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 23:26-34
The Crucifixion
26 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them,“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
31 For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The disciples had saw many miracles of Jesus...They saw Him heal people...The most popular (probably) of the miracles might have been His raising of the dead...He raised someone who had died in each of the four gospels...His most popular raising (maybe), is the one on raising Lazarus (after being four days dead in his tomb) in the Gospel According to John (John 11:17-44)...The disciples knew His power...They knew He was over nature...They knew He had great power...They knew He had this special connection with God...
The disciples were mad when they got some opposition, when they were headed into a Samaritan village...Some people in the village did not welcome Him, because He was headed to Jerusalem...The disciples were just men, and ask Jesus, if they wanted them to call fire down from heaven to destroy the opposition...But this is not who Jesus is, or what He taught...The Samaritans were foreigners, who replaced some of the ten tribes of the Israeli people centuries ago, and intermarried among the Jews...These intermarriages had a negative connotation to the Jews, and the two groups did not get along...The Samaritans thought that the Israeli people should worship on a mountain named Mount Gerizim, while the Jews thought worship to God should be done in Jerusalem at the temple...Jesus knew a time was coming that neither Mount Gerizim, nor the temple, would be the place to worship God, but it would be Him...For He would replace the places of worship of the Mount and the Temple, and anyone can worship Him anywhere...This would all take place after His resurrection...
So the two groups opposed each other, that is the disciples and the Samaritans...But Jesus did not oppose the Samaritans...In fact, Jesus gives us the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), and shows His love for a Samaritan women in John 4:1-54...Jesus loves everyone, including the Samaritans...But Jesus at anytime could have used force against any one of His opponents or opposition, but He did not...The disciples on there way to the Samaritan village were ready to use power, especially John and James...John would learn, mature and grow (much like we must learn and grow), and eventually write much about love...He is the one that writes and teaches us that God is Love (1 John 4:8)...
But at this time or anytime Jesus was on earth He could have used force, and destroyed anyone who did not believe in His teachings or who was opposed to Him...We all sinners, even His disciples, so He would have pretty much wiped out the human race...The disciples were human, with their own weakness, faults, frailties, and sins...Jesus, is divinely human, who came to fix what was wrong, not to condemn it or destroy it...We are to look at Him and see how we can be, how humanity can be...Jesus is what can be right in all of us, even though we are sinners...Because He represents the best in us...In fact, He placed One Perfect Piece of Himself in us...The Holy Spirit...This Perfect Piece will never forget what we can be, because it is a part of Him...
Not only did He not condemn us or destroy us, He forgives us, for we do not know what we are doing...We sin, because it seems, it is who we are...