As for those who do not receive you

Luke 8:40-9:6 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. ⁴¹ And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house; ⁴² for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

⁴³ And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, ⁴⁴ came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. ⁴⁵ And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.” ⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.” ⁴⁷ When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸ And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

⁴⁹ While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”⁵⁰ But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.” ⁵¹ When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother. ⁵² Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.” ⁵³ And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. ⁵⁴ He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” ⁵⁵ And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. ⁵⁶ Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

9 And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. ² And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. ³ And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. ⁴ Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. ⁵ And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” ⁶ Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

2 Peter 3:9 says:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  Surely we should have that same level of patience with people. Our desire should be that no one would perish; that all would come to repentance. I believe though that sometimes, because we have lived under grace for so long, that the church has become too patient with sin. We are to be patient people. But there should be a difference in how we respond to those who need more time to repent and those who have chosen to reject Christ. We should be patient with sinners, but not necessarily with those who willfully reject the gospel message. In today’s text, Jesus says:  “…As for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”  Obedience to Jesus direction to the dieciples, would surely draw criticism and condemnation from the world today. We would be considered ignorant; arrogant, prejudiced, bigotted and intolerant if we responded according to Jesus instruction to those who do not receive our testimony of Christ and the gospel.

Matthew 7:1-5 is a familiar portion of scripture, quoted by both those in the church and at least in part by many outside the church. Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”   The world likes to accuse Christians of being judmental, so they misquote these verses often. The fullness of what Jesus says is not that we should not be judgmental, but that we should examine ourselves first, so that we see clearly, in order to help others also see. Look though at what Jesus says next in Matthew 7:6:  “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”  What is more holy Than God’s word?  In Matthew 13:45-46 Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”   In the parable of the prodigal, Jesus parallels living in the filth of sinfulness with wallowing with swine. The kingdom of heaven then should not be continually cast before those who choose to remain wallowing in sin.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus says:  “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  In Matthew 28:18-20 He says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”  In Mark 16:15-16 He says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”    There are people and places that will reject the message of the gospel. Why should we linger and continue with those who reject Christ and choose sin over righteousness? There are other people who need to hear, others are willing to listen. When our message is not received, we should not take offense nor should we worry that we are responsible for the actions of others. If we continue showing grace to those choosing sin, they interpret grace for tolerance and acceptance. They are not moved to choose. We should not judge or condemn. We should show grace and love, but as Jesus said:  “…As for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”   Our witness of Christ, our testimony of Him should be that beyond not accepting, tolerating or condoning sin, we want nothing of its filth in or on our lives.  Ephesians 4:15 says:  Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.

Look at the previous account in today’s text:  As He went, the crowds were pressing against Him. And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.” But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.” When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”    Jesus was not impacted, affected or infected by the woman's disease. Her uncleaness did not come off and remain on Him. Rather, when the woman came in contact with Jesus, she was changed. His righteousness came off on her.  Look also at the account of the twelve year old girl:  While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.” When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother. Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!”  And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately.  Jesus did not leave the child as she was. He spoke life where there was death. We too should not leave people as they are, dead to sin. We should speak life where there is death; repentance where there is sin.

Jesus:  Gave them (us) power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them (us) out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. And He said to them (us), “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Departing, they began (we should begin) going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Amen. Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. May I be a faithful witness and my testimony be true. Amen.