What is the context?
The mission instructions close with welcome and reward. Earlier Jesus warned that some households would refuse the messengers. Here He explains the significance of receiving them: welcoming those He sends means receiving Him and the Father who sent Him.
The welcome is given because of the person's relationship to God and His work. A prophet is received as a prophet, and a righteous person as a righteous person. The host takes part in supporting that service, and Jesus promises a reward.
The last example makes the act very small and concrete: a cup of cold water given to a disciple. Jesus calls the recipient one of these little ones and explicitly identifies him as His disciple. The attention is not limited to celebrated messengers or impressive acts. Ordinary care for someone who belongs to Him matters.
This ending widens the circle of participation. Some carry the message on the road; others welcome them and meet their needs. In the setting of the chapter, hospitality becomes part of receiving the mission Jesus has entrusted to His followers.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly understand these verses as connecting welcome for Christ's people with welcome for Him, and as assuring helpers that their service matters to God. Wesley on Matthew 10:41–42 applies little ones broadly to the least Christian, while the US Catholic bishops' notes on 10:40–42 understand the descriptions chiefly as referring to the Christian messengers in the mission's setting. Both readings emphasize care given because a person belongs to Jesus, rather than because the person is important in the world's eyes.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The welcome fits the larger pattern of the Father sending the Son and the Son sending His followers. After His resurrection, Jesus joins peace with that sending in John 20:19–23. The mission continues from the living Savior, and receiving His messengers is one way others take part in it.
3 John 1:5–8 makes the role of hospitality explicit. Supporting those who travel for Christ's name makes the helpers fellow workers for the truth. A small act like the cup of water belongs within God's larger work of making Christ known; the person giving it has a part to play as well as the person speaking.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.