In the following Jesus, some teachings are harder than others to put into practice. “Love your enemies and do good to those who treat you badly,†comes to mind, as the supreme example. And here in the Gospel today we find another of those hard sayings. The Lord is giving His instructions to His disciples on how to conduct themselves when on mission and staying among other people. If you meet a non-peaceful person, your peace will come back to you. It is often our experience, if we meet with an aggressive person, that we lose our composure and very often lose our peaceful attitude. It does not take very much for us to become upset and aggressive in out turn. Peacefulness of spirit is not an easily won virtue. Good training and great testing must take place first if we are to become ministers of peace in this world.
Jesus says to His disciples, “Remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.†Think about that. Realize that you are going to meet with some unpleasant experiences. Be ready for them. This counsel of the Lord is also a gift of His Spirit. It is a spirit of fortitude, of courage, such as the Lord himself exhibited in all His dealings with others. It is a boldness that is not aggressive, but is quietly confident. Look at the instruction that Jesus gives about those who reject His message. Shake the dust from your feet as a sign to people that they are rejecting something good, something of vital importance.