Luke 10:11

Luke 10:11, in plain English

They were to say, 'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet, we wipe off as a warning. But know this: the kingdom of God came near to you.'

Why it's here

Even in rejection, the truth stands. The kingdom was there whether the town wanted it or not. The warning is not petty; it is urgent. Missed opportunities with God carry real weight.

Who's speaking

Jesus scripts the public declaration for rejecting towns.

Where it sits in the story

The message for rejecting towns was both symbolic and verbal: we are wiping off your dust, but know that the kingdom of God was right here at your doorstep. You chose to miss it.

The scholarly reading

The dust-wiping gesture (ton koniorton ton kollēthenta hēmin ek tēs poleōs hymōn apomassometha hymin, 'we wipe off against you even the dust of your town that clings to our feet') symbolically renounces all association. The declaration plēn touto ginōskete hoti ēngiken hē basileia tou theou ('yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near') makes the rejection consequential.

Language and setting

The dust gesture, more elaborate than the Twelve's version (9:5), emphasizes total dissociation. Critically, the kingdom's nearness is proclaimed even to rejecting towns, making their judgment worse because they rejected the kingdom while it was at their very doorstep.

Voice

Jesus provides the specific words for the public declaration in rejecting towns.

Significance

The missionaries were to dramatically wipe off even the dust of the rejecting town, symbolizing total disassociation, while still declaring that God's kingdom had come near. Rejection did not nullify the kingdom's reality; it amplified the town's accountability.

9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’

10But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare,

11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’

12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

13Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Read all of Luke 10 — A lawyer asks how to inherit eternal life and gets an answer he doesn't expect. The hero of the story is the one everyone despises.