Luke 9:52–56

Long ago these Samaritans had rejected the Lord's servant who was about to be taken up. Now, in the same circumstances, they reject the Lord Himself. The everlasting doors were about to open to the King of glory. After the victory of the cross heaven was ready to receive the Lord mighty in battle. But on earth, we read, "they did not receive Him."

The word "angel" in itself does not describe a nature, but an office. It means a messenger. Only the context and the particular use of the word can decide. The word may apply to people, or to spiritual beings. In Luke 7:24; 9:52; 2 Corinthians 12:7; James 2:25 the term "angel," or its plural, refers to those sent on errands of various kinds.

At Sychar, very early in our Lord's ministry, before John the Baptist was even put in prison, a work went on there. We know something about it, and it came out of the Lord's conversation with the woman at the well (John 4). Later, in Samaria, the Lord met opposition. The people of one village refused to receive Him (Luke 9:52), because His face was as though He were going to Jerusalem. Warm welcome and flat rejection — these had been the Lord's experiences in Samaria.

At the start, conscious of His personal glory, He looked forward to His being "raised up," as He was later. Then He sends messengers ahead of Him, in the ordinary, well-known manner of someone who wants it known that a person of distinction is coming that way. But the unbelief of the Samaritans changes the scene. They would not receive Him. They refused to build a road for the feet of this glorious One. Instead they forced Him to find the best path He could for Himself, as the rejected One. But He accepts this place at once, without a murmur in His heart.

We see the reason they did not receive Him was that His face was set towards Jerusalem. He was going to do God's will without honour or attractiveness or reputation. His obedience and singleness of purpose in going to Jerusalem is the very reason they would have nothing to do with Him. […] The Samaritans would not submit to God's way: Christ did. That is the difference.

The Samaritans had no excuse. Loyalty to their own sect ruled them completely, in its worst form, and they were hostile to God's centre. They had their own form of worship. They would not receive anyone whose face was turned the opposite way to theirs, and so they refused Christ, the Son of God, on that basis.

In the Gospel of Luke the Lord is a vessel of grace. He longs for the blessing even of those who are against Him. The disciples had to learn this. They had to watch their spirits; they did not know the kind of people they were. They were in the company of the vessel of grace, so they ought to be like Him. They ought to long for the blessing and salvation of those who are hostile to Christ Himself.

These Samaritans made a great mistake in refusing to receive the Saviour even as a passing guest. Strong religious prejudices were at the bottom of it. They disagreed sharply with the Jews about the place where people should worship. Mount Gerizim was their sacred spot, and Jerusalem was that of their rivals. Now Jesus had set His face towards Jerusalem. They knew it, and they would not let Him stay in their village — not even for an hour. They were wrong, very wrong. But their refusal shows how religious prejudices darken the understanding and lead to sorrowful results.

There was no readiness for the Lord. Their dislike of favoured Jerusalem made them forget everything: the glory of Jesus, and the proof of His gracious power. These very Samaritans had every reason to know that power and to be grateful for it... How often circumstances bring out the state of our hearts! They would never dare do this if Jesus alone were in view. But some petty selfish feeling stirs up a hidden jealousy and brings everything to light.

He obeyed, and His purpose was undivided. He went to do God's will without honour or attractiveness or reputation. He went to Jerusalem. That is the very reason they would have nothing to do with Him... The Samaritans would not submit to God's way; Christ did. That is the difference.

The first hindrance is selfishness, plain to see... It may come under cover of zeal for the Master's reputation, and this is the most subtle form of all. The Samaritans were altogether wrong in their attitude. He was going up to Jerusalem to die. James and John wanted to defend His importance — and their own along with it — by bringing death on others. Elijah had indeed acted this way when faced with the violence of a king who had turned away from God, but the Son of Man is of another spirit. That was the trouble with the disciples. They had not yet entered into the spirit of grace — the grace that marked their Master.

