Matthew 10:14-15

“And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” (Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭14‬-‭15‬)

Here, Jesus is sending his disciples out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (6), proclaiming “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (7). Today’s verses are a) Jesus’ instructions for how to symbolically reject anyone who is not receptive to the disciples or their message, and b) the judgment that awaits those who reject the disciples and their message.

First, the disciples are to shake the dust from their feet as they leave the rejecting home. Luke (9:5) adds that this is a testimony against them. Paul and Barnabas repeated this practice in Pisidian Antioch (13:51). It seems this practice is a means of visibly saying, “I have done what I can. I bear no responsibility for you.”

Second, the judgment that awaits those who reject is ominous. Jesus clearly indicates that a) there will be a day of judgment, and b) that real judgment will be applied to those who reject the disciples’ message.

Unfortunately, there is a growing effort, even among evangelicals, in our day to minimize or reduce the severity of this judgment. Jesus’ warning is not hyperbolic or exaggerated. Even though Mark and Luke do not include the warning of Sodom and Gomorrah in their retelling of Jesus’ commissioning of the disciples, Peter references the destruction of the twin cities in his epistle: “if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;” (‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬). So did Jude: “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” (‭‭Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬)

Today’s verses should give me pause. I need to reconsider how I think about the lost. Do I share the concern of Jesus, Peter, and Jude? Or, do I dismiss the judgment to come as hyperbole or as “their problem, not mine”?

Father, help me to share Jesus’ heart for the lost. Help me to be more burdened for those who are walking (even running!) toward judgment. Please forgive me for my apathy. Amen.