Luke 9:51-56
The gospel does not record the conversation between Jesus and the disciples, except James and John suggesting calling fire down from heaven. The rest of the conversation is fictionalized, based on verse 55: “But Jesus turned and rebuked them.”
Phillip and Nathanael were helping break camp, preparing to move on.
“Jesus said we’re going to Jerusalem? Now?”
“Yes,” Nathanael answered. “The Passover is coming, and he wants to be there.”
“Oh. I hate that long route around the sea.”
“Well, you know Jesus. We’re going through Samaria.”
“Samaria? Oh, no! Why does he do this? He knows we’re supposed to avoid them. He knows they don’t like us either.”
Nathanael shrugged. “Well … it’s shorter, for one.”
They began the journey through Samaria. About mid-afternoon, Jesus sent a pair of the disciples ahead to the next town, a Samaritan town, to make arrangements. With no public accommodations, a group of this size would not be invited into just one house. Several families would need to invite them in for the night.
As was the custom, the scouting party waited in the town square. An older man approached. “Are you looking for a place to spend the night?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Where are you going?”
“We’re going to Jerusalem.”
“For the Passover, huh?” The man’s eyes narrowed. The Passover was one of the elements of contention between the Jews and the Samaritans.
“Yes.”
“Well, I don’t have any extra room. Sorry.” He walked away.
The conversation repeated itself several times, always with the same results. When Jesus and the others arrived, the two in the square shook their heads. “Nobody wants to take us in.”
Several men in the group grumbled. Jesus shrugged and headed out of town. “Not too far to the next town,” he said.
The grumbling behind him continued.
Finally James and John caught up to Jesus. Full of righteous indignation at being denied hospitality, John asked, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven[1] and consume them?”[2]
Jesus stopped, tilting his head to one side. “Fire from heaven?”
“You know, like Elijah did.” John nodded his head several times.
Jesus did not respond.
“When the king sent a bunch of soldiers to bring him in by force, Elijah …”
Jesus interrupted. “I know the story. … When have you seen me harm anyone? When have you seen me blind someone? Give them leprosy? Make them lame?”
“Well, … not … but …”
Jesus put a hand on John’s shoulder. “That’s not what we’re about, John. We’re here to help and heal. To show God’s love. To do good to others.”
John’s head sagged.
“Calling down fire, how is that loving your neighbor?” Jesus asked softly.
James had been silent, but now he muttered, “It’s not.”
They resumed walking. Nobody spoke for several minutes. Then John whined, “But they weren’t loving to us.”
A sad smile crossed Jesus’ face. “That’s not required, John. Did you not hear me when I said, ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me’? Do you not know what that means?”
“But, Jesus, that’s hard.”
“I know.”
For consideration:
General Questions
- How does this story follow its Scripture?
- How does this story expand its Scripture for you?
- What is the message of this story?
- How does the message apply to us today?
Specific Questions:
- Many Bibles have maps in the back. Usually there is a map showing Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Why would Jesus choose to go through Samaria to reach Jerusalem?
- Animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans goes back to the time when the exiles returned from Babylon. The writer of the gospel of Luke refers to Samaritans three times. This is the first. The other two are Luke 10:28-38 (the Good Samaritan) and Luke 17:11-21 (the healing of the ten lepers) Does this story help us to understand why the other two stories would have been shocking to his listeners?
- How do we love our neighbor?
- The gospel of Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”[3] The gospel of Luke says his followers must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Jesus.[4] Which do we believe? Which do we want to believe?
[1] 2Kings 1:1-17
[2] Luke 9:54
[3] Matthew 11:30
[4] Luke 9:23