But He knew "how to be brought low" too. Look at Him with the Samaritan villagers in Luke 9... He sends messengers ahead of Him, in the familiar style of someone announcing that an important person is coming that way. But the unbelief of the Samaritans changes the scene. They would not receive Him. They refused to build a road for the feet of this glorious One. They forced Him to find the best path He could for Himself, as the rejected One. But He accepts this place at once, without a murmur in His heart.

Though Lord of all, He was here with a tender heart and a lowly mind, having no self-importance to maintain... Christ, without resentment and without retaliation, will pass on to another village.

How changed were the people of that province and that sect! The Lord was going towards Jerusalem. He entered a village of theirs, and they made Him leave. They would not receive Him, because His face was set toward the mother-city, Jerusalem (Luke 9:53). Now Peter and John, who had been with Him at that time, met with no coldness. Nobody in the Samaritan villages turned them away, even though they were going up to Jerusalem... When the Spirit is at work, prejudices of ages melt away. Difficulties that once looked impossible are no longer there.

They disliked Jerusalem, the favoured city, and that dislike made them forget the glory of Jesus. They forgot the proof of His gracious power — something these very Samaritans had every reason to know and to be grateful for. How often circumstances bring out the state of our hearts! If it were only a question of Jesus, they would not dare to act like this. But some petty selfish feeling stirs up a hidden jealousy, and brings everything to light.

The spirit of the sons of Zebedee is aflame, and they would bring fire down from heaven in the manner of Elijah, to consume the rude Samaritans. Their appeal to Elijah's example seems to show that they were already far from sure. Would the Lord want to punish an offence like this in such a way? But they had lately seen Elijah with Him. They could quote his example to One who upheld the authority of Scripture so fully. Yet He makes it no question of Scripture; it was they who did not know what spirit they were of. They were not of His spirit, for the Son of Man had not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.

Of all forms of selfishness this is the most subtle and hardest to detect, for who can complain of zeal for the Lord, or say that it is wrong? And yet under zeal for the Lord there may lurk zeal for self. Zeal for Christ would want His enemies judged. Righteousness might seem to demand it, and a Scripture precedent would support such a course. Still, the Lord rebukes His disciples, saying, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of." Underneath their zeal the Lord detects and exposes a spirit completely foreign to Himself. The Lord was exercising power in grace to meet man's need. The disciples would exercise power in judgment to gratify their own self-importance.

They did not know what spirit they were of. That is, they did not discern the time. They did not understand the Lord and His work in this world. They misread the age they were in, and would have treated it as a time of judgment. Their affections were right. Their purpose and design will find its answer in due season, when the day of vengeance comes. So their error was not in affection, but in their grasp of the age they were in. Their Lord had come to save, not to kill.

Elijah acted here as a representative of the law, which showed no leniency. The disciples of Christ were representatives of the gospel, which proclaims the forgiveness of sins. The old covenant had to alarm and subdue the enemies of the kingdom of God, and it used threatening words and punishing measures. The new covenant aimed to disarm them and, if possible, to win them by forgiving love.

Mr. Darby rightly said that divine principles in the hands of an unspiritual man are like a sword in the hands of a child or a drunk man. How true this is! What damage wrong spirits have done, with hard, harsh speaking that is not of Christ — and all of it supposedly in the name of Christ Himself! They were always in the company of One who showed kindness and love at every point. Yet here they were, still not having learned that lesson, wanting to be cruel and wanting others judged.

Later John went again into Samaria, but showed a far different spirit (Acts 8).

By pleading Elijah's example they seem to show that they were not at all sure the Lord would want to punish an offence like this in such a way. They could hardly have been with Him so long without learning this much of His patience. But they had just seen Elijah with Him, and they could quote his example to One who upheld the authority of Scripture so fully. But He makes it no question of Scripture. It was they who did not know what spirit they were of.

