“Handling Rejection” (Luke 9:51-56)
Jesus called James and John “sons of thunder” because they have short fuse and handle rejection poorly.
It came to pass, when the days were near that He should be taken up, He intently set His face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers before His face. They went and entered into a village of the Samaritans so as to prepare for Him. They didn’t receive Him because He was traveling with His face set towards Jerusalem. When His disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from the sky and destroy them just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them: “You don’t know of what kind of spirit you are. For the Son of Man didn’t come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” They went to another village (Luke 9:51-56).
The Right Moment
It came to pass, when the days were near that He should be taken up, He intently set His face to go to Jerusalem (51).
The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us knew what it is to be human in its every facet including the use of the God-given prerogative of volition. Man is defined by and becomes what he decides to think, say, and do. Man decides for himself; others don’t decide for him. If the latter seems to be the case, it is still up to him whether he would allow it or whether he would allow the influence of others to shape his decisions.
Jesus made responsible and excellent use of His human volition alongside His divine omniscience. Therefore, His every deliberation was assured of correctness and accuracy. His human decisions were always right. Each action was calculated and directed at its intended purpose. Time is precious, and He didn’t waste it. He never committed mistakes and sin. He was perfect and faultless.
We as His disciples can imitate our Lord and Master in this regard. This is one of the ways we can be Christ-like. Although we’re not as perfect as Jesus, we can be precise in our decisions for the most part.
We can use our human wisdom through common sense and scientific reasoning. Better yet, we can ask the guidance of God the Holy Spirit so that we can arrive at the clearest course of action that will save us considerable amount of time, effort, and even money. We don’t have to learn the lessons in life the hard way and experience unnecessary heartaches and misery if we’re always thinking right, not beset by sin, and dependent on God.
Our actions affect us primarily and others secondarily. Our decisions may either make or mar us and others. Because of some of our decisions, our and others’ lives may never be the same again.
There’s a right time for everything. If we rush things, being too excited at seeing the result we have in our mind, we might just actually ruin the momentum and a good opportunity. If we rush things, the result may not be the best. Jesus knew when it is the right time to go to Jerusalem. He makes everything beautiful in its time.
Testing the Waters
…and sent messengers before His face. They went and entered into a village of the Samaritans so as to prepare for Him (52).
Jesus asked some of His disciples to go ahead into a Samaritan village to ascertain if everything will be okay for His arrival there. If it is, then He will proceed as planned; if not, then He will just have to cancel or find another way. No big deal. But going through this particular village seems to be the fastest and most-convenient route.
The disciples then went to this village and talked to the people there. It’s not the first time they interacted with the Samaritans. Previously, they had some nice time with them when they and Jesus used to hang out in their towns doing some good things. In fact, many Samaritans believed in Jesus after the Lord had a heart-to-heart talk with one of their neighbors who drew water from the Jacob’s well.
The villagers welcomed them and were glad to see them again. It seems that the Samaritans are still warm with their little troupe. The disciples went back to Jesus with this little bit of good news.
This is again one of the ways we can imitate Jesus. He takes things one step at a time. We don’t know what the future holds, and we can’t force our will on anyone. If the Samaritans still remember Him in a good way and He is still welcome to them, He will go to their town. If not, then He will just have to adjust.
What tomorrow will look like is based on the steps we take today. What we are able to do today is based on what is humanly possible and what resources are available. What we are able to accomplish today is what we will carry over tomorrow and on the next day and in the months and years to come.
Little drops of water make a mighty ocean. We take things one step at a time although the intended result doesn’t seem apparent with each step especially in the beginning to mid phases. But we carry on with our little but sure steps until we surprise even ourselves that we’re nearing the end of our toils and on our way to the blessed future. It’s a prudent way for the believers to live their lives. One day at a time.
If destiny seems to be paving the road for us to pass, maybe that’s a sign for us to go on with the good thing that we started. If we seem to be gaining ground and achieving initial successes, maybe our undertaking has been sanctioned by the Almighty. Maybe the Lord approved of this. This may really be the right time for us to do this and not sooner or later.
But if the opposite, if the universe seems to be telling us, “No,” we should take heed and stop. We shouldn’t proceed on what we initially planned if it seems to be going against the tide. We might just perish in the sea if we sail against favorable winds. Scrap the original plan and find an alternative. It’s not working. Let’s not insist on what we want and harden ourselves out of pride. It’s not a weakness to quit, and we don’t always to have to win.
