The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the ninth chapter:
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
James and John can’t really be blamed for not getting it. There’s something amazing about the power of God that removes them from their senses. We’ve talked about this before, but when you think of the power of God, you think lightning bolts, thunder, earthquakes, fire from heaven. When you think power, you don’t think a whisper.
Jesus has set His face to Jerusalem, and why? That He might approach it for His crucifixion, for the sake of the world, for the forgiveness of sins. This holy task He’s on is the most important ever to happen since the creation of the world. This is the culmination of history. This is the event that will bring all of creation to its knees in worship. This is the event that brings people back into eternal life. Jesus has set His face to do this, meaning He’s resolved, He’s dedicated, He’s committed. He even sends people ahead of Him to start making preparations for Him. This doesn’t mean that they get Him food and a place to sleep. It means that they go before Him preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
But what happens? The Samaritans reject Him. And why? Because He was set to go to Jerusalem. If this Jesus wanted to be their God, He should want to stay with them. They rejected Him, not because of the message preached, but because they didn’t get their way. They were being children. Samaritans thought that God would rule from a mountain in their territory, instead of Jerusalem, but this man was telling them something different. If Jesus wanted to be their God, He would have to rule and reign from Mount Gerizim, where the temple of the Samaritans was. The Samaritans thought that God would reign in power, too.
But, that’s the thing. Jesus is going to Jerusalem to begin His reign. But it’s not a reign of lightning bolts, thunder, earthquakes, and fire from heaven. It’s a reign that speaks in weakness. It’s a reign that’s bloody and broken. It’s a reign that no one would want. It’s a reign that no one expects.
The Samaritans thought God should reign in power. But, if Jesus were to reign from Gerizim, it would be empty. Can you see Jesus reigning like an earthly king from a lonely mountain? His reign would be empty at best, and a threat to the Romans at worst. Instead, we see our God reigns in the weakness of human flesh as God dies for us. It is a reign that threatens not the powers of the earth, but holds them accountable. It’s a reign that wields all power, but distributes it to others to do good. It’s a reign that speaks to the Church, that she might speak to the world.
And for this, the Samaritans reject Jesus. So James and John see this and get mad. They want to take revenge. They love this man. They know He’s the Messiah, even if they don’t understand everything He does or says or will do. They want to defend His honor. And so they do the exact same thing the Samaritans demanded of Jesus, the works of wonders. They want to call down fire from heaven in judgment of the Samaritans, just as the Samaritans wanted Jesus to reign in power from their territory. It’s asinine, quite honestly.
But, with both the Samaritans and the disciples, you can hardly blame them. This is what we think of when we consider the power of God. This is what we want. But, Jesus would have the same words for you as He did His disciples. He rebuked them. I love how Luke just kind of leaves it ambiguous. I don’t know if Jesus yelled at them and called them idiots. He did seem to do that on occasion, though probably with a little bit nicer words. I don’t know if He just turned as said I rebuke you. Regardless, they apparently received the rebuke and just went on.
But to think that’s for us, as well, is a good thing. We want the power of God, when instead He calls to us with a still, small voice, with not much more than a whisper. We want power, we want Him to smite our enemies, but He comes to us simply. He comes us to with simple words, He comes to us with His broken body, He comes to us with His shed blood. He comes to us how He desires, not how we desire Him to be. He comes to us unexpectedly, as He came to Elijah. He comes to us by His Spirit, encouraging us, and demanding of us, that we leave behind our sinful ways and follow after Him.
His message has never changed. With that which He went to the Samaritans, He comes to us today. It’s the same thing. Repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Receive forgiveness through Word and Sacrament. Live upright and blameless lives without the fear of the punishment of God. This is the same message yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
The world will entice us with its thoughts, but we are to seek Him. If we want power, we should look to the weakness of Christ. If we want prestige, we look to the man, humiliated before God and man. If we want to follow Him under our preconceptions, we look to His lack of all things, even the lack of comfort, safety, and security. If we want to love our family more than Him, He’ll remind us that He loves them more and will raise them from the dead; what can we do for them? If we want to take get our lives in order so that we’re acceptable, He’ll remind us that there is not one person who is righteous; it doesn’t matter what you do.
You see, the power of the world, the enticements of the world, they hold nothing for us. The power of God is greater than these, even if it doesn’t look like it. The power of God wipes out, inside of us, even to our very nature, that which would separate us from God. The power of the world can only destroy what it sees. The power of God brings us to unity with Him forever. The power of the world brings us closer to our father, Satan, who will only abandon it all in the end. The power of God brings eternal life through the resurrection of the dead. The power of the world only brings death.
The power of God isn’t something for us to call down out of heaven; it’s already among us through those things our Lord gave us. It’s already here. The power of God that Jesus gave to us is in Word and it’s in Sacrament. There is no other way, there is no other thing, that allows us to be unified with Christ forever. We must forsake the power of the world and seek after the power of the weak flesh of Christ should we desire to be saved, to be forgiven, to be strengthened, to be resurrected. And so we do, and so we shall. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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