Gospel Note
While a mission of the Twelve is a common Synoptic theme, only Luke reports a mission of the Seventy as well (the numbers being symbolic of the tribes of Israel and the nations of the world, respectively). The passage is full of eschatological imagery (e.g., harvest, lambs and wolves, Satan's falling), which -- along with the central theme of the reign of God -- no doubt accounts for the sense of single-mindedness and urgency entailed in the instructions: the apostles are to travel li…