Thursday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, July 13, 2023

Matthew 10, 7-15

Jesus said to his Apostles: “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words, go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, 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.”

The instructions which the Lord gives to the Apostles on how to conduct themselves on their missionary journey basically tell them to go into town in such a way as to make it seem the residents were doing them a favor by receiving them, and that, in gratitude, the Apostles were to preach the Gospel and to cure the illnesses of those who dwelt there.  In this way the Apostles would imitate the Lord himself, who comes to us in the same way, as though it would be a favor to him if we were to accept eternal life from him.  We see an almost desperate love for us in this, but this is indeed how great is his love for us.

“The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  That is, the King has approached.  If we think of this literally, the townspeople, upon hearing this news, ought to have rushed out to greet their king.  They had been told that he was making his way to the town, perhaps on his way to a further destination, but in an age before instantaneous communication and quick transportation, no one could know the time of arrival.  Here, the king’s heralds come to the town to let them know that the king is a few miles away.  The people drop at once their usual daily business and rush out to greet their sovereign.  While they know this is a once in a lifetime chance for the king to receive a good impression on the town and for the townspeople to gain favors from him, they also know that failure to welcome him could result in their town’s destruction.

“Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick.”  The Lord sends out his heralds as fugitives or as beggars, but it is the beggars who will enrich the populace with the Gospel and with the cure of the sick.  Still, after a few weeks of this life, the Apostles would certainly look haggard and as though they possessed nothing worth having.  “The laborer deserves his keep.”  The Lord coins or invokes a proverb indicating that the Apostles are to rely on those to whom they deliver the Gospel to house and feed them.  Coming in poverty to the towns would impress the people with their dedication to their message, and that they were not after profits for themselves.  Ultimately, God shows his great glory through our lowliness: “Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Corinthians 12, 9).  “Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave.”  That is, do not give the impression that you are ambitious for yourselves.  “As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.”  The house is “worthy” if its inhabitants are faithful to God and eager to hear his message of salvation.  The Apostle’s peace “returns” to him in that his blessing takes no effect when the recipients are not faithful.

“Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words, go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.”  Inasmuch as the Apostle is the appointed emissary of Christ, this shaking of the dust is a sign of the Lord’s rejection of the house or town that has rejected him.  “Amen, 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.”  The people of Sodom and Gomorrah broke the natural law written on their hearts, but the towns that reject Christ do so in the face of miracles which signify the veracity and urgency of the message to repent and believe.  This is the rejection of that grace which is necessary for salvation.

The Lord rejects no one out of hand or for some slight show of disrespect.  His desire for our salvation is so great that only our steadfast rejection of it can lose it for us.