What does Luke 9:5 mean?
The Twelve have been told that as they travel to spread the news of the kingdom of God, they should find a host who is "worthy"—who is willing to hear their message—and stay there until it is time to move on to the next village (Luke 9:4; Matthew 10:11).If they find a town where no one will listen, they must not stay and beg for money, as the traveling philosophers do. They are to leave, symbolic of judgment against the town as if it were pagan and unclean. By shaking the dust off their feet, they illustrate there is nothing in that town worthy of their attention. Jesus adds, "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" (Matthew 10:15).
Later, when a Samaritan village refuses to show Jesus and the disciples hospitality, James and John will offer to call down fire to destroy everything (Luke 9:54). The disciples are thinking about Jesus' honor; Jesus is thinking about God's honor.
About sixty years later, the apostle John will deal with the issue of hospitality in 3 John. He will write to a believer named Gaius, praising him for his willingness to host traveling Christian teachers. In comparison, another man in the church, Diotrephes, rejects the authority of church leaders like John, refuses to host traveling believers, and persecutes those who do provide lodging. John suggests that Diotrephes "has not seen God" while Gaius' love for other believers is well known (3 John 1:3, 5–6, 11).
