Luke 9:51-62

Luke 9:51-62

What caused James and John to have such a powerful reaction? The rejection by the Samaritans was more than a “No Vacancy” sign. It wasn’t a polite refusal. Whatever their rejection was it put the Sons of Thunder in the mind of the fire-from-God type punishment. The fire of God fell on Sodom (Genesis 19:24-25) and it exploded against those who were disrespectful toward worship (Lev 10:1-2 and Numbers 3:4, Numbers 16:35). It fell on the disrespectful soldiers sent to bring Elisha in for questioning. (2 Kings 1:9 and following) While the fire from God is not without precedent it was rarely used and represented only the most horrific disrespect toward God or His called servant. James and John may have been hot under the collar for a good reason. Samaritans had the ability to be thoroughly nasty people. So the rejection by the Samaritan village that was less than gracious might not be unexpected. But these circumstances had the brothers ready to defend Jesus’ honor.

Interestingly, Jesus rebukes James and John but not the city. Jesus apparently had nothing to say to or about the Samaritans, but rebuked His loyal followers before moving on.

This is nearly the opposite of how we in the church respond. Often times the church seems incapable of reproving, rebuking or correction of its own. We will allow the most egregious behavior within our own while at the same time offering the most aggressive condemnation of those outside of our own little group. Let’s be honest we would rather call fire down on people who are different from us than to carefully examine our own lives and attitudes. Before I call fire down on anyone I need to check my own heart and see if I might need a little purifying myself.

“Lord, grant me a grace filled heart toward those who do not know You, and vigorous aggression toward the sin in my life. AMEN”