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A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus
Luke 9:51-62
Good News Translation (GNT)
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51 As the time drew near when Jesus would be
taken up to heaven, he made up his mind and
set out on his way to Jerusalem.
52 He sent messengers ahead of him, who went
into a village in Samaria to get everything
ready for him.
53 But the people there would not receive him,
because it was clear that he was on his way to
Jerusalem.
54 When the disciples James and John saw this,
they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire
down from heaven to destroy them?" [a]
55 Jesus turned and rebuked them. [b]
56 Then Jesus and his disciples went on to
another village.
The Would-Be Followers of Jesus
57 As they went on their way, a man said to
Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58 Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and
birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no
place to lie down and rest."
59 He said to another man, "Follow me."
But that man said, "Sir, first let me go back
and bury my father."
60 Jesus answered, "Let the dead bury their own
dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of
God."
61 Someone else said, "I will follow you, sir; but
first let me go and say good-bye to my family."
62 Jesus said to him, "Anyone who starts to
plough and then keeps looking back is of no
use for the Kingdom of God."
Footnotes
Luke 9:54 Some manuscripts add
as Elijah did.
Luke 9:55 Some manuscripts add
and said, "You don't know what kind of a Spirit
you belong to; for the Son of Man did not
come to destroy human lives, but to save
them."
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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)
A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus
Luke 9:51-62
Jesus knew that He must suffer and die at the hands of the Jewish leaders
in Jerusalem. Therefore, when the time of His death drew near, He and His
disciples went from Galilee in the north of Israel to Jerusalem, the capital.
On the way, the road went through the region of Samaria.
The Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried with foreign women.
They were half-Jews; therefore, ordinary Jews despised them
The Samaritans also hated the Jews.
When they learned that Jesus and His disciples were going to Jerusalem,
the Jewish capital, they offered them no hospitality.
James and John, two of Jesus' disciples, wanted to punish the Samaritans.
Taking the example of the prophet Elijah, they suggested destroying them
by calling fire down from heaven.
But Jesus rebuked James and John.
They should have called for grace from heaven, not fire.
Their suggestion did not arise from the Spirit of Christ.
Their suggestion came from a spirit of revenge and anger,
not a spirit of love and forgiveness.
According to some ancient manuscripts of Luke, Jesus told them at this point:
"You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to
destroy men's lives, but to save them."
Nevertheless, Jesus and His disciples did not go to that Samaritan village,
but went by another way.
The Cost of Following Jesus
There are many who are at first willing to follow Jesus, but who do not
realize that it means walking on the "narrow road".
The person who follows Jesus must be ready to deny himself.
He must also count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus.
To be a disciple one must give up everything he has.
The disciple possibly may not even have a place to lay his head,
much less a home to live in. The cost of following Jesus is very high.
One of Jesus' disciples then asked permission to go and bury his father.
Perhaps the father was not yet dead, and the disciple wanted to return home
in order to receive his inheritance. Jesus said,
"... let the dead bury their own dead."
In other words, let the spiritually dead take care of the things of this world.
Those who are spiritually alive, who have been called to be disciples,
must first do the work of the kingdom of God.
The work of the kingdom of God is urgent. Nothing else can come before it.
Jesus does not teach here that disciples don't have to honour their parents.
Usually, it is possible to follow Jesus and also fulfill our responsibility
to our family.
But when we cannot do both, we must put Jesus above our family.
Then, a third man came to Jesus and said, "I will follow you, Lord;
but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family."
Jesus knew the man's heart.
He knew that the man was still greatly attached to his family.
The man wanted to follow Jesus, but not with all his heart.
Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plough and
looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Like a farmer ploughing his field, a follower of Jesus must look
only ahead.
He must have a single goal.
He must never seek to return to his old life.
Lot's wife looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt.
The Jews, after escaping from Egypt, grumbled against God and
desired to go back to Egypt;
and so, because of their grumbling and looking back, God destroyed them.
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