Lange Commentary - Matthew 10:11 - 10:15

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Lange Commentary - Matthew 10:11 - 10:15


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3. Special Direction of the Apostles to pious households. Reception and Rejection. Mat_10:11-15

11And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 12And when ye come into a [the, ôÞí ] house, salute it. 13And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Mat_10:11. Inquire who in it is worthy.—A still further limitation. They were to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and to inquire who among them were worthy, i. e., susceptible, or pious Israelites. This question could only be answered according to objective marks, as the Searcher of hearts alone knew their state and disposition.

And there abide.—Continuance in a place, the formation of a centre, so to speak, in opposition to transient and broken activity.

Mat_10:12. And when ye come into the house—i. e., the house of him who is worthy (Meyer)—salute it.—The common Eastern salutation had in this instance a twofold meaning;—1. being an offer of spiritual fellowship in the peace which they bring to the worthy; 2. being addressed to the whole household, for the sake of the worthy person who was at the head of it.

And if the house be worthy.—Not of your salutation (Fritzsche), but of your abiding (Meyer).—Let your peace come upon it.—The Lord Himself ratifies by His peace, their salutation of peace.—Let your peace return to you;—i. e., it shall be taken from that household, and returned to you. That household itself shall become poorer, but the disciples shall be all the richer and more joyous. But the expression also indicates that no further fellowship should be held with such households, Isa_55:11.

Mat_10:14. And whosoever.—The word, whosoever, refers to persons who were worthy, as being the representatives of worthy households and towns. The meaning, however, is not, that on the first failure they were to avoid a house or a town, but, that if they were personally not received, they should leave first the household, and then the town. Of course, even the first failure would appear ominous, as the disciples had previously made the necessary inquiries. “To shake off the dust of the feet,—a sign of contempt, as in the case of the heathen. The Jews taught, pulverem terrœ ethnicœ ex contactu inquinare. Lightfoot, Horœ, 331. Mishna, Surenhusius vi. Wetstein, comp. Act_13:21.” Meyer. But the action must be regarded rather as symbolical of complete cessation of all fellowship, of renunciation of all influence, and hence as an announcement of impending judgment, but not as a mark of contempt. The explanations of de Wette—“have nothing to do with them,” and of Ewald—“calmly, as if nothing had happened,” fall far short of the import of the passage.

Mat_10:15. The land of Sodom;—i. e., the inhabitants of those doomed cities. The higher the spiritual offer rejected, the greater their sin. In Sodom, only the weak testimony of Lot had been heard; but to reject the Evangelists, marked the climax of guilt (Mat_11:20; Luk_12:47).—Unbelief is a second fall (Joh_3:36).

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. These directions of the Lord imply a telling argument against extreme individualism, and for the extension of the gospel blessings over whole households. The Lord sends His disciples to worthy heads of families, and, through them, to their whole households. On account of the worthiness of the head of the family, the whole household is generally received into spiritual fellowship. And although there may be divisions in the house with reference to Christ Mat_10:35, even these prove that, in itself and in its nature, the family must be regarded as a spiritual unit. Nowhere do we meet in such cases with a distinction of believing and indifferent persons, but only with that of believing and unbelieving; it is not majors or minors, but friends or foes of Jesus. The latter break up the natural unity and fellowship of the family. Thus the proto-evangel was destined for the house of Adam; the ark contained the household of Noah (although Ham formed one of them); the promise was to Abraham and his household; and circumcision was the bond of unity for the house of Israel. Similarly, the Apostles planted the Church in believing families (Acts 10; Acts 16; 1Co_1:16). The question, whether in every case children were baptized or not, is comparatively of little importance. The Anabaptist principle overlooks the Divine institution of the family, and its import in the Church, the interchange between spiritual and natural communion, and the idea of extended personality, the germ of the Church, which every apostolic household formed (1Co_7:14).

2. First rule: To inquire for those who are worthy (not to go by haphazard). Second rule: To salute a worthy household—to receive them into the fellowship of evangelical peace. Promise; comfort. Third rule: To break off fellowship, and to announce judgment, in case they were not received. Yet not rashly. It is said, “Whosoever shall not receive you” (i. e., decided rejection), “nor hear your words” (where this also is decided), then only, etc.—Hence, either the baptism of the Spirit or that of fire [of judgment]. One of the two must come.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

First object of interest to the messengers of Christ when entering a city or town.—Apostolical inquiry for the best lodgings.—We may learn even from unbelievers who are the pious.—Who is worthy of Christ’s message of peace?—How Christ has converted the common salutation into an evangelical message of peace.—“There abide till ye go thence.”—The disciples sent to the family.—To salute the house, means to receive it into fellowship.—The salutation of the disciples is the blessing of the Master.—The gracious house.—Your peace shall return to you: 1. Unbelievers will not keep it; 2. it will be added to the believing messengers: they shall not be cast down, but encouraged.—To shake off the dust of the feet, as the expression of solemn separation: 1. An expression of calmness, of freedom, and of purity; 2. of being innocent of the judgment which shall befall the unbelievers; 3. of the cessation of fellowship; 4. the last sermon, a threatening of judgment.—The rejection of the gospel: the judgment.—Solemn import of hours and days of grace.—Different degrees of guilt and of judgment.

Starke:—Quesnel: Ministers should love to take up their abode with pious people.—Majus: The treasures of the gospel must not be forced upon people.—Osiander: Contempt of the gospel destroys realms and countries, and plunges them into everlasting misery.

Lisco:—They were to remain satisfied with the house in which they were, and not to leave it merely for the sake of more ease and comfort in another.—They were not to intrude themselves.

Gerlach:—Your peace will return to you: a comfort for the laborers in the vineyard.—Dust off the feet. Luther: Ye shall take nothing at all from them, that they may know that you had sought not your own advantage, but their salvation.

Heubner:—God has His children in every place.—We must seek them out.—Pious people soon find out each other.—Ministers must appeal to the sympathies of those who are susceptible.—Christ regards the rejection of His disciples as that of His own word and person.