Blog:"and greet no one along the way"

The Mission of the Seventy-two.

After this the Lord appointed seventy[-two] others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.

Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.  Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 

Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ 

Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.

An Ordination Mass

At our Arlington Diocese Ordination Mass, June 1, 2024, the Bishop repated the Lord's instructions to the disciples to "carry no" things, which is appropriate for the mission of a new priest: your job must not be burdened by the world, so leave it behind.

The rest of the passage is equally clear and powerful for the priestly mission,

"If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you."

But what of this command --

and greet no one along the way.

Aren't they supposed to spread the Gospel? Why not yell out the Good News at every passerby?

The NAB on the USCCB site offers a brief footnote explanation that the instruction was so that "even customary greetings should not distract from the fulfillment of the task" (Mt 10:4 fn). NetBible, an awesome Biblical source, gives us a larger response from Constable's commentary (Luke 10 | Lumina (netbible.org)):

In ancient Near Eastern culture people often gave very long greetings that tied them up sometimes for days (cf. Judg. 19:4-9; 2 Kings 4:29). Jesus did not mean that His disciples should be unfriendly or unsociable but that they should not allow these greetings to divert them from their mission. They were to pursue their work and not waste their time on lesser things.

Extending the Mission from Jews to Gentiles

Through Luke Chapters 9 and 10, Jesus is preparing the disciples for their mission following him, teaching them in hints and broad statements, in baby steps and practice on their own. Prior to "The Mission of the Seventy-two," he similarly sent the Twelve (Lk 9:1-6; told in Mt 10:5-15 and Mk 6:7-13). He instructed the Twelve to pronounce "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 10:7) across Jewish lands only, whereas the Seventy-Two also went into Samaria and "pagan territory." There is the thought that Luke's audience was Gentiles, and Matthew's Jews, thus the emphasis on the Seventy-Two in Luke, but it makes complete sense that Jesus would gradually extend the Good News, first within Jewish communities with the Apostles, then to Samaritans and pagans with a larger crew of disciples. It also follows the pattern of fulfilling the Old Covenant for the Jews, then bringing it and the New Covenant across the world.

"like lambs among wolves"

Jesus may also be giving a different type of advice, more of a general directive beyond the literal, but no less practical than simply not to linger or waste time in elaborate greeting rituals:

behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves

In the literal sense, bringing no money, bag, or sandals, and greeting no one, means just that. With the purpose to focus on the mission, our commentators tell us the why. But if we extend the directive allegorically, as did the Bishop at our Ordination Mass, there's a lot going on.

Just as traveling light means not carrying the burdens of the world, not greeting strangers on the road means not carrying on with the ways of the world. I'd like to take it even further, especially for priests: on your way to saving souls do not yourself get distracted by or entangled in the world's enticements.

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We recall from John 1,

He was in the world, 
and the world came to be through him, 
but the world did not know him. (Jn 1:10)