Luke 10:6

Luke 10:6, in plain English

If someone there is open to peace, your blessing will rest on them. If not, your peace will come back to you. Nothing you offer in God's name is wasted.

Why it's here

Your peace is not lost when people reject it. It comes back to you. God does not waste His blessings. If the door is closed, the peace returns to your heart, ready for the next open door.

Who's speaking

Jesus explains what happens with the peace blessing.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus assured them: if the home is ready, your peace will settle there. If not, it comes right back to you. You lose nothing by offering peace, even to those who are not ready for it.

The scholarly reading

If a huios eirēnēs ('son of peace,' a Semitic idiom for a person characterized by peace/receptivity) is there, the pronounced peace epanapaēsetai ('will rest upon') them. If not, eph' hymas anakampsei ('it will return to you'). Peace is portrayed as an almost tangible force that either finds a home or returns to its sender.

Language and setting

The concept of peace as a transferable spiritual force reflects the prophetic tradition where blessings and curses carry real power. The 'son of peace' idiom identifies someone whose heart is prepared by God to receive the kingdom message.

Voice

Jesus explains how the peace blessing operates.

Significance

Jesus taught that their peace blessing would either find a receptive heart and rest there, or if no worthy recipient existed, the blessing would return to the missionaries unused. Nothing was wasted.

4Carry no purse or bag or sandals. Do not greet anyone along the road.

5Whatever house you enter, begin by saying, ‘Peace to this house.’

6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.

7Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

8If you enter a town and they welcome you, eat whatever is set before you.

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.