwards were their disciples and companions. And so, these dates were nourished from the springs, that is, from the apostles, and they brought us a fruit sweet and at the same time moderately sour. The teaching of the saints is indeed this: it does not entirely delight and caress, and does not entirely constrain and amaze, but combines both properties, and is truly seasoned with salt and united with grace, just as the Apostle Paul exclaims: "Let your word always be with grace, seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6). The Lord chooses "seventy" disciples because of the multitude of those who need teaching. For as fields with a good harvest require many reapers, so for the believers, since they were innumerable, there was a need of many teachers. "The Lord sends them "two by two" so that they would be safer and help each other. They walked before Him, that is, like John, they taught: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord" (Matt. 3:3). Notice how He said before, "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers," and then He Himself sends them by His own authority. For He, as the true God, is truly the Lord of the harvest, that is, of the believers. He tells them beforehand of persecution, and that they will be like lambs among wolves, so that these, having attacked them unexpectedly, may not trouble them with their suddenness.

Do not take any bag, bag, or shoes, and do not greet anyone on the road. Into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house; And if the Son of Peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him, and if not, it shall return to you. In that house you shall remain, eat and drink what they have, for the laborer is worthy of the reward of his labors; Do not move from house to house. And if you come to any city and receive you, eat what is offered to you, and heal the sick who are in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God is at hand with you.

Since the Lord intends to send His disciples to preach the Gospel, He says to them: "Do not take a sack, nor this nor that; for it is sufficient for you to be anxious for the word. And if you carry a bag, you will obviously be busy with it, and you will begin to neglect the word. In other words, since you will be nourished by those whom you will teach, what need do you have of a mark, or a bag, or boots? For those who are instructed by you will satisfy all your need of them. "And do not greet anyone on the road." Thus He commands them, so that they do not engage in people's greetings and caresses, and thereby do not put obstacles in the way of preaching. For it is probable that the one who received the greeting would have responded with the greeting himself, or perhaps he would have entered into a long conversation, as the companions usually do, and then, as if having already become friends, he would have talked about something still more, and thus the Apostle would have descended into ordinary human relations, and would have despised the word. For this reason, the Lord forbids the disciples to greet anyone on the road. "Into whichever house," he says, "you shall first say, 'Peace be unto this house,' that is, greet those who are in the house; Then, showing that this is not only a simple greeting, but at the same time a blessing, he says: if the householder is worthy, then he will be blessed, but if he is an offender and incapable of accepting peace, if he is an enemy and opponent of your word and teaching, then the blessing will not come to him, but will return to you. He commands not to go from house to house, so that the apostles do not appear gluttonous, do not give many a breed to temptation, and do not offend those who received them at the beginning. "Eat," he says, "and drink what they have," that is, whatever is offered to you, and even if it be small and not rich, do not demand more. Take food instead of a reward, that is, do not seek to receive food and payment separately, but take the food itself as a reward. See how He makes His disciples strong against poverty. He commands to heal the sick in the cities, so that the apostles could attract people to preach by their miracles. For see what he says: "And say to them, The kingdom of God is at hand with you." For if you heal first, and then teach, your preaching will prosper, and people will believe that the Kingdom of God has reached before them. For they would not have been healed if some divine power had not done this. And the Kingdom of God then drew near to the sick, when they were healed in their souls. For it is far from the sick, over whom sin still reigns.

But if you come to any city and are not received, then go out into the street and say, "And the dust that has cleaved to us from your city, we shake it off to you; yet know that the Kingdom of God has drawn near to you. I say to you, Sodom on that day will be more pleasant than that city.

If, he says, "they will not receive you, then go out into the street and tell them" that we have nothing in common with you, that we have nothing to do with your city, that we even sweep away the dust that clings to us, that is, shake it off, cleanse it, and throw it on you; yet know that the Kingdom of God has drawn near to you. Here another will ask: how does the Lord say that the Kingdom of God has drawn near both to those who receive the Apostles and to those who do not receive them? It must be said that He does not contradict Himself in the least. For to those who receive the apostles, the Kingdom approaches with blessings, and to those who do not receive them, with condemnation. For, I beseech thee, imagine that at a spectacle there are many condemned and others uncondemned, such as senators, generals, and nobles, and then a herald all together, condemned and honorable, proclaims: The king has drawn near to you! Does he not say that the king approached some of them for punishment, and others in order to show them honor and favor? Understand it in the same way. "It will be more gratifying," he says, "to Sodom than to the city that has not received you." Why? Because the apostles were not sent to Sodom, and therefore those who did not receive the apostles are worse than the Sodomites. Note also that the city that does not receive the apostles has wide streets; and the broad path leads to destruction. Thus, whoever walks the broad roads leading to perdition does not accept the apostolic and Divine teaching.

Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the powers manifested in you had been manifested in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes; but both Tyre and Sidon will be more pleased in judgment than you. And you, Capernaum, who have ascended to heaven, will descend to hell. He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.