Luke 9:51-56

RETALIATORY SPIRIT OF JAMES & JOHN

Luke 9:51-56. “And it came to pass, while the days of His taking up [i.e., His crucifixion] were being fulfilled, and He turned His face to go to Jerusalem. And He sent messengers before His face, and they, going, entered into a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for Him. And they did not receive Him, because His face was going toward Jerusalem. And His disciples, James and John, seeing, said, Lord, do you wish that we may command fire to descend from heaven and consume them, as Elijah did? And turning, Me rebuked them, and said, Do you not know of what spirit you are? for the Son of man came not to destroy the lives of men, but to save them; and they went on into another village.” He is now journeying to Jerusalem, accompanied by His apostles, having declined to go in time for the opening of the festival, when the road would be thronged with multitudes. Samaria, the old kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, stretches across Canaan in the middle, from the Jordan on the east, to the Mediterranean Sea on the west, so that the direct route from Galilee to Jerusalem led through Samaria. As He goes along, preaching on His way, and sends out some of His disciples to notify the people, so they might be on hand to hear the Living Word, and profit by the opportunity, entering a Samaritan village and notifying them about Jesus coming, they refuse to receive Him, because He was going to Jerusalem; as there was long an inveterate prejudice on the part of the Samaritans toward the Jews, as they, after Nehemiah rejected Sanballat from a participation in building the temple, had rallied all their forces, and built a magnificent rival temple on Mt. Gerizim, thus becoming the uncompromising rivals of the Jews for the holy mount, the Christhood, and all the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant; as they were not pure-blooded Jews, but a mixture of the Jews with the heathens, who had been transported thither from the Babylonian Empire by Esarhaddon, the king of Babylon. If His face had not been toward Jerusalem, doubtless they would have received Him, as they were looking for Christ, but wanted Him to be a Samaritan. In all probability, they were near the spot where Elijah had called down fire from heaven, as that was in Samaria, and on the convenient route to Jerusalem. I passed over it, making the same journey. Thus, in all probability, being reminded of that notable event, they thought it an auspicious time to exercise their power. Jesus rebukes them, “Do you not know of what spirit you are?” As the apostles of Christ, they properly belong to the spirit of love, kindness, mercy, sympathy, and forgiveness; whereas Elijah lived under the law dispensation and the theocracy, when Divine retribution was the normal economy. This, however, incontestably illustrates their imperative need of a second work of grace, as James and John were among the most spiritual of the apostles, and still actuated by this retaliatory spirit. If our Savior's apostles needed the sanctifying fire to burn out of them unholy tempers, we certainly all need it too.