A Samaritan Village Refuses Jesus

The time was drawing near for Jesus to be taken up, and he firmly set his course for Jerusalem. This journey mattered. Jesus was moving forward with purpose toward what lay ahead.

He sent messengers on ahead. They entered a Samaritan village to prepare for him, but the village did not welcome Jesus because he was travelling with his face set towards Jerusalem.

When James and John saw this, they asked Jesus whether they should command fire to come down from the sky and destroy those who had refused him. They even pointed back to Elijah as their example.

Jesus turned and rebuked them. He told them they did not understand what kind of spirit they were showing. His mission was not to destroy human lives but to save them.

So Jesus and his disciples went on to another village. When he was rejected, he did not answer with revenge. He kept going on his journey. How might Jesus' response shape the way we answer rejection?