51 When the time was coming near for Jesus to depart, he was determined to go to Jerusalem. 52 He sent some messengers ahead of him, who went into a town in Samaria to make everything ready for him. 53 But the people there would not welcome him, because he was set on going to Jerusalem. 54 When James and John, followers of Jesus, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?”
55 But Jesus turned and scolded them. [And Jesus said, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to. 56 The Son of Man did not come to destroy the souls of people but to save them.”] Then they went to another town.
Read Luke 9:51-56 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
As Jesus was headed for Jerusalem, the gospel of Luke describes His decision to travel through the region of Samaria. As they were approaching a town, Jesus sends some messengers ahead to get things ready for Him to stay there.
However, since the Samaritans and Jews hated one another, Luke tells us that “the people there [in that town] would not welcome him, because he was set on going to Jerusalem.” (v. 53)
While I am not surprised that a city of Samaritans would not welcome a Jew who was traveling to Jerusalem, I am amazed that this little bit of prejudice against a certain group of people caused this entire city to miss out on having the Messiah actually spend time with them.
By this point in Jesus’ ministry, word would have spread about Him being a great Teacher, an amazing Healer, and a miracle Worker who was blessed by God. None of these things mattered to those living in this Samaritan city – their hatred of Jews blinded them from seeing the truth because it could not get past the reality that Jesus was a Jew headed for Jerusalem.
It is in their decision that we are able to discover a powerful truth: Everyone living today is tempted to be biased and judgmental towards a certain group of “other” people. We must push past the hatred and distrust because perhaps those we are most hostile towards are the people we can learn the most from. Our hostility might cause us to miss out on seeing Jesus!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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