One of the most enigmatic statements in the New Testament for me is Luke 10:5-6:
When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Just what exactly does that mean? After all, this passage and the equivalent passages in Luke 9, Matt. 10 and Mark 6 are how Jesus tells his people to do Kingdom ministry. Everything Jesus did in Kingdom building ministry and everything he taught about how to extend the Kingdom is summed up in this Luke 10 passage. If we want to do ministry Jesus’ way, and not just our own way, we’d better understand what his teaching means.
Of particular curiosity to me is this idea of saying “Peace to this house,” then determining who a man (or person) of peace is by discerning if the peace rests on this person or not. I feel I understand what a person of peace is. It is the person God connects with those who are in apostolic ministry to begin the process of the Kingdom entering into a particular place, or group. It is Cornelius (Acts 10), or the woman at the well (Jn. 4), or Lydia, or the jailer at Philippi (Acts 16).
I also feel pretty comfortable with the concept of a house of peace (an oikos of peace) it is the oikos of the person of peace. An oikos is the household or affinity group of a person. It is not particularly a reference to a building; it is a group of people. Therefore, to find this important group, this oikos of peace, one has to find the person of peace. And, to find a person of peace one has to observe and discern how they respond to… respond to what? Do we take this phrase “Peace to this oikos” literally? Do we say to a group of people or a family, “peace to you” and wait to see what happens? Do we take this as a generic blessing? “God bless you.” And wait to see what happens? Do we observe if they respond to our ministry, presence, or message as a blessing? This is no small matter; we had better get this right if we are going to do ministry Jesus’ way. My guess is that all of the above fall into the concept of saying “Peace to this house.” But that’s my opinion, for what it is worth.
Still, even if that is correct, what does peace resting or returning mean? It seems to me that this is a key observation in the Kingdom spreading process. Jesus seems to put a lot of weight on how people respond. Eugene Peterson’s translation The Message treats it like this:
“When you enter a home, greet the family, ‘Peace.’ If your greeting is received, then it’s a good place to stay. But if it’s not received, take it back and get out. Don’t impose yourself.
Here is the way I’ve come to understand this passage; although I don’t claim inspiration on this. If we meet an individual or group and minister to them in the name of Jesus, and they truly respond to our presence and ministry to them as a blessing from God himself; then you are in the right place and with the right people. Stay with them, eat with them, get to know them on their own turf, become their friends and continue to minister to them; until Jesus himself takes up residence among them.
When I meet a person I seek to minister Jesus to them. I try to pay careful attention to how they respond. I’m not looking for a polite “thank you.” I’m certainly not interested a tense smile, let alone rejection. But when someone seems to almost run into the arm of Jesus, or seems to genuinely and gratefully receive the ministry as coming from Jesus himself; that’s the person of peace. When he or she takes their story back to their group and that group has the same response, this is where you want to set down roots so that Jesus can take up residence among them. Stay there as long as it takes.
On the other hand, why should we waste our time trying to convince people who have already rejected or aren’t really interested that what Jesus has to offer is worth having? Life is too short to bang our heads against the wall. I’d rather go back to prayer that Jesus connect me with houses and people of peace. I’m going to move on, dusting the dust of my feet. Never the less, the Kingdom had been offered to them. They have made their choice, at least for now. I’m going to take up residence among the truly receptive.
For other posts on Luke 10 style church planting see: Why Simple Churches Don’t Work, Reason #7, Four Keys to Church Planting, Building on the Right Foundation, Starting on the Wrong Foot, and Ministry with Jesus as Lord.
- What do you think peace resting on someone or peace returning means?
- Do you think Luke 10 is a general pattern the details of which are to be filled in by the Holy Spirit, or a prescription, something we have to do “just right?”
- Do you feel comfortable with the way I’ve defined the person of peace and the house of peace?
- Do the Kingdom spreading ministries you’ve been involved in look like what Jesus did or are they completely or somewhat different? Do they even fit the same pattern as what Jesus taught his disciples and the 72?
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Hi Ross,
I agree with you that this is a key aspect to understand. I think to comprehend this you’ve got to go back to Luke 8 where Jesus goes out himself (setting an example for the 12 going out in Luke 9 and the 72 in Luke 10) and in the process shares the parable of the soils (I think a key parable for all ministry).
I think Jesus is always communicating “peace to this house”, but we see responses based on the type of soil we’re interacting with. Jesus always sows seed; we’re to also.
So looking at the last part of Luke 9 and into Luke 10, we see the four soils illustrated:
1. Luke 9:51-56 (Samaritan village; seed on the path): “did not welcome him” — so his peace was rejected.
2. Luke 9:57-58 (along the road; stony soil): more worried about hardships — not a full acceptance of his peace, still too worried about persecution or difficulties.
3. Luke 9:59-62 (two others along the road; thorny soil): the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth — once again not a full acceptance of Jesus’ peace, too many distractions in life.
4. Luke 10:1ff (the 72 sent / men of peace; good soil): “peace will rest on him” — so this is in contrast to the previous 3, a deepening of relationship, an entry into the kingdom.
I think Jesus is always checking out soil, and when he finds good soil he invests heavily in it. That’s what he wants us to do too. Sometimes he just shows up (like the Samaritan village), sometimes he just challenges others (like those along the road), and sometimes he does very comprehensive or holistic things (like Luke 10 — taking up residence with others). I think it’s a gradual unveiling of relationship that happens; we’re to continue to go deeper with potential men and women of peace, observing the characteristics of the soil, and taking great joy when we find fertility.
Praying for more workers with you, my friend!
Hey Lyle,
Your thinking on this is really excellent. It also shows the power of how Jesus modeled, which I’m going to addess in a post later this week. Perhaps I should have you do a guest post on this because there is a lot of meat here.
Ross
I worked for 21 years as a missionary in Uruguay and Argentina. We did a lot of house-to-house visiting. Often people responded hatefully, calling us names and insulting our faith. Other times we would come to a home just at the right time of need or openness and our message was received. When you get the rejection it can weigh on you if you let it. If you allow it, it can invade your spirit and make you feel dejected and depressed. Jesus was warning his disciples not to let this happen. If you give them your peace, but they don’t receive it. Don’t lose your peace, but let it come back to you and go on your way.