Adjusting
They went to another village (56b).
We can tell whether the opposition to our undertaking is natural, supernatural, or artificial; that is, whether our prospect is simply absurd and impracticable that it will never work out no matter which way we go about it, whether our ideas despite being sound and generally acceptable is flatly and deliberately refused by those who simply want to oppose, or whether the opposition is influenced by some malignant force.
Believers are called to do good works. But once we’ve decided to serve God truly, honestly, and sincerely, we would likely meet opposition of a supernatural kind. Our good work and its fruits will be generally acceptable to everyone except Satan and his willing tools. So we better expect and brace ourselves for an unusually-bitter and unevenly-strong demonic opposition that is more than we can bear and is simply unbelievable.
And when it happens, we shouldn’t dare cross swords with the devil with our own strength but we must seek help from God because Satan is not after a decent match and a fair fight because he’s a dirty tactician.
We can’t force our will on anyone. We can’t expect everyone to follow our drift. We can’t compel people to do our bidding if it’s against their will. We respect their right to choose for themselves whether to accept or reject us and to be left alone and not be pestered if they choose the latter especially if they’ve said it loud and clear. We may appeal, haggle, and insist a little bit for a very-short while, but it’s best that we just let go as soon as we hear a negative answer. We can’t have everything; we can’t make everything go our way. Face the fact. Accept it, and then get over it, and then move on.
Rejection has an emotional effect of hurting our feelings and pride. We can feel its pang twitching somewhere inside our chest, and we can’t pretend that it’s not there. We can’t pretend to be not hurt if we’re truly hurt. Therefore, let’s admit that we’re hurt, at least to ourselves. Let’s own it and embrace it because the rejection really hit us. Doing so helps resolve the issue faster than just denying it and allowing it to eat us inside out. We can retreat into our room to sulk, cry, howl, and lament our fate. We can even play a heartbroken song to feed our pathetic soul as we’re wallowing in self-pity. While we’re at it, we can reassess ourselves and try to figure out the reasons why we simply suck.
That is why it will be to our advantage if we had trained our minds to be humble from the beginning. If not, rejection would seem to be the end of the world for us. However, it’s not. We find a different way when one seems not to work out. We need to extract some mental juices to try to see something good in our adversity. Something good may still come out of our troubles. We won’t let anyone tell us that it’s hopeless or that we’re hopeless because as long as there’s life, there’s hope.
We need to be flexible especially nowadays that life is not getting any better although we hope that they would. We will take all these hardships, rejection, and heartaches as training until all that we’ll ever have in this life is nothing but training.
If we follow these simple steps every time we get rejected, we’ll be okay. Once we’ve made a career out of this, no amount of rejection will ever hurt us anymore. Trust me.
The Samaritans
They didn’t receive Him because He was traveling with His face set towards Jerusalem (53).
What could be the reason the Samaritans didn’t let Jesus pass through their town when they perceived that His sights are really on Jerusalem? What really offended them about what they construed to be His attitude? Is it because they felt that Jesus was only using them as a stepping stone to get to where He wants, a filler for the void to make Him forget what He’s really pining for? Did they feel that Jesus wasn’t really there for them but for the people in Jerusalem and that He will just pass them by?
In Jesus, they have found a true friend who genuinely cared for them. Jesus made them feel special. He is not the same as the other fellows who ever came across their environs. Life may not be as good until Jesus came along.
But now they’re feeling betrayed as they see that His affection for them seems to be short-lived and just a passing fancy. However, Jesus would never reject or abandon those whom He has chosen to be His friends. There can never be truer friend than Jesus if we decide to follow Him.
Maybe if Jesus and His disciples didn’t make too obvious their intention of proceeding to Jerusalem after this, the Samaritans would’ve found no problem. But whether it becomes obvious or not is not an issue. Jesus couldn’t care less. If they don’t ask, He won’t answer. Unlike us, Jesus doesn’t masquerade His feelings and intentions. He is as transparent as one can be. He is straight to the point. He doesn’t lie and cheat. Decades later, the Apostle Peter said in his epistle that no guile was ever found in Jesus.
