Evangelism Part 28: Handling Rejection
Matthew 10:14-15 January 28, 2024
Recap
Matthew 10:5-13 “5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among
the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received
without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10
no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his
food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay
there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is
worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from
your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more
bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that
town.”
For many people, smells evoke memories or emotions of their childhood. Smell is the
only fully developed sense a fetus has in the womb, and it’s the one that is the most
developed in a child through the age of around 10 when sight takes over. So childhood
smells have a deep impact on our memory and emotions.
o The olfactory nerve is only two synapses away from the amygdala (responsible for
certain types of emotions) and three synapses away from the hippocampus
(which is critical for long-term memory). Thus, olfactory memory is highly
resistant to forgetting and is one of the strongest ways to evoke memory and
emotion.
The world knows this science. Department stores and restaurants seek to use scent to
sell their products, entice you to their stores, and to stay longer – even in uncomfortable
situations. Studies show that attractive scents will keep someone in a place almost 50%
longer. Scented areas are regularly perceived as nicer and higher-end then unscented
and will attract more customers or observers. People on average spend 20% more
money in a scented place. Over 60% of hospital patients reported less anxiety and stress
when they smelled pleasant scents before and during their procedures. Restaurants that
are able to project the scent of their food outside their restaurants have much higher
sales. And workplaces that have pleasant smells get more productivity out of their
employees.
See https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/olfactory-
memory#:~:text=However%2C%20olfactory%20memory%20does%20dif
fer,after%20a%2030%2Ds%20delay;
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-
emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/;
https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/fragrant-flashbacks;
)
Many of us can probably think of a smell that evokes a pleasant memory or emotion.
Who here loves the smell of bacon in the morning? How about freshly popped popcorn
(a little bit of butter and salt)? Maybe a steak or salmon sizzling on the grill? I do not like
those smells…they make me want to puke. I don’t know why that is, I didn’t have any
bad experience with bacon, popcorn, or salmon…but that’s what that smell does to me.
o Princeton – “What is that smell?”
2 Corinthians 2:16 (NLT) – “To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death
and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.”
o The good news is only good to those who will receive it…it’s terrible news to
those who reject it and it often leads to their not just rejecting the message, but
the messenger as well.
You Will Be Rejected
Matthew 5:9-12 “9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and
utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your
reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.””
o No coincidence that right after the blessing of a peacemaker being called a son of
God – a son of Jehovah Shalom, the God of Peace – that Jesus addresses those
who are persecuted, reviled, and rejected.
John 15:18-21 “18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated
you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you
are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20
Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep
yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they
do not know him who sent me.”
Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me,
and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Shake the Dust Off
Matthew 10:14-15 “14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake
off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it
will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than
for that town.”
Parallel commands to Matthew 10:14-15:
o Mark 6:11 (to apostles) “And if any place will not receive you and they will not
listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a
testimony against them.”
o Luke 9:5 (to apostles) “And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave
that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
o Luke 10:10-12 (to 72) “But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive
you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our
feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God
has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than
for that town.”
“Receive” (Gk. dechomai) which means something akin to putting out the welcome mat
for someone. Here the Jewish hearers are in effect pulling out the “welcome mat” from
beneath the feet of those who have been sent.
“Listen” (Gk. akouō) to hear and heed what is said so as to affirm its truth and be
obedient and submissive to what is said.
To shake the dust off was a common action for Jews when returning from Gentile
regions as an expression of their being done with that unholy place. To a Jew it was an
action of disdain and disgust and they wanted to be sure that not even the dust of that
place would come with them.
o Paul and Barnabas in Antioch Acts 13:48-52 “48 And when the Gentiles heard this,
they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were
appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading
throughout the whole region.50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high
standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and
Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust
from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled
with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
John MacArthur “Jesus was not speaking of those who are slow to understand or
believe but of those who, after hearing a clear testimony of the gospel and seeing
dramatic and irrefutable signs of confirmation, continue to resist and oppose it. When a
person’s mind is firmly set against God, we should turn our efforts to others.”
MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 10:8-15
Paul in Corinth, Acts 18:6 “6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his
garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From
now on I will go to the Gentiles.””
3 Meanings of shaking off the dust we see in Paul’s comments from Acts 18:6:
o “I am innocent” 1) I am clear of my responsibility to the Lord, I have been
obedient to the call on my life as it relates to you
Similar to saying I wash my hands of this matter – I’ve done all I can and am
called to.
o “from now on I will go to the gentiles” 2) It is time for me to move on and I wish
that none of the influence of your unbelief come with me
o “your blood be on your own heads” 3) You are responsible for your own decisions
You have no excuse for the judgment that you will receive (should you not
turn to the Lord)
And it will be more bearable to for those who sin “ignorantly” (e.g.
Sodom and Gomorrah) than for you
Matthew 11:20-24 “20 Then he began to denounce the cities where
most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not
repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the
mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they
would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.22 But I tell
you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and
Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to
heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works
done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until
this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of
judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”(See also Luke 10:13-
16)
o Degrees of punishment based on awareness of truth and
rejection of that which you are aware.
Application
I hate the smell of cooking bacon, popcorn, and of fish grilling, but my wife doesn’t stop
making those things or eating those things. She has zero ability to make my olfactory
nerve like those smells. But, because she know that I reject these smells she won’t fry
the bacon if I’m in the kitchen or she’ll warn me when popcorn is about to be popped,
and she won’t force me to eat her unsauced salmon even though it has omega-3s and is
good for my heart health (apparently). And I let her know that I don’t like those smells
by lovingly complaining as loud as I can (I jest) or just leaving the kitchen and finding
something that smells better to eat.
We need to understand that we will be the smell of bacon/popcorn/salmon/a Princeton
dorm to some people, and the smell will become all the more pungently awful the
closer we mimic Christ.
How do we handle that?
o 1.) Verse 14 – We are responsible to be present so the person can have the
opportunity to be in relationship with us AND we are responsible to speak truth
so that the hearer can make the decision to listen to truth once we are in
relationship with them.
We do not compromise the message and try to make it more palatable to
the hearer; we speak truth in love a continually and uncompromisingly
point to Jesus as the only, exclusive way to eternal life with the Father.
We do not pick and choose or discriminate who we build relationship with,
we engage and share with whomever the Lord gives us opportunity to do
so.
o 2.) Once we have been obedient in being present and speaking truth and have
been rejected, we shake the dust off and move on to the next person for whom
we may smell like life.
Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls
before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”
The gospel cannot be forced, coerced, or rationalized into someone. It is a
supernatural act of the Lord for someone to hear, receive, and submit to
the gospel of Jesus by faith.
If their heart is hardened, it is up to the Lord to soften it. When we
discern they are currently dogmatic in their unbelief, we move on
and metaphorically shake the dust off as we go.
o 3.) Verse 15 – We remain compassionate, merciful, and loving towards that person
who rejected us, recognizing that it is going to be literal hell for them. There is
nothing more we can do to change another human being—it is not our fault. Trust
God that He has done all that He has called you to do in that interaction or in that
relationship, and that He will continue to move in that person’s life. Be open and
mindful of future opportunities with that person, but also look to the next
opportunity where you can share truth with someone who might receive it.
Your “success” is not defined by the response of the person – your success
is the obedience of the call to share.