Luke 9:51-56 New King James Version (NKJV)
51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And 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, [a]just as Elijah did?”
55 But He turned and rebuked them, [b]and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 [c]For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
James and John were know as the "Sons of Thunder." They were brothers and let's just say that they weren't always politically correct. If you were going into a fight you would want James and John on your side. James and John were the rowdy boys!
James and John loved Jesus, so naturally they took great offense when the people of Samaria didn't want Jesus to minister to them. They were highly offended and then asked the Lord if He wanted them to call fire down from heaven to destroy them all! This makes me laugh. I can just hear them, "Hey Jesus, those people are fools! What do you mean they don't want you to come and minister to them? Who do they think they are? Do you want us to call fire down on them? You just say the word Jesus and we will take care of them!" LOL It just makes me laugh to think about the situation.
Jesus didn't encourage them but instead he chewed them out. He told them, "You don't know what kind of spirit you belong to or you do not know what manner of spirit you are of." (NKJV)
James and John had made a decision to follow Jesus. They had left the life that they knew to follow him, they loved him, but there were still some rough edges. They didn't fully grasp the transformation that they were making! They were in the process of changing. it wasn't magic, they didn't change overnight, it was a process. When they offered to call down fire and destroy the whole city, Jesus didn't kick them out, but he did correct them. Jesus went on to tell them that He didn't come to destroy the souls of people but to save them.
How true. Jesus didn't come to destroy people but to save them. Perhaps we (me) should think about that before being so quick to take offense and react to people's actions. We should filter everything we do or say through the "He came to save them not destroy them" filter. Before we write some snarky response on Facebook or before we cut someone with our words, we need to take moment and think, "Will these words reflect God's mission of saving or do these words destroy? Are we reflecting our Father's mission or vision?" We shouldn't be so quick to take offense, we should be quick to remind ourselves that if we are a Christ follower then we should reflect His mission! We need to be patient and loving to those who are just starting their journey. We need not to say something that will hurt them and mess them up but we need to love them along the way.
I am really happy to report that James and John did do a transformation. Their passion for Jesus was still strong but instead of being known for the Sons of Thunder, John was known as the beloved, a far cry from the terminator! He grasped the mission of Jesus! James did too! He actually died as a martyr for Jesus.
Jesus, help me to remember your mission. Help me to remember that I belong to Your Spirit so I should reflect that same Spirit. Help me to continue in changing and growing to reflect You more and more each day. Thanks God for Your Word and great example.
Shanin
