Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 9: 51-56 "YET ANOTHER PROBLEM!"
Day 118 – Luke 9
Text: Luke 9: 51-56
YET ANOTHER PROBLEM!
Have you noticed that Luke was most candid and honest when he did his research on his Gospel narrative? He was not perturbed to write down the fact that the Disciples of the Lord Jesus had a number of problems that needed to be resolved.
The Disciples were but human after all. The only Person who had no flaws, no weaknesses, and certainly NO SINS was the Lord Jesus Christ! We cannot help but note the comparisons and contrasts that Luke observed between Teacher and Disciples!
Luke made another observation about the Disciples of the Lord Jesus. They were essentially Jews, and they had deep-seated problems with people who were of a different race. In this passage, we will see highlighted a problem that Jesus had to correct in His Disciples.
A DEEP RACIAL CONFLICT
The sore racial conflict between the Jews and the Samaritans was well known in the first century. We need to go back to the ancient history of Israel to understand this conflict.
1. Originally, the Kingdom of Israel was a united monarchy.
2. However, in the reign of Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, the kingdom split into two.
3. The northern kingdom was called Israel, and the southern kingdom was called Judah.
4. The northern kingdom became apostate and idolatrous. From the first king Jeroboam, to the last king Hoshea, Israel had proven itself obstinate beyond words. It rejected the Lord outright.
5. There was only one course left. God allowed the northern kingdom to be conquered by the Assyrians in 722 B.C (Cf. 2 Kings 17)
6. Some of the Jews were exiled, while others remained behind.
7. The Northern Kingdom was now a province of Assyria. It was now called Samaria after its capital.
8. The Jews who remained behind intermarried with Gentiles.
9. These became “Samaritans” .
10. New Testament Jews despised them.
NO LOVE LOST
There was no love lost between the Jews and the Samaritans. As much as the Jews despised them, the Samaritans returned the favour with intense hatred. The Samaritans over hundreds of years developed their own worship forms and their own theological systems.
They held to certain common genealogical history. They too laid claim to the fact that their roots began with Abraham. They too believed that one day, there would come a Messiah that would lead them to all truth (Cf. John 4).
However, there were a number of important points where they deviated from mainline Judaism.
1. Since they were seen as outcasts, they built their own Temple, located at Mt. Gerizim.
2. Their religion was a mixture of Judaism and Gentile paganism.
3. The Lord Jesus Himself declared that the Samaritan religion was wrong (Cf. John 4:22, “You worship what you do not know…”)
A THORNY PROBLEM
Samaria lay between Galilee in the north and Judea in the south. The direct route for a traveler intending to go to Jerusalem would be to pass through Samaria. This was the route that Jesus hoped to take. However, some of the Samaritans objected to Jesus and His Disciples passing through their village. This was one of the ways in which the Samaritans could get back at the Jews. Those who did not know Jesus saw Him only as a Jew to be distrusted and hated.
The alternative route would take much longer. It would mean going east, by the River Jordan. Many highly orthodox Jews prefer this longer route rather than the shortcut via Samaria.
James and John, who were both Disciples and brothers to each other, became angry with the Samaritans. Their reaction was to ask for permission to punish the Samaritans,
“Lord, do You want us to command fire
to come down from heaven
and consume them , as Elijah did?”
Luke 9:54
CORRECTION OF A WRONG SPIRIT OF ANGER
The Lord Jesus of course had to rebuke His Disciples! They were wrong on a few counts, though Jesus highlighted only one aspect – their fiery, untempered spirit!
1. They were wrong when they assumed that Jesus would have liked to call fire to destroy the Samaritans.
2. They had read the Scriptures and applied them wrongly, when they appealed to Elijah as an example of fiery wrath!
3. The more serious problem was the fact that James and John had the wrong spirit. ANGER that expresses itself in a WRATHFUL ATTITUDE is ALWAYS WRONG and must be corrected!
“YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT MANNER OF SPIRIT YOU ARE OF.” Luke 9:55
There was much more work to be done in the lives of the Disciples. It was not enough to have knowledge or to have work experience. The transformation must go even deeper. It must reach the level of the spirit! They were still not free from their racial prejudices. They were still controlled by their old spirit of anger! They must ponder afresh what manner of spirit they were of… as Disciples… nay, as Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ! Humbly, Jesus took another route (Luke 9:56). He accepted rejection!