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!
If we look out at culture and at what is happening in our world today, there are plenty of examples of people who have reacted poorly because their feelings were hurt. I can easily use myself as an example because there have been plenty of times I have reacted – or overreacted – negatively because of hurt feelings.
This may be why, when I read this journal entry’s passage, the response James and John give Jesus jumps out at me: “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?” (Verse 54)
Perhaps this was the first town that had refused Jesus, and James/John didn’t know how to handle a group of people who actively chose to reject the Messiah. Maybe it was pride from being around Jesus, arrogance that they had performed miracles, or simply because they were trying to stick up for Jesus, thinking His feelings were hurt, but whatever the reason, looking at this situation as an outside observer, it is easy to see how these two disciples over reacted.
When our feelings take precedence over our self-control, then it is easy to overreact. Destroying a town of hundreds or thousands of people simply because the gatekeeper or leaders didn’t want to let Jesus and His disciples stay there is way too strong of a response. The town would have had sick people Jesus could have healed, confused people Jesus could have taught, and hurting people Jesus could have loved.
Jesus would have done nothing but positive things for that town, but pride in the town leaders stopped Jesus from entering, and pride in two of the disciples’ hearts caused them to overreact when they heard the news that the town was not interested in letting Jesus stay there.
Pride closes the door for God to work in our lives. Pride takes the focus off of selfless help for others and refocuses it onto selfish help for oneself. The town missed out because of their leaders, but that was the leaders’ choice. When we face situations where we are rejected, it is a chance to practice maturity by not overreacting because of our feelings. Intentionally focusing on helping/giving/serving others without expecting anything in return is the antidote for pride in our lives. Jesus came to help/give/serve and He calls us to be like Him.
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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