Discovery BoxMatthew 2:12 
Context2:12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, 1 they went back by another route to their own country.
Matthew 10:13
Context10:13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 2
Matthew 12:44
Context12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ 3 When it returns, 4 it finds the house 5 empty, swept clean, and put in order. 6
Matthew 25:27
Context25:27 Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, 7 and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! 8
1 sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
2 sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if the messengers are not welcomed, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.
3 tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”
4 tn Grk “comes.”
5 tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.
6 sn The image of the house empty, swept clean, and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.
7 tn For the translation “deposited my money with the bankers,” see L&N 57.216.
8 sn That is, “If you really feared me you should have done a minimum to get what I asked for.”
