Luke 10:16 kjv
He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
Luke 10:16 nkjv
He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."
Luke 10:16 niv
"Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me."
Luke 10:16 esv
"The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
Luke 10:16 nlt
Then he said to the disciples, "Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me."
Luke 10 16 Cross References
Verse | Text | Reference |
---|---|---|
Matt 10:40 | "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me." | Parallel passage, emphasizes reception. |
John 13:20 | "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me..." | Reinforces the identification with the messenger. |
John 12:44 | And Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me." | Believing in Jesus means believing in the Father. |
John 14:7 | "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." | Knowing Jesus is knowing the Father. |
John 15:23 | "Whoever hates me hates my Father also." | Parallel, negative side: hatred extends to Father. |
Matt 10:14-15 | "And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words...it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah..." | Consequences for rejecting messengers. |
Mark 6:11 | "And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you...it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah..." | Similar warning from Mark. |
Luke 9:5 | "And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust..." | Disciples' specific instructions on rejection. |
Deut 18:19 | "And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him." | Old Testament warning against rejecting God's prophet. |
1 Thess 4:8 | "Therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you." | Rejecting apostolic teaching is rejecting God. |
John 5:23 | "That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father..." | Honoring the Son equals honoring the Father. |
Luke 9:1 | He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. | Jesus giving authority to His disciples. |
Luke 10:1 | After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him... | Context of sending out the seventy-two. |
Luke 10:9 | "Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’" | Mission included proclaiming the Kingdom. |
2 Cor 5:20 | Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us... | Believers as Christ's representatives. |
Heb 1:1-2 | Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son... | God's ultimate revelation through His Son. |
Matt 25:40 | "And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’" | Identification with those who serve Him. |
Acts 3:22-23 | "Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me... And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’" | Peter citing Deut 18:19 concerning Christ. |
Matt 28:18-20 | "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples..." | Christ's supreme authority, delegated to disciples. |
1 Sam 8:7 | And the LORD said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say... for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me..." | Rejecting God's appointed leader is rejecting God. |
Is 53:3 | He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief... | Prophecy of Christ's rejection. |
Luke 10 verses
Luke 10 16 Meaning
Luke 10:16 declares the profound unity of the messenger, Jesus Christ, and God the Father in the proclamation of the Gospel. It asserts that to receive Jesus' disciples and their message is to receive Jesus Himself, and in turn, to receive the Father who sent Jesus. Conversely, to reject these messengers and their word is to reject Jesus, and ultimately, to reject God the Father. This establishes a chain of divine authority and a non-negotiable consequence for one's response to the Kingdom message.
Luke 10 16 Context
Luke 10:16 is part of Jesus' instructions to the seventy-two (or seventy) disciples whom He sent out two by two into every town and place He Himself was about to visit. Their mission was to heal the sick, declare that the Kingdom of God had drawn near, and find peace-deserving households. These specific instructions, including how to handle rejection (shaking off dust from their feet, Lk 10:10-11), lead directly to the pronouncement in verse 16. It follows the "woe" pronounced upon Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum (Lk 10:13-15), cities that witnessed Jesus' mighty works but did not repent, signifying the severe consequences of rejecting divine truth. This verse thus solidifies the theological weight of the disciples' mission and the spiritual stakes involved in receiving or rejecting their message.
Luke 10 16 Word analysis
- He: Refers to Jesus Christ, establishing Him as the ultimate authority from whom the disciples' mission originates.
- who listens: (Greek: ho akouōn, ὁ ἀκούων). This implies more than just hearing with the ears; it signifies paying attention, heeding, and obeying. It denotes an active, responsive engagement with the message.
- to you: Directs the reception specifically to the disciples, Christ's authorized messengers. Their words carry divine weight.
- listens to me: Jesus identifies directly with His messengers. Receiving their message is indistinguishable from receiving His own. This underscores Christ's direct representation by His servants.
- and he who rejects: (Greek: ho athetōn, ὁ ἀθετῶν). This word is strong. It means to set aside, disannul, make void, despise, or reject with contempt. It implies not merely disagreement but a deliberate and active disregard for the authority or validity of what is being presented.
- you: Again, the immediate object of rejection is the disciples. The slight against the messenger is not isolated to them.
- rejects me: Emphasizes that rejecting the disciple is an act of rejection against Jesus Himself. There is no middle ground or distinction between the disciple and the Lord they represent.
- and he who rejects me rejects: This phrase highlights a continuous chain of rejection, further escalating the consequence.
- him who sent me: This refers to God the Father. The ultimate source of authority is the Father, who sent the Son, who in turn sent the disciples. To reject the last link in this chain is to reject the very first. It demonstrates the seamless divine authority.
Words-group analysis
- He who listens to you listens to me: Establishes a profound unity and delegation of authority from Jesus to His disciples. The voice of the messenger is equated with the voice of Christ. This underscores the representative nature of their mission and the divine backing behind their proclamation.
- And he who rejects you rejects me: This demonstrates the absolute identification Christ makes with His chosen servants. Disregarding or despising the disciple is an act of defiance against Christ's authority and person. This highlights the seriousness of such a response.
- And he who rejects me rejects him who sent me: This is the climactic statement, tracing the rejection ultimately back to God the Father. It reveals an unbroken chain of divine authority from God the Father, through Jesus Christ, to His commissioned messengers. To spurn the messenger is to spurn God Himself, rendering the rejection a profoundly spiritual and eternally significant act.
Luke 10 16 Bonus section
This verse implies an immense spiritual accountability not only for those who hear but also for those who speak. The disciples were not speaking their own words but were entrusted with the words of Christ and the authority of God. This principle extends to all who genuinely proclaim the biblical message, highlighting the sanctity and solemnity of sharing the Word. Conversely, it implies boundaries: if a messenger speaks not according to the true message of Christ, this identification breaks down. The authority is tied to the message being true to Christ's teachings, not to the person themselves. The principle underlines that divine acceptance and rejection hinges on how one receives God's commissioned spokespersons, signifying the sacred nature of God's revealed truth through His appointed channels.
Luke 10 16 Commentary
Luke 10:16 is a foundational statement about the nature of divine delegation and authority. Jesus is articulating that when His chosen messengers proclaim the Gospel and heal the sick, they are acting as His direct representatives. Therefore, the response to them directly reflects one's response to Jesus Himself. Furthermore, because Jesus is the Son sent by the Father, a rejection of Jesus escalates to a rejection of God the Father. This verse provides immense spiritual weight to the disciples' mission and responsibility, knowing that their message carries the very authority of God. For listeners, it demands serious consideration, as their acceptance or rejection carries eternal implications, determining their standing before God. The passage establishes that hearing the Gospel through human vessels is, in essence, hearing God's own appeal.