Luke 9:51-56

     Jesus is now set to go on to Jerusalem and he sent messengers on ahead to villages to prepare to receive them. One Samaritan village refused to have them because he was headed for Jerusalem. John impulsively suggests they should order fire from heaven to destroy them. Jesus rebuked “them” and simply went on to another village.
     John, here, is the vocal one, but was obviously just saying what the others were muttering about behind his back. This is shown by the rebuke, for John isn’t the only one included in it.
     The discomfort of the Samaritans is ascribed to the fact that Jesus was determined to head on to Jerusalem. From a historical perspective, this is not hard to understand. Samaritans were looked down upon by Israelites. They did not see Jerusalem as the central worship site of their faith. Barclay reports that they would seek to hinder pilgrims to Jerusalem if they took the shorter distance through Samaria to get to Jerusalem.
     Jesus was offering a hand of friendship, which was spurned. Again, from a historical perspective, we can wonder if the Samaritans even understood it that way. However they interpreted the request of Jesus to receive him, the disciples thought it appropriate to seek their destruction. But not for nothing did Jesus live a life of understanding and forgiveness. At the very least the disciples needed to learn to tolerate those who were different. This includes the man casting out demons—see last week’s study, or the Samaritans. At their best, they needed to learn how to love those who are different or at odds with them.
     This study is being posted just a few days before Christmas, so it is difficult not to think of the Christmas story in conjunction. In many ways, the world is reminiscent of the Samaritan village. God has offered, over and over again, the hand of friendship and grace. That offering has often been spurned, yet it comes again. Jesus would be born in a hostile world in which those who were powerful wanted him dead. Yet the result was not fire from heaven; it was an empty tomb and the promise of eternal life. What Jesus asks from humans is simple. To love God and each other. Simple, yet not easy. Not only is it hard to love those who are enemies, it’s sometimes pretty difficult to love those who are annoying, rude or inconsiderate. But Jesus obviously believed we could do it.
    
Who do you find most difficult to love?
What part of your own life is like the Samaritan village—that is, are there some parts of your heart, choices or desires in which Jesus is kept from having the influence he should have?









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