The Mission of the Twelve

Today's Reflections 

      

The Mission of the Twelve

Mt 10:7-15

[Jesus said to the Twelve,] ⁷“As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. ⁹Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; ¹⁰no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. ¹¹Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. ¹²As you enter a house, wish it peace. ¹³If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. ¹⁵Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”

WHOEVER WILL NOT RECEIVE YOU. Jesus sends the Twelve on a mission to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 10:6), meaning, the Jewish people. (This is only temporary, for at the great commissioning at the end of Matthew’s gospel, the risen Christ will send the apostles to all nations.)

Though empowered, the messengers of Jesus are forewarned of the reception on the part of their fellow Jews. Some towns or villages will be receptive, and they will receive the gift of shalom (peace), which translates into the curing of their sick, the driving out of demons, and reconciliation with God.

As Jesus has experienced, however, there will be people who will not receive them. They are to shake the dust from their feet outside the inhospitable house or town as witness against the inhabitants. This symbolic action is done by pious Jews as they leave pagan territories so that nothing “unclean” or unworthy may stick with them. Those who do not receive Jesus’ messengers likewise refuse Jesus and the offer of God’s kingdom. The inhospitable Jews thus prove themselves no better than the pagans they belittle as foreign to God.

Witnessing to the gospel,

we may be received, ignored, or ridiculed.

Still, faith is something that must be shared,

and it grows stronger the more it is shared.