By receiving His disciples those to whom the disciples would go would show that they welcomed Jesus. Because they received Jesus they would also receive God. How a person receives an agent shows his attitude toward the one who sent him and toward all that one represents. [source][source][source]
Context Summary
Matthew 10:34-42 - Receiving Christ's Representatives
In Jesus Christ we acquire a new affinity, stronger than that of family ties. When we enter into the family of God we belong to all His children. They are our brethren and sisters in the most intimate sense. See Matthew 12:48-50. The new love that floods our nature does not make us less but more tender and sympathetic toward our own kith and kin; but if we are compelled to choose, then we must stand with the children of God, though it should rend us from the old happy family life in which we were nurtured.
As to the closing paragraph, may we not illustrate it thus? When the widow who sustained Elijah at Zarephath entered Paradise, she found herself standing amid the great prophets of Israel. When she asked the attendant angel whether there was not some mistake, he replied, "Certainly not. In treating the prophet as you did, you proved yourself to be of the same spirit and temper as he; and it is but right that you should share in the prophet's reward."
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments. [source]
Chapter Summary: Matthew 10
1Jesus sends out his apostles, enabling them with power to do miracles; 5giving them their charge, teaches them; 16comforts them against persecutions; 40and promises a blessing to those who receive them
What do the individual words in Matthew 10:40 mean?
The [One]receivingyouMereceivesandthe [One]having sentMe