Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
If we are lambs among wolves the only thing that will keep us from getting eaten is having the shepherd with us. His rod and his staff (see Psalm 23), not money bag, sack or sandals, is what can keep us safe. From this we infer that Jesus is not surprised by the opposition that exists in the world. He knows that he isn't asking us to go and preach only to the choir, or even only to a receptive audience. Instead, he is asking us to be like the sower who scatters seed everywhere, generously, not trying to figure out in advance if it will grow or if it won't.
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
There is no option where our peace is diminished if we proceed in the way he directs us. When we go with the peace of Christ, a peace that this world cannot give (see John 14:27) or take away (see John 16:21-23), we can offer it to others without fear. If they receive it then peace will increase. If they don't receive it we remain unharmed. The shepherd is still with us, watching over us.
We pray that more laborers be sent out into the harvest because, contrary to our human expectations, it is abundant. Jesus tells us that there are people just waiting to hear his message and know his love. Does it seem that way to us? It doesn't matter. It is that way. And so we pray. Part of that prayer needs to be a willingness to be used as laborers ourselves. In order to be thus used we must learn to trust in the shepherd more than ourselves and to care more about others than our personal preferences.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
That all the towns and nations receive visits from laborers is vital. The day of judgment is coming and the Lord is extending his offer of reconciliation with the world through us (see Second Corinthians 5:20). He does not want to condemn it (see John 3:17). So through us may his mercy be made known.
Sometimes the world asks us to account for the great sufferings of which we are only too aware. And we don't always have a good answer for why God permits what he does. There is, much as we hate to resort to the refrain, a mystery to it, one that we can understand now only in part. But Job too only understood in part, and that part was more than enough for him.
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another’s, shall behold him,
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
Did Job know that he was longing and waiting for the resurrection? It is unclear. But we know it. And that is why we have work to do in the harvest fields.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
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