Many religious people are familiar with the Great Commission in which Jesus told His apostles to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Earlier, during His earthly ministry, He gave His apostles a more “limited” commission – to “go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6).

When Jesus gave this “limited” commission, He told His apostles, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 10:7). However, even though their message would be confirmed with miracles (Matthew 10:8), not everyone would accept it. So Jesus gave them instructions regarding what they should do when this happened:

“Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet” (Matthew 10:14).

Jesus indicated the severity of the offense committed by those who refused to listen when He said that “it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (Matthew 10:15). This shows us just how serious it is for someone to reject the message of the gospel.

The same thing was done as the Great Commission was carried out as well. In Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:14), the Jews opposed Paul’s preaching out of jealousy when they saw that “the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord” (Acts 13:44-45). Their response led to Paul and Barnabas “[shaking] off the dust of their feet in protest against them” (Acts 13:51).Continue Reading