BEN F. VICK, JR.
"And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 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? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village" (Luke 9:51-56).
Jesus was going up to Jerusalem from Galilee to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. It was also known as Feast of Booths or Feast of Ingathering. It was the time of the fruit harvest, the seventh month of the Jewish Calendar, corresponding with our September-October. Jewish men were required to go up to Jerusalem to observe three principal feasts: Passover, Weeks, and this one, Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was observed by offerings and sacrifices and living a week in booths or tents made from branches of trees. Too, the book of the law was read. This seventh-month feast from the 15th to the 21st was a time of remembrance. They were reminded of their ancestors having lived in tents for forty years. It was also educational because the younger generation needed to be taught. As we read of their observance of this feast, it reminds us that our time here is transient. Life is like a bridge; we must cross over it, not build our houses on it. Read Leviticus 23: 33-41; Neh. 8:13-18.
Jesus had steadfastly set his face to go up to Jerusalem. He was determined. He had firmness of purpose; he was resolute. He was focused on what lay ahead for him. We, too, must be unwavering in our purpose of going to heaven. Paul exhorted the saints in Colosse, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:1-2).
Jesus' time had come. When he had been at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, he told his mother his hour had yet not come (John 2:4). In Galilee, Jesus told his brothers, "My time is not yet come." But as Jesus neared the time of the cross, he prayed to his Father, "Father, the hour is come: glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee" (John 17:1). In the garden of Gethsemane after He had prayed the third time, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matt. 26:42). Matthew records, "Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners" (Matt. 26:45).
Jesus sent messengers to a village of the Samaritans to prepare for his coming. The Samaritans did not want a Jew passing through their area, and the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. So, because Jesus had determined to go to Jerusalem, they did not welcome him into their village. The most excellent character, whoever walked this earth, was the sinless Son of God, and they did not welcome him into their town. In the country of the Gergesenes, an entire city begged Jesus to depart from their coasts (Matt. 8:28-34). Did not Isaiah prophesy seven hundred years before: "He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isa. 53:3). Years after Jesus' death, John wrote of him: "He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11). Even his brothers did not believe on him as he had set his face to go to Jerusalem. To their credit, they later became believers (Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 9:5; James 1:1; Jude 1:1).
When two of the apostles of the Lord, James and John, saw that the village would not welcome Jesus, they said to Jesus, "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them as Elijah did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village" (Luke 9:54–56). So, they went to another village.
Jesus did not go or stay when people wanted him to leave. He just went to another village. When people are unwilling to hear the truth of Jesus, one need not push, press, and prod them. Just move on to better fields and fairer clime. Our Lord's first coming was not to destroy men but to seek and save souls. His second coming will be with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them who know not God and obey not the gospel (2 Thess. 1:6-10).
Interestingly, Jesus, having been unwelcomed and rejected, did not cloud his focus. He set his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem to be received up; that is, to be lifted up on the cross and then forty days after his resurrection to be received back into heaven. How many souls have become discouraged because of someone's ill-advised words or actions or some besetting sin which caused them to lose focus and turn away from the goal of heaven? To follow in the footsteps of Jesus is to press on despite opposition, persecution, or hindrances. Jesus is our example. The writer of Hebrews exhorted, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds" (Heb.12:1-3).
Let us press toward the mark of the prize of God's high calling in Christ Jesus.