June 30, 2013
Those Rude Samaritans
A mom is making pancakes for her boys, and they start arguing over who is the hungriest and who should get the first pancake.
Seeing the opportunity for a morality lesson, she says, “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ‘let my brother have the first pancake.’”
The youngest looks at the other and says, “Okay, you be Jesus.”
A lawyer died and went to heaven. He was greeted by St. Peter, who was pleased to see him arrive. “Wow, this is exciting! We don’t have too many 157-year-olds here in heaven,” Peter said.
“What? I’m not 157!” exclaimed the lawyer, “I was only 63 when I died!”
Peter said while looking at his book, “According to the number of hours you billed, you’re 157.”
The human spirit is programmed to do what it wants, and is dramatically influenced by emotion, pleasure and desires, such as the boys wanting the first pancake and the attorney who wanted more money than he actually worked for. Such attitudes are seen in our selected Scripture, Luke 9. The part that is surprising is that such stinking attitudes came from James and John, disciples who should have been shining examples since they were under the direct instruction of Messiah. As long as there are those among us who do not follow the Christ but their own desires, bad situations will happen. Can we overcome our selfishness? Can we get past our right-fighting? Must we put our perceived important things ahead of a relationship with Messiah and each other for the proper time?
In this passage of Luke, Jesus has drawn out His proverbial map for their trip to Jerusalem, a City He loved and even wept over, and where so much happened to him. In the days leading up His crucifixion, locations such as the Mount of Olives and the garden where Jesus prayed in agony as He was arrested by Caiaphas’ men, meant so much to Messiah. The ancient olive trees provide an amazing setting for meditation. Then, just outside the City walls is where His execution took place. Modern archeology has discovered the street where soldiers gambled for the clothes on those to be put to death outside the City. This site is near the Antonia Fortress. Now, tourists can visit so many sites made famous by the presence of the Anointed One. If Jerusalem, the intended “place of peace” was to ever be famous, it is so because Messiah made it that way.
If we are to rely on scriptural accounts to detail the history of the Christ going to Jerusalem, then there are only seven unique times we know of. However, He observed Passover, which would have put Him there 22-times, between age 12 and His death.
How different Jerusalem would be today had City and Temple leaders of the time recognize Yeshua’s influence on Capernaum. The big-city leaders likely thought the small towns had nothing to offer. And it’s because Capernaum was so receptive to Messiah that He spent his resting time there. The lake provided convenient travel by boat to places important to His ministry.
The planning meeting for this trip to Jerusalem would have sounded something like this: “I want us to go back to Jerusalem this time,” Jesus said as they stood around a fire watching their dinner roast and smoke rise. Peter turned the fish slowly for even cooking. “We have so much work there,” He continued, “and I think we are becoming better known. While there, we will visit the Temple. You, James and John, go on ahead of us to let some of the faithful know we are coming. They will have provisions for you and us.”
The next morning, as it appears, the two assigned to prepare the way, left and rowed to a shore as close as possible to Jerusalem. From there they walked. The trip was so long they stopped in a Samaritan village, thinking the location would be a good resting place for Yeshua and the others and for them now, but the Master had not told them to stop. Now, there was a problem; the people of the village wanted nothing to do with James and John and rudely sent them on down the road. Tired and hungry, they left, muttering under their breath that Sodom had nothing on this village, and they were going to do something about it.
Today, we hear about the Good Samaritan but don’t stop to realize how amazing that story is, given the division before and long after the time of Christ in the region. It’s easy to ask, what was James and John thinking? They already knew finding any kind of support in a Samaritan village was going to be difficult. Samaritans were and still are an ethnoreligious group, descendants from ancient Semitic people of the region. They follow an Abrahamic religion, which is close to Judaism but based on the Samaritan Torah. They too believe their worship is the true religion of the ancient Israelites and oppose what they believe has happened to Judaism. These people know their lineage and have no problem with right fighting as we would see among Christian denominations today. There was a bloody Samaritan Revolt in 529 against Byzantine Christian rulers, which was followed by a mass conversion to Islam. Get the idea? Samaritans were not all that happy with what Yeshua was teaching, so there was no reason to help His disciples, in any way.
Again, it’s a surprise that James and John would stop there. Surely they knew what kind of reception there would be when they asked for food or a place to sleep. Can’t you just imaging the screams of “Get out!” when they knocked on a door and identified themselves? The Samaritan Torah has comparable rules about hospitality to strangers. Still, the two disciples left the village very upset—no, they were angry, really angry! Later, when Messiah caught up with them, the two asked the Lord, “Would you let us call down fire from heaven and burn them out, just as Elijah did?” What a cagy question. There was president for what happens when you make a man-of-God angry, and they wanted to do it again!
Had the Christian community of the time fallen back on their human desires and behaviors, we would have never known about the story of the Good Samaritan. It’s no coincidence that Luke 10:25, the next chapter, is where the story is inserted about that Samaritan who had compassion on an injured man who had been robbed, beaten and left for dead. Obviously this man was influenced by teaching from his Torah on hospitality and compassion, but the village wasn’t. It’s in Yeshua’s character to tell this story within hearing of James and John, who wanted to have God kill all those rude Samaritans, after being rejected. We don’t have the responses from these two disciples after Jesus addressed their question, but we can rightfully imagine they bowed their heads as they heard Messiah speak, knowing now that their attitudes were out of God’s will.
When James and John made the request for fire from heaven to satisfy their revengeful emotions, the Master’s response is clearly and widely set apart from what some other major religions teach, and what some Christian denominations seem to think. The Scripture reads, “He turned and rebuked them, saying, “You do not know of what spirit you are. For the Son of man did not come to destroy lives, but to save.”
