This afternoon I am reflecting on some interesting verses that I heard Bill Johnson speak on several years ago. They are found in Luke, chapters 9 & 10. Here are the verses - Luke 9:51-56 NIV:
[51] "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. [52] And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; [53] but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. [54] When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them ?” [55] But Jesus turned and rebuked them. [56] Then he and his disciples went to another village."
Focusing on verses 54 and 55, Bill asked, "What do you think Jesus did next?" It is clear that James and John, called the sons of thunder, really didn't represent the heart of the Father very well here. They were all full of offense, and wanted vengeance, and wanted to destroy the village. Bill asked us to imagine that we were senior pastors over a church, and had some of the pastoral staff respond to a difficult situation the way James and John responded. He talked briefly of the corrective actions that our churches would likely have taken; the removal from active ministry, the needing to re-earn trust, possibly even the removal from ministry positions entirely. We see in verse 55 that Jesus did correct them, and then if we turn to the next significant action of Jesus in Luke 10, we see His overall response - Luke 10:1-2,8-9 NIV:
[1] "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. [2] He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
[8] “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. [9] Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you."'
In his sermon, Bill was laughing when he read the verses above, saying if you hadn't read verses 54 and 55 previously, you would think Jesus was saying to Himself, "Everything went so well with the 12, I think I will send out 6 times as many!" And yet, that seems to be exactly what He does! He does add some directives about how to handle rejection, but at the end of that ministry outreach, Jesus is overjoyed, as are the disciples.
Luke 10:17,21 NIV:
[17] "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
[21] "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do."
So, what is the point here? The point is that Jesus, and the Father, have a completely different response to failure to those that miss, to those that are over-zealous, than we would likely have!
If we look closely at Jesus' response, it says He rebuked them. The Greek word that is translated rebuked, is the word Epitimao. It is defined as follows:
1) to show honour to, to honour
2) to raise the price of
3) to adjudge, award, in the sense of merited penalty
4) to tax with fault, rate, chide, rebuke, reprove, censure severely
a) to admonish or charge sharply
Isn't that definition interesting? In school we learned that the definitions of words were normally listed in order of common use, and the lower on the list, the less common was that definition. According to the tool I am using, that word is used 30 times, and in all of them, the word is translated to English using the 4th definition. Imagine if all the times we are told of someone rebuking someone else in the NT, if we replaced the word rebuke with the word honour, how different everything would read!!
My point here is that Jesus' response, while corrective, may not have been as drastic, as heavy of a rebuke as we would think, and we can see that by what He does in Luke 10. Secondly, if we believe that Jesus was speaking exactly as the Father directed, then we may need to take a second look at our idea of the Father.
Is it possible that Jesus commended them, even honored them for their zeal, for their desire to defend His name, for their sense of the importance of their message? Is it possible that He then redirected them and gave them direction as to how to deal with those that reject them in the future. We know that Jesus did give direction as follows - Luke 10:10-16 NIV:
[10] "But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, [11] 'Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.' [12] I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
[13] “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. [14] But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. [15] And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. [16] “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Now before we assume that this is all judgmental and the sentence was announced by Jesus towards these towns, we need to look at what else we know about these towns. Bethsaida was the town that Peter, Andrew and Philip were from. We see them going back to fish, after Jesus resurrection in John 21. Peter is the one who coordinates the fishing outing, and I am proposing that He likely went back home, to where He had a boat, Bethsaida. We know that Bethsaida was renamed Julius and became a relatively affluent Roman city, which was flooded about 300 years later, but then as resettled in the Byzantine era and the Church of the Apostles was built over the site of Peter's house (that is what is recorded in various historical documents). Whatever, the case, we can't read into Jesus' words the same sort of destruction as Sodom, and His comments are clearly focused on the day of judgment. Chorazin is a bit more sketchy, as that town is only mentioned this one time. Regardless, Jesus wasn't about condemning or judging, He was about saving (See John 3:16-17).
So, back to the verses and the situation, my overall thought is that Jesus didn't lose His cool, or disqualify any of His followers, despite pretty significant mess-ups. In the case of James and John calling down fire, after some correction, Jesus and the disciples all just went on to the next town. We would maybe say "no harm, no foul" in today's language. Shortly after, Jesus sent out another 72 with similar directions, and when they came back, He was rejoicing! James and John were not disqualified, in fact, James was one of the leaders of the Jerusalem church (Acts 12:2) and John was the one to whom He entrusted His mother Mary when He was on the cross (John 19:27).
Jesus was completely dependent on these Apostles to faithfully represent Him, and He didn't seem to have an issue with their over-zealousness, their misunderstanding and judgment. This is such good news for us, for we are likely something like them, or have been in our past! Our enemy would try to convince us that we have disqualified ourselves by our judgmental attitude, our immaturity, our mistakes and our flat-out rebellion. He knows us, loves us, has paid the price for our sins, and extends grace to us endlessly! He is more interested in us getting out there representing Him, than He is about our perfection! He has to use flawed individuals because, besides Himself, there are none who are perfect!
So today, I am encouraged by the Lord! I am encouraged that despite my messes, He still desires relationship, and still plans to use me! He looks at my mistakes and says, "Ok, let's try that again, but this time, how about you try this instead?" He is so gentle, so understanding, and knows me so perfectly, He directs me perfectly!
Oh Lord, help me to represent You faithfully! Help me to expand Your Kingdom in a way that represents you!
Amen!
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