“And if a home or town refuses to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake its dust off your feet. I tell you the truth, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah than for the people of that town.” – Matthew 10:14-15
When I was a boy, I saw Billy Martin kick dust on the umpire’s shoes. I had no idea what it meant but the older I got, the more I understood he had done so because he was personally rejecting the umpire’s call, vehemently. 😉
As I read these verses, I saw them in a way I had not previously seen them.
I’ve always seen the verses to mean the dust was still on the disciple’s feet because they had not been welcomed into a home where customarily, they would have been washed.
Sometimes, though, it’s more than that.
Billy Martin would go on to reject many more such calls and even go so far as to throw dirt on an umpire and attempt to orchestrate the murder of another.
Except in the ‘Pine Tar Game’ which would get overturned a little later, anyway, his rejection of the umpire never changed the truth.
Just a little something to consider.
