I realized something today about the expression, “Shake the dust off your feet.” It’s what Jesus said to the Twelve, but not to the 72.
In Matthew and Mark, Jesus says:
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.
Matthew 10:14 (NIV)
“And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
Mark 6:11 (NIV)
Even in Luke, Jesus said the same thing:
“If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
Luke 9:5 (NIV)
But when Jesus sent out the 72, He said something else:
“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.
Luke 10:8-11 (NIV)
Moreover, Jesus differentiated between “personal” and “community” evangelism.
“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
Luke 10:5-7 (NIV)
Jesus says nothing about “shaking the dust” off in personal ministry; He only told the Twelve to shake the dust off “as a testimony against” that place. Still, the command to the 72 is much more damning if you consider the Greek.
The NIV translation “loses” something that other translations don’t.
And the dust that has cleaved to us from your city, we wipe off against you, but know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near to you;
Luke 10:11 (LSV)
The Literal Standard Version and others reveal that the dust “cleaves” to them and that they must “wipe” it off. In Greek, kollethenta (cleaves/clings) is “from kolla; to glue, i.e., to stick” (Bible Hub). This isn’t your run-of-the-mill dust. It’s something that attaches itself and won’t let go—Much like mud. I’m not saying Jesus meant mud, but the imagery helps us understand the concept since we have to wipe off mud because it’s much more resilient than dust.
Traditionally, “shaking the dust off” invites images of someone “washing their hands of those who rejected the message and leaving them to their fate.” But wiping dust (mud) off one’s feet invokes different imagery.
Those who brought the message were to also separate themselves from those who rejected it. Consider what Paul said about yokes:
“Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
2 Corinthians 6:17 (NIV)
That’s what I imagine when I think of wiping mud off of my feet—not to mention other “smellier” and foul things we might step in that we want no part of. Still, I wonder if the application of the concept in Luke is less about relationship and more about separatism—in spirit and in truth—because Jesus’ directive isn’t aimed at personal evangelism.
Consider for a moment those well-meaning street preachers on social media who grab their Bibles, cameras, and good intentions to preach in places opposed to God, like “Pride” rallies. They are preaching to communities that want nothing to do with God, hoping (I guess) to pull a sheep or two from the jaws of death.
I don’t know about you, but all I ever see are videos and posts full of hatred and conflict. It makes me wonder if these preachers are doing more harm than good for the cause, especially when I consider how receptive that same community has been on a personal basis when they’ve been “separated” from the community. In such cases, there’s no hostility, only a driving desire to know why Christians care so much.
Maybe that’s what Jesus was getting at in Luke when He sent out the 72. If we stand amongst a community of unbelievers hostile to the Gospel and engage them, how can onlookers differentiate between those who believe and those who don’t? Of course, I’m applying the separation concept to the modern world.
In the context of Luke 10, we might say, “The Gospel sends us into the world, but being sent into the world doesn’t mean becoming attached to everything we encounter.”
Nevertheless, I believe a modern application is as we’ve seen: if we’re standing in a hostile crowd, we don’t look any different. After all, you can bring a message of peace. But when it’s received with hostility, turning an otherwise “peaceful,” if not ungodly, event into chaos, are you bringing peace that leads to Christ, or the Gospel’s sword, which might as well be a big bomb that takes everyone out?
I don’t really know, but it’s something I’ll be thinking about for a while as I consider these “new” insights from Luke 10.
