Opening illustration: The anti-God bumper stickers covering the car seized the attention of a university professor. As a former atheist, himself, the professor thought perhaps the owner wanted to make believers angry. “The anger helps the atheist to justify his atheism,” he explained. Then he warned, “All too often; the atheist gets exactly what he is looking for.”
In recalling his own journey to faith, this professor noted the concern of a Christian friend who invited him to consider the truth of Christ. His friend’s “sense of urgency was conveyed without a trace of anger.” He never forgot the genuine respect and grace he received that day.
Believers in Jesus often take offense when others reject Him. But how does He feel about that rejection? Jesus constantly faced threats and hatred, yet He never took doubt about His deity personally. Once, when a village refused Him hospitality, James and John wanted instant retaliation. “Lord,” they asked, “do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54). Jesus didn’t want that, and He “turned and rebuked them” (v. 55). After all, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
It may surprise us to consider that God doesn’t need us to defend Him. He wants us to represent Him! That takes time, work, restraint, and love. (ODB, 05/23)
Introduction: Luke 9:51 says, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” Christ was deliberately going to Jerusalem to face even more opposition because of His commitment to die on the cross for our redemption. When James and John rightly perceived opposition to their Master, they wrongly responded with an attitude of vindictive punishment. Most likely, they were thinking of Elijah calling down fire from heaven (2 Kings 1:10–12) and the fire that fell in judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). However, they missed the point that Jesus’s truth claims are submitted for human consideration without compulsion or pressure.
As one theologian wisely said: “God is a Gentleman and will not violate our own free will.” The time of judgment that is most certainly coming has its own set time in God’s calendar. Before it arrives, each human being that hears the gospel has the freedom to believe it or reject it. God is “patient with [us],” the apostle Peter wrote, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). How might you show grace and faithfulness in letting your gospel light shine today regardless of the response?
1. How did the Samaritans react to the visit of Jesus? They rejected Him!
Samaritan's Rejection: "They did not receive Him, because His face was, as though He would go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:53). The Samaritans had their temple on Mount Gerizim, but because He was making for the city of His Father's House they would honor Him not. Rejecting Christ manifests itself in many ways. There are still those who will not receive Christ.
• Because He does not Honor their Works. They have, like these Samaritans, built a temple of their own, fashioned after their own thoughts and opinions, and unless the Lord Jesus Christ compliments them in some way for their good works they will receive Him not (Romans 10:2-3; Luke 18:9).
• Because He will not go with Them in their Ways. They had made up their minds to do their worship at Gerizim, and unless Jesus Christ would condescend to meet with them there they would have nothing to do with Him. The self-righteous devise their own plans, determine their own ways, and if Christ does no acknowledge such they simply receive Him not, and go on with their Christ-less work and worship.
• Because He seems to Favor Those whom They Despise. "His face was, as though He would go to Jerusalem." The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. They were like some High Churchmen who will have nothing to do with the Christ that blesses dissenters. In setting His face toward Jerusalem, He was setting His face to the Cross which still makes Him an offence to many.
Illustration: The Samaritans deliberated for a while among themselves, and then they reported back to the disciples saying, “We don’t want you guys here. Go, and don’t come back. You are not welcome here. You are Jews, and you are on your way to your holy mount in Jerusalem. We have no dealings with you or your Jesus. Get out of our town.” It is not supposed to happen is it? We hear again and again religious enthusiasts telling us that people everywhere are looking for Jesus, that there is a hunger for him all over the land, that all we have to do, is tell people about Jesus, and they will fall over themselves to believe on him. We’ve not found that to be the case, but rather what happened in Samaria is happening all over Europe and north Africa and the Middle East today. It is happening in our town and in the university. There are more than 31,000 students at the University of Iowa, and a hundred or so attend some Christian meeting. In other words, 30,900 are not interested. “No thanks,” they say. “Don’t bother us.”
