What is the context?
Jesus now explains how the twelve are to travel and how they are to respond to those they meet. He tells them not to take money or a travel bag, and restricts their clothing and equipment. They are to rely on the hospitality of households that receive them. The worker's right to support is stated alongside that dependence. Giving freely does not mean those who serve have no need for food or shelter.
They are to find a suitable household and stay there until they leave the town. The greeting of peace belongs to their entry into the home. If the house receives them, that peace rests there; if not, it returns to them. Their mission involves a real offer of peace, with a real possibility of refusal.
The related accounts give the travel instructions in different detail. Mark 6:7–13 permits a staff and sandals, while Luke 9:1–6, like Matthew, names a staff among the things not to take. Wesley on Matthew 10:9–10 understands Matthew as forbidding extra preparations rather than discarding what they already have. That is one explanation of the difference; the common emphasis is traveling with simple needs and dependence on the welcome given.
If a home or town refuses both them and their words, they are to leave and shake the dust from their feet. Mark describes this as a testimony against the place, and Acts 13:44–52 later records Paul and Barnabas doing it when driven out. It marks rejection of the message; Jesus does not tell them to force a household to receive it.
The comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah gives that rejection a solemn weight. Jesus speaks of the day of judgment and the responsibility of a town that refuses His messengers. This is a warning about receiving His kingdom announcement, rather than a direction for the apostles to carry out punishment themselves.
The provision instructions address this particular journey. Elsewhere, 1 Corinthians 9:7–14 explains the right of gospel workers to receive material support. In Luke 22:35–36, Jesus Himself refers back to the earlier journey and gives different instructions about a purse and bag. The first commission belongs within that developing story of their service.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly understand these instructions as teaching trust in God's provision, hospitality toward His messengers, and the seriousness of rejecting their message. Wesley on Matthew 10:9–14 emphasizes dependence and a receptive household, while the US Catholic bishops' notes on Matthew 10:8–14 similarly explain freely given service, support from those who welcome the twelve, and the significance of the peace and dust gestures.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The welcome given to Jesus' messengers is connected with receiving Jesus Himself. In the related mission instructions of Luke 10:16, He explains that hearing His messengers means hearing Him, while rejecting them means rejecting Him and the One who sent Him. The importance of the response comes from whose message they bear.
The peace they announce has its fullest expression in Christ's saving work. Ephesians 2:13–18 describes Him making peace through His blood, reconciling people to God through the cross, and bringing those near and far to the Father by one Spirit. The mission's offer of peace belongs within that larger welcome through the Savior.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.