At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. Following his exhortation on the cost of discipleship (which we have been hearing in our last two Sunday Gospel readings), Jesus appoints from among his disciples seventy-two individuals whom he sends out on mission. From what he had shared with the crowds about the difficulty of following him (cf. Luke 9:57-62, last Sunday’s Gospel reading), it is safe to assume that these seventy-two were among those who had chosen to stay, Jesus’ caveats notwithstanding. The seventy-two must have been among those who had been with Jesus for some time now, had heard him teach and preach, and had also been witnesses to the mighty deeds which the Lord was working through his hands. Despite the cautions they had just been given, they still responded to the invitation to join Jesus in the proclamation of the kingdom. But Jesus was not done with the caveats: these seventy-two were still to be aware of the task that was ahead of them. His instruction to them is the content of today’s Gospel reading.
The commissioning of the seventy-two took place sometime after the that of the twelve. The commissioning was an indication that, while the mission of the twelve appeared to have been a successful endeavor (there were no reports of incidences of hostile reception or anything of that nature), the demand outnumbered the supply. As Jesus himself reminded the disciples at the commissioning, while the harvest was abundant, the same could not be said about the workers. The good news of the kingdom of God that Jesus had come to proclaim was yet to reach all the corners of the universe. For as Jesus’ went around the towns and villages as he ministered to the people, he got overwhelmed by the people’s thirst for the good news. As a matter of fact, the people’s thirst for the good news would lead Jesus to remark that they had been abandoned and neglected by those who were supposed to lead them (the religious leaders): the sick were awaiting the good news of their recovery; the poor and the hungry were awaiting the good news of finally having their fill; and the marginalized and the lowly were waiting to hear the good news of being raised up and brought back into the community. Those who had been eagerly awaiting the good news of their liberation were yet to experience the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. 
As can be gathered from Jesus’ address at the commissioning, the mission of the seventy-two was to be a continuation of his own mission. In other words, their proclamation of the advent of the kingdom of God was to be tangible. The presence of the kingdom was to be seen in the sick being healed, peace and harmony reigning in households and in the community, hospitality being extended to strangers, and in the willingness to share one’s blessings with others. It was to be a proclamation of the good news that in Jesus Christ, God was renewing God’s creation. The old order that was characterized by injustice, inequality, hatred, corruption, selfishness, and indifference was being replaced by a new order characterized by peace, love and concern for one’s neighbor. But even as Jesus prepared the seventy-two for what he hoped would be a successful mission, he also wanted them to be aware of what they were facing. The content of their preaching was definitely going to set them against the beneficiaries of the old order. In order for the new order to be fully realized, the seventy-two had to preach against some of the things that the current world order prizes as values: self-centeredness, competition, greed, and individualism. And since such a message would not be readily accepted by proponents of the current world order, it needed not to surprise the seventy-two if they were to be rejected. Such was the kind of life for which they had signed up. The proclamation of the message of the kingdom would make them appear to be lambs among wolves. 
The gospel proclamation, for the most part, is counter-cultural. Some of the values fronted by the gospel message will always face opposition. There are some segments of the society that will oppose or frustrate the gospel value of equality and justice. There are some segments of the society that will find the gospel value of non-violence (turning the other cheek) offensive and ridiculous. Fronting and championing these values will ostracize a disciple of Jesus, making him/her an outcast and enemy of his/her society. A continued voicing of these values might even lead to persecution and harassment, as it did to Jesus. Jesus was aware of this and he didn’t want to hide it from his followers. It is only by being aware of what the mission constitutes that a disciple becomes better placed to deal with the many things that does take place in mission, including rejection and persecution.