Blog:"and greet no one along the way": Difference between revisions

Perhaps Jesus really did mean, "Don't get bogged down by extended ritualistic normative cultural protocols..."  

Yet, throughout Luke Chapters 9 and 10, Jesus prepares the disciples for their mission to follow, teaching them in hints and broad statements, in baby steps and practice on their own. Prior to "The Mission of the Seventy-Two," he similarly sent the Twelve ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9?1 Lk 9:1-6]; told in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/10?1 Mt 10:5-15] and [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/6?7 Mk 6:7-13]<ref>The Seventy-Two appears only in Luke.</ref>) whom he instructed to pronounce that "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/10?7 Mt 10:7]), across Jewish lands only; whereas the Seventy-Two also went into Samaria and "pagan territory."<ref>The Twelve were told not to go to Samaria or pagan lands ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/10?5 Mt. 10:5]); whereas, evidently, the Seventy-Two did (see Constable's notes on [https://netbible.org/bible/Luke+10 Luke 10:1])</ref>     

Literally, a "way" is the path between points A and B. Allegorically, a "way" is a what it takes to get there. The early Church -- and it's so perfect -- was called, "The Way", as Jesus is both "the way" to live our lives and "the way" to salvation.   

While we may be situated in modes and places, it is in moving about, and, especially moving between circumstances that we are especially vulnerable to the world's definitions upon us. It is along the "way" that we often find ourselves getting in trouble. Literally, though, travel along the way has inherent uncertainty, and as anyone who has traveled much can attest, the world of travelers can be rather unsavory. Travel means exposure to the world.   

Indeed, the Lord mentions the word "world" frequently, generally as a reference to creation and mankind or as the fallen "world" ruled by Satan. In Luke's version of the Temptation of Jesus,   

In [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/11?25 2 Cor 11:25-27], Saint Paul recounts the dangers of apostleship,     

Scorpions both hide beneath benign objects and blend-in with their environment. They are active at night, are opportunistic predators with voracious appetites, and they hate one another.<ref>See [https://www.britannica.com/animal/scorpion Scorpion | Description, Habitat, Species, Diet, & Facts | Britannica]</ref> They're also inherently vicious looking, with the stinger always poised for attack. They make not just a dangerous pest, but a perfect metaphor for a severe danger in a sinful world.  

Scorpions take advantage of the mundane, lying in wait within it. Worse, they get into our stuff, and we can then carry them around, literally and figuratively, as baggage. Extending the metaphor, then, if, say, we stop at an unfamiliar place for a beer along the way, we may be subjecting ourselves to an unknown danger. Not every rock has a scoprion, and not every pub offers worser enticements than draft, but we can easily imagine how it could be, depending the given place. The Lord is telling the disciples to occasions that might lead to trouble and instead get on with the mission, as there will be trouble enough at the destination. So don't stop to say hi, and don't risk the snare, even if unlikely.

As the scorpion, so to sin lurks beneath "occasion"<ref>See Saint Pope John Paul II's [https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_02121984_reconciliatio-et-paenitentia.html Reconciliatio et Paenitentia (December 2, 1984) | John Paul II (vatican.va)]</ref> which the Lord tells us to avoid at the cost of, say, an eye or a hand or a foot ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/9?43 Mk 9:43-47]). With snakes, scorpions and wolves abounding the world about us, and our own concupiscence<ref>our tendency towards sin</ref> leaning us in to them, the Lord knows we cannot avoid all dangers, thus, as he told the Twelve, and, surely, the Seventy-Two, as well (although unrecorded),  

Along the way to preach, cure ilness and drive out demons, the disciples were not to get distracted, not to let themselves get caught up in conversations or situations that might distract or mislead.   

My friend and I once journeyed across the Piedmont by Greyhound bus in order to meet people who could use a little help in the form of an envelope with some dollars in it, slipped quietly to the person if the story expressesd a genuine, little need. Across a week, we encountered wonderful people, scary people, sad people, and vile people. This was before my conversion, so it was not, for me, proselytizing, and instead, simple charity. It was moreso that for my friend, who also wanted to "give away money to someone who will never ask me for more later"). Still, we were spreading cheer and good will that, I trust, some of those encounters are remembered still by those we met. I remember them all well. (Here for our blog from the trip: [https://goodwilltour2013.wordpress.com/ Goodwill Tour 2013.])  

The satisfacton or hearing personal stories, helping out a little, and seeing a thankful smile or ray of hope enlighten a distressing day is inexplicably beautiful. I didn't know it at the time, but it is what the Lord wants from us. We returned home exhausted and exhilerated from what was, truly, nothing -- zero -- like what the disciples experenced. They were sent by God himself to preach God's very Word. Imagine!   

We don't know the details, although it's fun to think about -- who rejected them, who kicked them out of the synagogue or temple, who they healed, which demons they crushed, and how the name "Jesus" could do anything.