2. How did the disciples of Jesus react?
Disciples' Intolerance: "When His disciples saw this, they said, Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them?" (Luke 9:54). Perhaps James and John remembered that it was hereabout where Elias had wrought such a miracle of judgment (2 Kings 1:10).
There is John’s request. Now all of us have heard of the beloved disciple John, who wrote a gospel in which he wrote down John 3:16 about God’s love for the world, and that God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. This is the John, who (back in verse 49) tells us he stopped a Christian man from preaching and delivering people from demons “because he is not one of us” (v.49). This is the same John, who comes with his brother and asks Jesus if they could firebomb this Samaritan village killing everyone in it because it dared to refuse Jesus permission to preach there. Does this ring a bell? This was John here; it was a very immature John; the fruit of the Holy Spirit, love, was not very evident in him at this time, and so we can take great encouragement can’t we from reading this?
The sudden outburst of this ungracious and hateful spirit reveals at least three things: Their-
• Faith - They believed that the Heavens would answer their call, and that fire would come down at their bidding. Such faith is not to be lightly esteemed. Men of like passions with ourselves have wrought by faith such mighty works (Jam 5:17).
• Zeal - Their indignation was hot at the insulting attitude of these Samaritans toward their Master. They could not stand by, as perhaps some of us can, and see the Lord being despised and rejected without any moving of the soul, either with divine pity or selfish rage.
• Ignorance - They knew not what manner of spirit they were of, neither did they know the manner of their Master's spirit, nor the great deep purpose of His mission. "I am not come to judge the world, but to save the world" (Joh 12:47). The devotion of which ignorance is the mother is both blind and merciless.
3. How did Jesus respond?
(i) Jesus Rebukes His disciples: Jesus didn’t toss words like those over his shoulder as he walked on; he didn’t mutter them under his breath; he turned, we are told that is turn and faced the slow-witted, hard-hearted, unbelieving James and John as men who’d suggested something utterly unacceptable – even to think it let alone say it – and he rebuked the pair of brothers. It was very solemn; it stopped them in their tracks, to be earnestly rebuked by Jesus.
Illustration: Do you regularly attend a church where your deliberate sins are rebuked? If not there’s no need to search further for the reason that you’re not making progress in holiness. All God-breathed scripture is profitable, and one of the reasons God inspired it is in order that it rebuke us when we are going dangerously wrong. People are going to get hurt if you continue to behave as you are; people you love, people who depend on you. God rebukes our folly and wickedness. Thank God he does not shrug his shoulders and do nothing. We may kiss the divine rod that smites us. Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
(ii) Gracious Explanation: "The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:56). While in the days of His humiliation, He made Himself of no reputation, being reviled He reviled not again. He remained true to His divine character and mission, to love, to suffer, and to die (Joh 3:17). Behold now, not the judgment time, but the accepted time; hence the long-suffering patience of God. If any man has not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His, "As He is, so are we in this world." Our mission, then, like His, is not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
Illustration: The story is told about the famous preacher G. Campbell Morgan, about how he applied to his denomination for ordination in 1888. In his denomination, candidates for the ministry had to pass a doctrinal exam, then preach a trial sermon before a jury of denominational officials. Campbell was part of a class of 150 young men to go through the process together, and he was part of the 105 who were rejected by the jury. In despair, he wrote his father a one-word message, “Rejected!" His father wrote back, “Rejected by the world, but approved by heaven.” Morgan went on to become one of the most famous preachers of the late 18th and early 19th century. If you have given yourself over to Jesus, you have God's approval, and that is the only approval that truly matters. After all, “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)? Knowing that we have God's approval allows us to respond graciously to the rejection of others.
Application: When we are ignored or face rejection, how must we respond? Most of us may show our frustrations and react in an un-Christ-like manner. Jesus set the tone by responding to rejection in a way that would put coals of fire upon the heads of the Samaritans. Being rejected is setting you up for success.
