Introduction
The passages and stories:
Luke 9:51-56 (Samaritan opposition) & 9:57-62 (The cost of following Jesus)
Luke 9:51-56 (Samaritan opposition)
[51As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56and they went to another village.]
Luke 9:51 marks the beginning of Christ’s journey to Jerusalem after His ministries at Galilee.
Immediately he faced opposition from the Samaritans.
The Samaritans rejected Christ because of the historical background where the Jewish and Samaritans could not meet face to face.
Both the Jews and Samaritans claimed to be the pure blood descendants of Abraham.
They argued on whether Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim was the right place to worship God (John 4).
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”
Some scripts have “even as Elijah did” added. (KJV And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?)
(Amplified Bible: And when His disciples James and John observed this, they said, Lord, do You wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did ? )
The story linked way back to 2Kings 1, where King Ahaziah consulted foreign gods and idols and did not respect the LORD.
Elijah called fire and consumed the 102 people sent by the king.
Jesus’ disciples asked the LORD to do the same.
Instead, Jesus rebuked them and continued their journey.
Obviously the Son of Man comes not to judge but to save.
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
He was facing towards Jerusalem the place where he was to suffer and die before being taken into glory.
(Luke 19: 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.)
The KJV: “55But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”
Amplified Bible: “55But He turned and rebuked and severely censured them. He said, You do not know of what sort of spirit you are, 56For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them [from the penalty of eternal death]. And they journeyed on to another village.”
Luke 9:57-62 (The cost of following Jesus)
[57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."]
After the incident, Jesus and his disciples continued their journey to Jerusalem.
On their way, they met a few people.
The first person confidently declared he wanted to follow the Lord wherever he went.
The Lord gave him some challenging words: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
The bible did not tell us whether this first person responded positively.
When Jesus opened his invitation to the second person, he gave an excuse of wanting to bury his father first.
And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury the dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
We are very sure this person gave an excuse as he could have already buried his father.
Still another person wanted to say good bye to his family before following Christ.
And Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the service in the kingdom of God.”
I was told that when a farmer is ploughing his field, he has to be concentrate to avoid distraction.
Once distracted, the plow will go stray and eventually affected the process of planting and harvesting.
Such distracted worker is not fit to work in the field.
It is worth to take note the mission of Christ for his followers is to proclaim the kingdom of God.
And his followers need to be fit to do the works.
Applications
The first story reminds us not to be overjealous in judging others.
The disciples were overjealous and became extremely angry towards the Samaritans.
Remember, God does not need us in his judgement.
If God wants to deal with the Samaritans, God will deal with them in His own terms and not anyone else’s.
Of course it was very unfortunate for the Samaritans who had rejected Christ.
What a blessing to have Christ in our lives?
Christ turned water into wine.
Christ healed and even raised some from death.
Most of all, Christ came to save and serve.
As Christians, we are to share this good news of Christ.
God’s judgment is yet to come.
Before the big day of judgement, our duty is to share the gospel and save as many as we can.
Alongside with all oppositions, including this one from the Samaritans, Christ did not discourage nor gave up.
He set his heart right and clear to fulfil God’s salvation.
Let us also set our hearts right and clear: go tell ye to the mountains that the Lord has come!
From the second story, we learned the cost of following Christ.
We need to count the cost of following Christ.
In many third world countries, following Christ means to give up your rights, your privileges, your freedom and sometimes even your lives.
We also learned that the mission of the followers of Christ is to proclaim the kingdom of God.
The KOG means the government of God in every aspect of human’s lives.
Be it our thoughts, our behaviours, our conducts, our lifestyles, our economy, our politics.
Just as we pray, “Let your kingdom come! Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!”
Another thing is that we need to be fit for the service of the kingdom of God.
Salvation, by all means is free of charge.
We are saved through grace and grace alone.
However, to serve God is more than grace alone.
Yes, by the grace of God, we are called to be the children and servants of God.
But whether we are faithful, counts.
Whether we are fit, counts.
All these faithfulness and fitness count in the matter of following Christ.
May God help us once again, count the cost and follow Christ.