Jesus will always be their faithful friend if they continue in Him. But what about them? Will they be a true friend of His, as they once professed, now that He needs them? Yes, He will indeed go to Jerusalem because the Son of Man came down on earth to first seek the lost sheep of Israel. Will they accommodate Him for this purpose? Will they allow Him to stay here before He goes there? It will be just for today. Next time, He may devote a longer time for them to the point where He would already overstay His welcome. Will they even try to understand where He’s coming from and see things His way even just today?
But Jesus didn’t try to explain Himself too much. He believed the best in the people whom He has considered His friends. He hoped from the innermost recesses of His heart that the Samaritans will see the positive, the light, the key out of this confusion. He waited until they do. But they didn’t. So Jesus and His disciples went to another village.
James and John
When His disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from the sky and destroy them just as Elijah did?” (54)
For someone who follows Jesus, James and John’s patience is terribly way shorter than that of a typical unbeliever. They’re impatient and insensitive. Intoxicated with their status as Jesus’ close confidants, they thought they now possess some kind of divine power over people’s lives and can wield it to destroy sinners who refuse to bow down to the will of God.
Yes, Elijah called fire from heaven to consume to cinders a hundred men, 50 per batch; but that was a necessary measure. The men and the king who sent them were clearly and knowingly disrespecting and insulting God through His prophet, Elijah. God had to urgently address such blasphemy to serve as a lesson.
But the Samaritans in our story here are simply confused. They didn’t know any better but to react negatively, and Jesus understood their sentiments. He didn’t take it against the Samaritans.
The disciples mistakenly thought that the two are the same, so they thought of imitating Elijah.
Wrong Attitude
But He turned and rebuked them: “You don’t know of what kind of spirit you are” (55).
Jesus called James and John sons of thunder for a reason. It’s because of their quick temper, as they have shown in this story.
Having a short fuse is a negative thing and is not good for followers of Jesus. Horrible deeds are done and sharp words are said, which can no longer be taken back, because of lack of self-control.
Clearly, James and John hadn’t been cultivating an attitude befitting their status as two of Jesus’ three closest friends. They should have known fully well the will of their Lord. They should have been the role models of patience and moderation. What came out of their mouth is clearly impelled by something of a sinister nature.
It could’ve been the influence of evil spirits which they may not be aware of or the sheer callousness of their souls since they were not keeping themselves right in the eyes of God lately. They were full of themselves and full of pride. They’re out of line and out of their minds. They themselves might be appalled at their own words if they could hear themselves.
On the other hand, the Samaritans displayed a not-yet-fully-developed faith in Jesus that made them unable to stand on a higher moral ground. They were quick to dismiss Jesus’ projected attitude as something offensive and distasteful. They disregarded everything good that Jesus had done. Everything good they had together disappeared like vapor because of this one single move of Jesus that they didn’t like.
Peace, Not Destruction
“For the Son of Man didn’t come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (56a).
We can tell the tree by its fruit. People who claim to follow God and yet are engaged in violent acts whether direct/overt or sophisticated/covert that even people who don’t profess any faith wouldn’t dare participate in are the thorns and thistles that God will eventually weed out of His vineyard and prune out of His beautiful grape vine.
Violence is exclusively Satan’s thing as an act of rebellion against God. Since Jesus is the Prince of Peace, Satan wants to sow conflict. Jesus came here on earth and paid for the sins of mankind so that the world would no longer see any violence. One of the specific aims of God’s plan of salvation is to blot out violence from the face of the universe.
Violence is sin; therefore, Jesus will not use violence in any shape or form in His dealings with mankind because it is against His very nature. Neither will He teach His followers to adopt this very-detestable concept. His job is to build, not to destroy. This can be exemplified by His secular trade as a human. He was a literal builder. He built things. He could make a masterpiece out of palettes, scrap wood, and sawdust.
The way of Jesus is pure love. True followers of Jesus are peace-loving people, and violence is not in their vocabulary because it’s an alien concept. They can’t even spell it.
The gospel that we preach is the gospel of peace. That is why one of our equipments as we fulfill our task is the sandals of peace. We simply lay the facts to people for them decide whether to accept or not. Our job is merely to plant the seeds of faith in Jesus; it’s up to God to make those seeds grow into a plant.
Passage by Passage Luke 9 series, episode 5
by: Marven T. Baldo
