Dionysus on a Bike

Matthew 10:5-23 – 6/24/2026

I cannot remember ever hearing this particular verse commented on. Jesus is giving instructions to the twelve whom he is sending out to proclaim the good news and perform healing to the towns they visit on their journeys. The disciples are to take no provisions for their journey and accept the hospitality of the people in towns where they stay to provide for their basic needs. Jesus, recognizing that not every household or even every town will welcome the twelve and their message, also gives them instructions on what to do if they are not welcomed.

If they are welcomed in a house, Jesus says to “let [their] peace be upon it”; if they are not welcome, they are to “let [their] peace return to [them].” What might this mean? What is it for someone to leave one’s peace upon someone or something? What is it to let one’s peace return or to not leave one’s peace?

I do not know precisely what it is to let one’s peace be upon a house or person, but this verse and Jesus’s instructions to the disciples in general, point to non-coercive proclamation of the good news. If a house has no use for the news Jesus brings, the disciples are not to press the issue. The disciples believe that in Jesus, his life, and his teachings that they have access to peace and that this peace is available to others who receive the good news. That good news is universal in that it is for everyone and all are welcome, but it is not good news that everyone will accept. The good news is a message of peace even to the point of declining to press itself or argue for itself.

Jesus teaches that when someone comes to us in need, we are not to turn them away. We are to give everything we can to help the one who needs that help. This command to help when someone expresses need has a converse. When someone does not express need, we are not to force our way of finding peace on someone else. Proclaim the good news, ask for a warm bed and a meal, if the news is not received as good and the welcome is not offered in return, then Jesus tells his followers to simply move on.

This acceptance of rejection is in contrast to the preaching methods of some types of Christianity. Apologetics, the continued defense of a position that many thoughtful and good willed people reject, as well as other proselytizing methods that rely on persistence, rest on a practices that are contrary to Jesus’s teaching into today’s reading.

Christianity is not for everyone. The message of the Gospel will not be received as good news by everyone. If what brings you peace is rejected to the point where you are not welcome in someone’s home, Jesus teaches to move on. Sometimes proclaiming peace does not bring peace. We are taught by Christ to be sensitive to that and act accordingly.

Reflections of a Dionysian Lutheran, comments on the daily readings of the Revised Common Lectionary by Justin Marquis