Lk 10:1-12, 17-20
(or 10:1-9)
1The Lord appointed seventy[-two] others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. 2He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. 3Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. 4Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. 5Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ 6If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
7Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. 8Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, 9cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ 10Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, 11‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand. 12I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.”
17The seventy[-two] returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” 18Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. 19Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
JESUS IS OUR PEACE: In today’s Gospel, Jesus bids the seventy-two disciples he is sending on a mission to give the greetings of peace to whatever house they enter. The Hebrew shalom (peace) does not only mean absence of war or conflict. It has a wider connotation of “being complete” or “being okay.” Whatever puts the person in the right condition is connected with peace.
In the Bible, whenever people met, they asked, “Is there peace?” If things were going well, the answer would be, “There is peace.” This means, “I am all right” or “I am okay.”
But shalom was also seen as God’s graciousness towards his people Israel, who are special to him because of the berith or covenant. The covenant was the reason and source of well-being and peace, of God’s protection and blessing.
Jesus bids his missionaries to bring shalom to wherever they go. This is not just a simple greeting or wish, but a sharing of God’s gift of shalom: peace, joy, well-being, salvation. What they share is none other than the shalom of Christ, the Messiah and the Son of God, who came to the world and now is telling the people: “The kingdom of God is at hand for you.”
The disciples’ message is so important that those who refuse to listen to them invite judgment on themselves. This is because the messengers are Jesus’ shaliahim, his ambassadors who represent him and who speak in his name. The shaking off of dust of the refusing town is a warning. The Jews would do this upon leaving the Gentile village or town to make sure that nothing unclean would remain on their sandals. They, after all, had nothing to do with the Gentiles. In the same way, those who refuse Jesus’ messengers are considered separated from Jesus, separated from God. There is no shalom in their household.
Peace is the fruit of Jesus’ coming and of his saving acts, of his sacrifice on Calvary. When he was born in Bethlehem, the heavenly hosts sang, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Lk 2:14). When he finished his preaching in Galilee and went to Jerusalem as Messiah-King astride a colt, he was acclaimed by the multitude who blessed heaven, intoning the angelic message like a refrain, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Lk 19:38). Jesus brings true peace through his suffering and death, because through his cross, he unites all. Paul expresses this so forcefully: “For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of two, thus establishing peace” (Eph 2:14-15).