Matt 10:40	Luke 10:16	John 13:20
		20 "Let me tell you this:
40 "The one who	16 "Whoever	if they receive
welcomes you	hears you	anyone I send,
is welcoming me,	hears me,	they are receiving me;
	and whoever
	rejects you
	rejects me,
and the one who	and whoever	and if they
welcomes me	rejects me	receive me,
is welcoming the one	rejects the one	they are receiving the one
who sent me."	who sent me."	who sent me."
Matt 18:5	Luke 9:48a	Mark 9:37
	48 He said to them,
5 "And whoever	"Whoever	37 "Whoever
welcomes one such child	welcomes this child	welcomes a child
		like this
in my name	in my name	in my name
is welcoming me."	is welcoming me.	is welcoming me.
	And whoever	And whoever
	welcomes me	welcomes me
		is not so much
	is welcoming	welcoming me
	the one who sent me."	as the one who sent me."

Concept

Each canonical gospel credits Jesus with at least one saying involving the concept of representation. Though the idea is recorded in six different ways, the concept is the same. Someone is authorized to represent someone else. So what happens to the representative reflects upon the one who delegated the authority. The idea itself is ancient and widespread. It is fundamental to both politics and business. A legal representative is not treated as a private person but as a stand-in for another person or group. This relationship is given legal status by a commissioning ceremony (or document) involving a formal proclamation of representation.  Therefore, accepting (or rejecting) the representative establishes (or breaks) relations with the party that issued the commission.

Structure

These sayings are phrased in many ways, but there are only three basic patterns. The simplest involves a one part formula about treating someone as someone else (Matt 18:5). Another is a two part formula comparing two types of treatment that transfer from one person to another (Luke 10:16). The logical structure of these first two types of sayings is the same, whether the speaker---in this case Jesus---poses as the commissioner, as in Matthew and Luke, or as the delegate, as in John.

The most common pattern, however, is a two part saying involving a third person (Mark 9:37, Matt10:40, John 13:20). Yet in each part there are only two persons.  In the first part the speaker delegates a representative; in the second the one who issues the commission claims to represent someone else. So the first pattern has just been repeated, like links in a chain, with the speaker's role as intermediary.

In every saying the terms are general; specific persons are not named. The identity of the speaker is indicated only by the context.

Context

The fact that the same concept is worded in many ways and located in several different settings shows that it was well known and could be set almost anywhere. Three independent sources ascribe it to Jesus: Mark, John and Q. But how they apply it to him differs greatly.

Mark 9:37//Luke 9:48a is shortened in Matt 18:5. Each portrays Jesus as choosing a child to represent him. John, however, has two versions where Jesus is the representative.  In both John 5:23 and 12:44 Jesus identifies himself as one who has been sent (by God), but in neither case does he delegate someone else to represent him. John 13:20 is the only parallel in the fourth gospel where Jesus expressly designates emissaries.

Though worded differently this saying is logically identical to Matt 10:40. The latter verse, like Luke 10:16, is probably traceable to the conclusion of Jesus' mission speech in Q. Matthew and Luke's wording of this saying vary due to the fact that each evangelist prefaced it with different passages from Q. Luke's theme of hearing and rejection is in line with the instruction to leave unwelcoming places (Luke 10:10ff//Matt 10:14ff) and the condemnation of unresponsive Galilean towns (Luke 10:13-15//Matt 11:20-24). In place of those condemnations, Matthew has strung together Q sayings about loyalty and opposition that Luke records elsewhere. Whether the original wording of this concluding commission in Q was closer to Matthew or Luke is hard to tell. Either synoptic evangelist or both might have paraphrased it in editing the context.

The history of this saying is complicated by the fact that other early Christian sources like Ignatius and the Didache base church regulations on the secular principle of accepting an emissary as the "master" rather than on any saying ascribed to Jesus. The question this raises is whether this formula came into the tradition as a Jesus saying or as a common idea.

Attribution

Receiving sender	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 10:16 Matt 10:40 John 13:20 John 12:44b John 5:23b Mark 9:37 Matt 18:5 Luke 9:48a Did 11:4 IgnEph 6:1		0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	27 27 26 7 7 13 13 13 0 7	27 27 33 13 13 40 40 40 0 0	46 46 40 80 80 47 47 47 100 93	27 27 29 09 09 22 22 22 00 05	grey grey grey black black black black black black black

The gist of this saying is well-documented by early Christian writers. But the original wording and application are uncertain. The popularity of this principle in the early church without quoting Jesus makes it hard to prove that he introduced the idea into Christian tradition. And even if he did it is not clear in what context: in reference to himself or to others or both. Opposing views of the development of the tradition are plausible, but none definite. Thus, there were no red votes for any version. Several fellows regarded the unusual agreement of John 13:20 with Q (= Matt 10:40) as a strong indication that Jesus probably said something like this. But apart from the current gospel contexts there is  no sign that Jesus was the original speaker. This formula could just as well have been introduced into oral tradition by a later apostle like Paul to commission his own emissaries. Since none of these sayings display any characteristic of demonstrably genuine sayings of Jesus, most Fellows would not include any of these pronouncements about representation among the things he probably said.