Two Kinds of Fire From Heaven: Luke 9:51-56
“51) When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; 52) and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. 53) But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54) 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?” 55) But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56) for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.” Luke 9:51-56
The closer Jesus came to His to completing His work on earth and His ascension, the more resolute He became. As He was making His final trip to Jerusalem, His Journey brought Him through Samaria.
Because of the hostilities between the Jews in Jerusalem and the Samaritans, the Samaritans would not provide food, drink or shelter for Jews traveling to Jerusalem. Even though the Samaritans were of Jewish descent, they were shunned as gentiles in the temple system. The animosity was strong.
In response to this rejection, when James and John heard of the matter, they became righteously indignant. They asked Jesus if they should call fire down from heaven and roast the entire city.
It is typical of the way many Christians want to use the power of God today. Rather than extending love, grace and forgiveness, they are ready with wrath, anger and judgement. It shocks me that they had traveled with Jesus for three years and yet they were serious about this proposal.
Jesus turned and rebuked them. They were sincere in their righteous indignation, but were totally out of sync with Jesus and the gospel. He came to reach the lost and not destroy them.
John 3:16 must always be quoted with verse 17. Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. James and John did not recognize their own wicked hearts. They were harboring a worse spirit than the Samaritans. They wanted deadly revenge.
Courage and boldness must always to be tempered by agape love. Vengeance must be left to God. We often make the mistake of treating our mission field like a war zone. We often judge and condemn the very people Jesus sent us to reach.
Jesus so loved the Samaritans that He specifically included them in the Great Commission as recorded in Acts 1:8. When they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and sent out to be witnesses, He commanded them not to skip over Samaria. They were to be early recipients of His gospel of love and grace.
Many times the problem with the spread of the gospel is within us. We are focused on calling judgement fire down from heaven rather than the fire of Pentecost. The two fires are very different.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
“51) When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; 52) and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. 53) But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54) 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?” 55) But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56) for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.” Luke 9:51-56
The closer Jesus came to His to completing His work on earth and His ascension, the more resolute He became. As He was making His final trip to Jerusalem, His Journey brought Him through Samaria.
Because of the hostilities between the Jews in Jerusalem and the Samaritans, the Samaritans would not provide food, drink or shelter for Jews traveling to Jerusalem. Even though the Samaritans were of Jewish descent, they were shunned as gentiles in the temple system. The animosity was strong.
In response to this rejection, when James and John heard of the matter, they became righteously indignant. They asked Jesus if they should call fire down from heaven and roast the entire city.
It is typical of the way many Christians want to use the power of God today. Rather than extending love, grace and forgiveness, they are ready with wrath, anger and judgement. It shocks me that they had traveled with Jesus for three years and yet they were serious about this proposal.
Jesus turned and rebuked them. They were sincere in their righteous indignation, but were totally out of sync with Jesus and the gospel. He came to reach the lost and not destroy them.
John 3:16 must always be quoted with verse 17. Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. James and John did not recognize their own wicked hearts. They were harboring a worse spirit than the Samaritans. They wanted deadly revenge.
Courage and boldness must always to be tempered by agape love. Vengeance must be left to God. We often make the mistake of treating our mission field like a war zone. We often judge and condemn the very people Jesus sent us to reach.
Jesus so loved the Samaritans that He specifically included them in the Great Commission as recorded in Acts 1:8. When they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and sent out to be witnesses, He commanded them not to skip over Samaria. They were to be early recipients of His gospel of love and grace.
Many times the problem with the spread of the gospel is within us. We are focused on calling judgement fire down from heaven rather than the fire of Pentecost. The two fires are very different.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
