Blog:"and greet no one along the way": Difference between revisions
→Travelers, wayfarers, and a fallen world
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Aren't they supposed to spread the Gospel? Why not yell out the Good News at every passerby? | Aren't they supposed to spread the Gospel? Why not yell out the Good News at every passerby? | ||
== | == Extending the Mission from Jews to Gentiles == | ||
The USCCB NAB online Bible offers a brief footnote explanation that the instruction was so that "even customary greetings should not distract from the fulfillment of the task" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10?4=#50010004 Mt 10:4 fn]). NetBible, a handy Biblical source, gives us a larger commentary ([https://netbible.org/bible/Luke+10 Luke 10 | Lumina (netbible.org)]): | The USCCB NAB online Bible offers a brief footnote explanation that the instruction was so that "even customary greetings should not distract from the fulfillment of the task" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10?4=#50010004 Mt 10:4 fn]). NetBible, a handy Biblical source, gives us a larger commentary ([https://netbible.org/bible/Luke+10 Luke 10 | Lumina (netbible.org)]): | ||
In ancient Near Eastern culture people often gave very long greetings that tied them up sometimes for days (cf. Judg. 19:4-9; 2 Kings 4:29). Jesus did not mean that His disciples should be unfriendly or unsociable but that they should not allow these greetings to divert them from their mission. They were to pursue their work and not waste their time on lesser things. (Constable) | In ancient Near Eastern culture people often gave very long greetings that tied them up sometimes for days (cf. Judg. 19:4-9; 2 Kings 4:29). Jesus did not mean that His disciples should be unfriendly or unsociable but that they should not allow these greetings to divert them from their mission. They were to pursue their work and not waste their time on lesser things. (Constable) | ||
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So off went the Seventy-Two across paths that were likely full of unhospital encounters. | So off went the Seventy-Two across paths that were likely full of unhospital encounters. | ||
== Travelers, wayfarers, and a fallen world == | |||
Literally, a "way" is the path between points A and B. Allegorically, a "way" is how to act, what to do, in order to get there. The early Church -- and it's so perfect -- was called literally and allegorically, "The Way", as Jesus is both "the way" to live our lives and "the way" to salvation. | Literally, a "way" is the path between points A and B. Allegorically, a "way" is how to act, what to do, in order to get there. The early Church -- and it's so perfect -- was called literally and allegorically, "The Way", as Jesus is both "the way" to live our lives and "the way" to salvation. | ||