James and John later carried great weight and value in the church of God. Yet how painfully they showed here how little they saw of the grace of Jesus! The Lord of glory passes on, accepting His rejection... But His two servants owed everything to the only One who could take away their evil and give them the goodness of God. Yet they would command fire to come down from heaven and consume them like a Jewish prophet — all under the pretence of honouring Jesus. How little love had they for souls! Just as little was it a true regard for Jesus... Jesus turned therefore and rebuked them. It was not now simply a correction of what they were saying, but a rebuke to themselves.

First we saw selfishness in zeal for self, then selfishness hiding under zeal for a party. Now selfishness cloaks itself in zeal for the Lord. Of all forms of selfishness this is the most subtle and the hardest to detect. Who can complain of zeal for the Lord, or say that it is wrong? And yet under zeal for the Lord there may lurk zeal for self... The Lord was exercising power in grace to meet man's need. The disciples would exercise power in judgment to gratify their own self-importance.

They were in a different dispensation of God. It was not the dispensation of law, but of grace, since "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." As long as God proclaims grace, judgment must wait. Yet judgment must come at last on those who refuse the grace of God.

If inserted here, it would make man the reason and the end. But the idea went against the display of what God is. It did not fit His grace, which does not only save the soul but fills the heart with the moral glory of the Lord Jesus.

Thus rejected, the Lord judges no one. He does not avenge Himself... That a Samaritan should turn away the Messiah was, to the disciples, worthy of destruction. Christ came to save men's lives. He submits to the insult, and goes elsewhere.

How many un-Christlike things have been done under the plea of faithfulness to Christ! Possibly we have done them ourselves. And when we did them, our zeal for our Master's honour came from one spirit. It was the same spirit that made James and John eager to call down fire from heaven... We would defend our Master's name. We would stand up for His rights, whatever it cost — and we called down the fire!

Rejected like this, the Lord judges no one. He does not avenge Himself; He had come to save men's lives. To the disciples, a Samaritan who turned the Messiah away deserved destruction. Christ came to save the lives of men. He accepts the insult and goes elsewhere.

The last form of selfishness is the lifting up of self under the cover of zeal for the Lord... Of all forms of selfishness this is the most subtle and the hardest to spot. Who can complain of zeal for the Lord, or say that is wrong? Yet under zeal for the Lord there may hide zeal for self... The Lord was using power in grace to meet man's need. The disciples would use power in judgment to gratify their own self-importance.

The disciples would take advantage of the wickedness of these people to exercise a judgment they deserved, but they would do so in the spirit of retaliation. Self was the secret of their proposal, but hidden under the cloak of zeal for the Lord.

So, when Elijah asked for fire from heaven to burn up the men sent to arrest him, the fire came. God put His seal on that prayer, terrible as it was. Yet the disciples asked the same about the Samaritans: "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" They met rebuke, not approval: "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of." But why should what was right in Elijah be wrong in them? For this reason: "the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

They did not understand how God was dealing with the world now, in sending His Son into it. He had come in grace, not in judgment. The lesson for us is plain. We must not simply copy what was right for another time. We should truly know our own time and what suits it.

The law required judgment of sin, and Elijah pressed this on Israel with force, even to the point of bringing God's judgment down on their heads. Yet the Lord Jesus insists that He Himself had not come to carry out the sentence of the law against men. He had come to save them. If this is the very reason for His coming, then the message of His saving grace is clearly the main message of His servants today.

The Lord does not take that place now. He is saving sinners and showing full grace in other ways. As long as He acts like this, He does not want His people to hold earthly power... Suppose someone opposes a believer with evil intent, and the believer wishes him death or injury. That would be foreign to Christianity and against everything it breathes. Christianity shows that the victory grace gives us is to show love and kindness to one's enemy.

He turned round and went to another village. It is not pleasant to be trampled on in this world, but Christ was. To do good, suffer for it, and bear it patiently — that is our part... Christ came to suffer, to bear anything for the sake of others. He would not have been doing this if He had called down fire from heaven on the Samaritans. We have to follow Christ in carrying the testimony of God's love into the world in all our walk through it.

The next verse seems to be — the first part at least — a later addition. It was not a question of saving souls in this place.