The chapter
Simply A second, much larger group is sent ahead in pairs to every town he means to visit, and comes back delighted that even demons obeyed them. Jesus tells them to be glad about something else. Then a lawyer asks what he must do to live forever, answers his own question correctly, and asks a second one to save face, which gets him a story about a man beaten on a road and the three people who came past. The chapter ends in a house, with two sisters disagreeing about what matters.
Context How many were sent is not the same number in every edition, and it is worth knowing because it is often quoted. Twelve of the thirteen offered editions say SEVENTY, at verse 1 and again at verse 17. The Petrus Canisiusvertaling says SEVENTY-TWO, and it says it both times, so it is consistent with itself rather than a slip. That is the same shape as two places in John, at 9:35 and 10:29, where the Dutch edition also stands alone against the other twelve. This file reports it and does not choose, since which number the earliest copies carried is a manuscript question the corpus does not hold.
Verses 1-24
Simply They are sent out two by two, carrying no purse, bag or sandals, and told to greet nobody on the road. In a house they are to stay, eat what is put in front of them and say that the Kingdom has come near. Towns that refuse are warned. They come back thrilled that demons submitted to them, and Jesus says he saw Satan fall like lightning, but tells them to be glad that their names are written in heaven instead. Then he thanks his Father for hiding these things from the clever and showing them to children.
Context The instruction at verse 4 not to greet anyone on the road is the only piece of rudeness Jesus ever requires, and it is there for speed rather than for manners. Verse 20 is the correction the chapter is built around: they report power and are told to be glad about belonging instead, which is the same move as 9:20 to 22, where a title is accepted and immediately turned into something else. Verse 21 is also the only place in this Gospel that says Jesus REJOICED, and the reason given is that the wise did not understand and children did.
Verses 25-37
Simply A lawyer asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks what the law says, and the lawyer quotes it himself: love God with everything, and your neighbour as yourself. Jesus says he is right. Wanting to look better, the lawyer asks who counts as his neighbour. Jesus tells a story: a man is robbed and left half dead on the Jerusalem to Jericho road; a priest sees him and crosses over; a Levite does the same; a Samaritan stops, treats his wounds, puts him on his own animal, pays an innkeeper and promises to cover anything more. Then he asks which of the three became the neighbour.
Context Two things are turned around here, and both can be checked. First, who says the two commandments. At Mark 12:29 to 31 and Matthew 22:37 to 39, which are both in this app, JESUS gives them in answer to the question. Here the lawyer gives them and Jesus only agrees, so the man is condemned out of his own mouth before the story starts. Second, the question itself changes shape. Verse 29 asks WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR, which is a request for a list of people who qualify. Verse 36 asks which of the three BECAME a neighbour to the man, which is a question about what you do, not about who deserves it. The lawyer never says the word Samaritan in his answer at verse 37; he says the one who showed mercy. The word Samaritan is used three times in this Gospel, at 9:52, 10:33 and 17:16, and in two of the three the Samaritan is the one who does the right thing. Mark never uses the word at all, and Matthew uses it once, at 10:5, in an instruction not to go into their towns.
Verses 38-42
Simply In a village a woman called Martha takes him into her house. Her sister Mary sits at his feet and listens. Martha, busy with all the work, comes and asks him to tell Mary to help. He says her name twice and tells her she is anxious about many things, that one thing is needed, and that Mary has chosen the good part and it will not be taken from her.
Context Martha and Mary are not only in this book: John 11 has both sisters at Lazarus's death, and Martha is named there nine times. But this scene is only here, and it is short enough to be misread. Nothing is said against work: Martha is not told that serving is wrong, she is told she is ANXIOUS AND TROUBLED, which is about her state and not her job. And the phrase SAT AT HIS FEET at verse 39 is the ordinary description of a student with a teacher, which is where the sharpness of the scene actually sits, since it is the place Mary has taken rather than the dish she has left undone. Read next to the story just told, the chapter has now put a Samaritan and a woman in the two positions a first century reader would not have put them in.