Matthew 10:40-42

The Transitive Property of Welcoming

In elementary school math you learn various basic principles of working with numbers…the commutative property, the associative property, the distributive property, and so forth. The opening of this lectionary passage could be termed the “transitive property of welcoming.” In arithmetic this property tells you that if A=B and B=C, then it is also true that A=C. With welcoming the equivalence hinges on Jesus, who both sends and is sent. According to Jewish law a duly authorized emissary was to be received as an extension of the one who sent them. With Christ this identification is not only in a legal, but an ontological sense: as the only-begotten Son, Jesus identifies perfectly with the Father; and as the fully human…