Without looking carefully at “rebuked” we don’t have the full impact of the statement. Rebuked is the Greek, ep-ee-tee-mah’-o. Within the word is “censure or admonish, forbid and direct by charge.” The two words that make up ep-ee-tee-mah’-o mean, “superimposition of a value, dignity, honor with a penalty if not changed.” Jesus rebuked only eight times, and this was number seven. Take His action as an emphatic statement meant to totally correct an attitude. Why was he so harsh on James and John? This retribution attitude is not allowed in Christianity, at all! Revelation 3:19 explains why Messiah had such a hard response, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” Is it fair to say that Christians with a retaliation spirit will also be rebuked?
If there ever was a question about differences in Islam and Christianity, let it be clearly noted that Yeshua said that He did NOT come to destroy lives, but to save. We must never entertain destruction of those in competing religions or denominations, nor ask that God send them to hell or wish them harm. First John 3:15 reads, “For everyone who hates his brother murders a person and you know that eternal life cannot abide in anyone who murders a person.”
However, not all can follow Christ with right attitudes toward each other, much less love Messiah. This passage in Luke 9 continues with short stories of several who couldn’t let go of themselves or their possessions long enough to be a disciple, which is the same subject as the one facing James and John.
While they were in another village, a man walked up to Yeshua and said, “I want to follow you.” The response may seem strange because Jesus told him that even animals had places to sleep, but He did not. What was this about? This guy wasn’t going to be inconvenienced on this journey with the Master, and He knew it. If they weren’t staying in hotels, he would stay home. Another guy was directly asked by Messiah, “Follow me.” This time the guy said, “I have to go bury my father.” To emphasize what really was important, Immanuel said, “go and preach the kingdom of God.” Still another response was, “Let me take care of some business, then I’ll follow you.”
Then, here comes the answer to all who would say, “Wait, there’s something I must do first.” That answer is, and listen carefully, “No man who puts his hand on the plough handle and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” In modern terms it would go like this; no man is his right mind would board a jet airplane with the cockpit facing the rear. How can you travel into your past and the future at the same time?
Throughout these chapters in Luke, you will see how the kingdom of God is being described in many ways. These are statements to increase understanding of what it is like to live among each other when we have the Spirit of God actually living within us. It’s self control from the Holy Spirit inside us that makes it easier for you to tolerate me, and for me to tolerate you.
There is a prevailing thought that because humanity has not mastered peace with each other, that such peace is impossible, or that such peace will happen when it’s forced on us. So, we are handed examples of what happens when someone of a different thought, such as a Samaritan, responds when confronted by a situation that his code of conduct has already addressed. Yeshua and the rest of us see this guy as a hero to the man bleeding and dying by the side of the road. We honor his response and responsibility to his fellow man, when others who also have a code of conduct that demands compassion and love, failed to follow by walking by like he wasn’t there, even on the other side of the road.
Because we fail so miserably with establishing peace on earth, we turn instead to a peace with God, then call ourselves right and others wrong. Where, oh where, is the peace in that attitude?
James and John showed their angry selves, determined to call down fire from heaven and wipe out that Samaritan village. Why? Because these two disciples let right-fighting get to them, inconveniencing them and causing them to move on down the road. All the while, Christ never sent them to that village.
Then, there’s the problem of converting God’s relationship with us to the relationships we are commanded to have with each other. True, we sometimes are allowed to walk away, “shake the dust out of our sandals” and find more willing ears, but that is no excuse for right fighting among Christians. However, the Good Samaritan responded with compassion, just as his Torah had commanded. How do we know such command is there? Also in the next chapter, Luke 10, when they were in Jerusalem, we read in the 25th verse, “And behold, a scribe stood up to test him, and he said, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal live? Jesus said to him, What is written in the law? How do you read it? He (the scribe) answered saying to him, (quoting Deuteronomy 6) You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus responded, “You spoke the truth. Do this and you shall live.” You might be surprised to know the same words appear in Matthew 22 and Mark 12.
We have no right to retaliate for anything that is done against us. Call it turning the other cheek or giving your shirt when they take your coat. It’s not quoting scripture to prove you are right, it’s loving as we are commanded to love; it’s example!
Imagine how different the ministry of Yeshua would have been had he told James and John, “go ahead, kill ‘em all in that village that made you mad!” Jesus correctly identified their feelings when He responded with, “You do not know of what spirit you are.” Does the same statement apply to Christians when there is disagreement over how a passage of scripture is viewed? The Good Samaritan could see that the man he was saving thought differently, but that difference was of no concern. He followed Deuteronomy 6, and treated that man like he would want someone to treat him if the roles were reversed.
There is no place for revenge because revenge is an enemy to peace. There is no time to delay preaching the kingdom of God. Do it now! There is no promise of luxury when you follow and teach Christ and His truth. And when you set about to make the soil ready to receive the seed of truth, keep the plough straight and true by facing the future. Know what you should be doing by following Messiah and make straight the way for the Lord.
The boys in our opening story, who both wanted the first pancake, are so much like us. When we can’t stand to be obedient to God’s word, we pass it off and say, “Okay, then YOU be Jesus.” It’s easy to tell someone else to be tolerant with our point of view, and kind of difficult when we need to hear another’s view of the kingdom of God. However, I can tell you for absolute surety, there will never be a kill-‘em-all attitude, hate or revengeful spirit allowed in the kingdom. So, if in His will is where you desire to be, and you find yourself being critical, engaged in gossip, negative attitudes, right fighting or even ignoring a brother’s needs, then allow Yeshua’s statement to apply to every thought and action you have in relationship with your fellow human. That statement is; “You do not know of what spirit you are.”
Will you say aloud with me, Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, oh, God, and renew your right Spirit within me.” Again, “Create in me a pure heart, oh, God, and renew your right Spirit within me.”
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
©2013, J. Tilton
