Beyond the action of wiping
the dust from their feet (a fairly common action in their day and culture, by
which one dis-associates themselves from a way of life or course of action),
Jesus instructs them to say these words, “Nevertheless know this: The kingdom
of God has come” (10:11b). Even in rejection, they were to reiterate the
message of the Gospel (Jesus is Lord). There is no forcing.
Naturally, the contrast to this is that Caesar did not ask for anybody to
accept him, nor did he request allegiance to his kingdom. Rather, acceptance
and allegiance was demanded at the point of a sword and the threat of the
cross, as death was the only power that he truly had at his disposal.
While the reader goes
on to find Jesus saying, in regards to the rejection of the kingdom and Gospel
message: “I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for
that town” (10:12), that falls squarely into the prerogative and business of
the Creator God. If the Creator God
wants to call down fire (echoing James and John) in judgment, then it is He
that will do that. This is not the role of the disciples. At the same time, along with this mention of
Sodom and Gomorrah in association with the rejection of the Gospel message and
the action of wiping the dust from the feet, it is worth noting that, for all
practical purposes, Lot wiped the dust of those cities from off of his feet
when he fled with his family.
To these words Jesus
adds: “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you
rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me rejects the One Who sent Me” (10:16). For what it’s worth, there are echoes of
Sodom and Gomorrah in this statement as well. Of course, Caesar could say
much the same thing, and he could then justify his murderous actions to the
people of his kingdom (empire) by saying that those that he slaughtered (or
ordered to be slaughtered) had rejected Rome and the people of Rome (the one
who had sent him). In his eyes, this
would be something akin to a cardinal sin.
So no, the job of the
disciple was not to pronounce judgment and call down fire and condemn, but
rather, to preach the kingdom of God while caring for and bringing healing to
the sick and those that perhaps have been cast off by the world. The job
of the disciple is to preach that Jesus of Nazareth was, is, and forever will
be the crucified and resurrected Messiah of Israel and Lord of all, while
consciously recognizing that it is the Creator God, through the mysterious
activity of His Spirit, that goes to work to make that message effective and
impactful and transformational in the hearts, minds, and lives of those who
hear it and see it in action, doing so according to His purposes for them and
for the world.
When one desires to
call down fire, urging “conversion” or “acceptance” through the coercive
preaching of hell’s eternal fires of judgment, or act as if he or she is
functioning as the God of Israel’s duly appointed representatives when propositionally
calling down said fire through referencing the judgment that the covenant God
Himself brought to Sodom, it would seem that such is an act of simply rejecting
Jesus and asserting that His Gospel message lacks any true functional
power.
Is Jesus as weak as
Caesar? Is death the only tool at those that believe in Him and His
disposal when it comes to extending His kingdom? Are those that believe
in Him, call Him Lord, and order their life accordingly, not charged to speak
the words of life in Resurrection? When these things are grasped, and believers
are brought to the point at which they fully and truly believe that there
really is a power in the very proclamation of the Gospel, that there really is
a Spirit that brings, activates, and works within that power, and that there
really is a God in heaven that has a purpose and a plan for His creation, it is
then that they can hear Jesus speaking and saying, “Blessed are the eyes that
see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to
see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear
it” (10:23b-24).
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