'When the days drew near for him to be taken up, He set his face to go to Jerusalem. And He sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village. '
Luke 9:51-56 ESV
One of the things I really like about studying the Bible is that you can read it front to back and you will never find a time when God makes an attempt to cover up our failings or human nature. The passage I have included above shows exactly how human we can be. In this case, Jesus gets less than rock star treatment from a village of Samaritans, and when James and John hear about it they are ready to call down the fire and wipe these folks from the face of the earth. Literal Biblical "shock and awe!"
James and John wanted to take these people and give them an old-fashioned monkey stomping. They wanted to push the red button and have God rain down Old Testament judgment on these folks for disrespecting their Lord. Old school wrath, literal fire, and brimstone. God's wrath poured out with fire from Jehovah. These guys were learning at the feet of the man that showed them how to love others and the moment things didn't go like they thought it should and someone showed them some disrespect they wanted them wiped from the face of the earth.
I don't know about you but to me, these verses in chapter 9, give me hope as a man. You might say "do what?" Let me explain myself a little bit...While the apostles where Christ's chosen ambassadors and leaders after He went to be with God, they were still men. Men with men's hearts and minds. Men that were rough and tough. They were a group of fisherman. How many professional fishermen have you seen that wear a three-piece suit and take tea with the Queen? Guys. there really isn't that much difference between them and me and you. We are all men and sometimes we get really, really angry and even harder to believe, sometimes it is for the right reasons. These guys believed that they were speaking out of a place of love for Christ. That they were standing up to the disrespect they felt the village was showing and that they needed to defend the man that they knew to be the One that God had sent to redeem the world.
Luke goes on to tell us that Jesus turned to them and rebuked them. The word "rebuke" means to express sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behavior or actions. What I wouldn't give to have been a fly on the wall when that conversation went down. I bet it was an uncomfortable situation for James and John. To see them shuffling their feet around with their heads down just waiting for the end of their butt chewing. I have been on the end of a butt chewing from my earthly father and I can tell you that isn't a fun experience. How amplified is a "rebuke" from your heavenly Father?
We learn from this situation that we are all men. We are all fallible and make poor decisions at times. And one of the hardest things a young Christian has to learn is that the fallen world is exactly that, a fallen world. Lost people are going to act like lost people. It is our calling to love them exactly like Jesus did. Simple as that.
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