“Journey to Jerusalem, Easter Is On The Horizon!”
Luke 9:51-56
When we see Luke 9:51, we are at a pivot point in Luke’s gospel. Easter is on the horizon within the mind of Christ. Luke 9:51-56 51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, [a]just as Elijah did?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, [b]and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 [c]For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.”
Interestingly, here we are several months from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus knew the cross was nearing. He was on a divine time clock. Everything that happened was on His heavenly calendar. Scriptures were and would continue to be fulfilled. There are a lot of events between Luke chapter 9 when Jesus set His face for the journey to Jerusalem till chapter 19 when He rides into Jerusalem on the foal of a colt. R. Kent Hughes in his Luke commentary says that once you get to Luke 9:51, you must keep reminding yourself that Jesus is on the road headed to Jerusalem. He goes on to say and I quote “If we do this, we will get the proper feel for what is going on—Jerusalem now looms large in the Saviors thoughts. He will soon walk through everything involved in His being “taken up to heaven” (v51)—that is His betrayal, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. The walls of Jerusalem, the city of destiny, rise ominously over all that follows, standing taller with each event from here to the middle of chapter 19.”
Consider the patience, fortitude and wisdom of Jesus. He had sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for their arrival. Keep in mind a large group of folks are following Jesus at this point, so it makes sense to send messengers ahead. However, Samaritans and Jews did not get along and when they found out Jesus was headed to Jerusalem the Samaritans said no, you all are not welcome here. Samaria was the most direct route south to Jerusalem. The animosity between Jews and Samaritans went centuries back to when the Samaritans begin marrying the Assyrian conquers. So, when these messengers are turned down and return to tell about it, James and John have a solution. They ask Jesus “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did? Jesus turned and rebuked them and said “you do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
There are three lessons to be learned about Jesus journey to Jerusalem here:
First, don’t let fear of rejection keep you from trying. Just be truthful.
I mean, the messengers surely had a quick meeting of the minds and said amongst themselves, “Doesn’t Jesus know we will be rejected there?” Jesus used everything to teach a life lesson. Now my guess, these messengers may have recoiled when Jesus told them to head into Samaria to prepare things. It can be easily assumed that they must have strategized in the presence of Jesus what to say to the Samaritans. And I can just hear Jesus say, “just tell them the truth, tell them we are just slowly passing through on our way to Jerusalem. So that’s exactly what they do. It didn’t work out, but these messengers tried and we know from verse 53 they told the truth. Telling the truth is not always easy but its always right. Some people experience rejection or they fear rejection, so they do nothing. They become paralyzed with fear, they get critical and upset, yet they haven’t even tried. Don’t let fear of rejection keep you from trying, and be truthful in your dealings. My guess these messengers were proud of themselves for trying and for being honest. Then they see how Jesus responds with love and self-control.
Secondly, don’t overreact when things fail to go as planned.
These messengers came back with the news and James and John must have anticipated what they hear. Instantly they want to kill these Samaritans with fire from heaven simply because they were rejected. You can almost see Satan behind the scenes getting James and John all worked up. I can just hear that demonic spirit whisper in their ear, “if they don’t let us into Samaria, if those messengers come back with bad news…. we should ask Jesus to let us destroy them with fire like Elijah”. So, that’s how James and John reacted. They were hot under the collar and wasted no time letting Jesus know what they thought about the matter. When we overreact, we oftentimes make irrational and impulsive decisions. Instead we should pray about it and if possible, sleep on it, so that our emotions have time to cool down.
Thirdly, look at the big picture.
Jesus responds with loving rebuke by saying “you do not know what manner of spirit you are of”. Jesus knew the devil had tempted James and John and got them all worked up. What Jesus did to correct their wrong thinking was to elevate their vision to a bigger picture. Jesus said “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them”. Jesus elevated their eyes to a much, much bigger problem than a simple detour. He showed them that man has a sin problem. He showed them that He came from heaven to solve that problem. Jesus says in essence “look James, look John, I am headed to Jerusalem to die for those Samaritans. I’m about to give my life so they can gain life and your talking about destroying life”. Jesus always had His eye on the big picture. When our eyes are on the big picture, we won’t let the smaller aggravations of life get us down or overly upset.
Conclusion
Now here is Jesus’ solution, two disciples are asking for fire judgment, the messengers are sharing the rejection they encountered, and do you know what they end up doing about it? Well, the answer is in six words, “And they went to another village”. That’s it, they just go another way. But the greatest blessing is to see how Jesus lovingly steers James and John and
helps them to see the spiritual beyond the physical. Souls were at stake and now they get the picture. Easter is on the horizon!
Bro. Bruce Rudd