Luke 10:7-9

“ And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. 8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: 9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. ”

A favourable reception is supposed. The messenger of Christ, regarding his entrance into that house above everything else as a providential event, is to fix his residence there during the entire period of his stay in that place (see on Luke 9:4). ᾿Εν αὐτῇ τῇ οἰκίᾳ, not “in the same house,” as if it were ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ οἰκίᾳ, but, “in that same house which he entered at first.” They are, besides, to regard themselves immediately as members of the family, and to eat without scruple the bread of their hosts. It is the price of their labour. They give more than they receive.

In Luke 10:8 Jesus applies the same principle to the whole city which shall receive them. Their arrival resembles a triumphal entrance: they are served with food; the sick are brought to them; they speak publicly. It is a mistake to find in the words of Paul, Πᾶν τὸ παρατιθέμενον ἐσθίετε (1 Corinthians 10:27), an allusion to this Luke 10:8; the object of the two sayings is entirely different. There is here no question whatever as to the cleanness or uncleanness of the viands; we are yet in a Jewish world.

The accus. government ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς, unto (upon) you, expresses the efficacy of the message, its action upon the individuals concerned. The perf. ἤγγικε indicates that the approach of the kingdom of God is thenceforth a fact. It is near; the presence of the messengers of the Messiah is the proof.