Luke 9:51-62 (NRSV)
Read Luke 9:51-62 on biblegateway.com
Verse 51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Verse 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; Verse 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. Verse 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" Verse 55But he turned and rebuked them. Verse 56Then they went on to another village.
Verse 57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Verse 58And 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." Verse 59To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Verse 60But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Verse 61Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Verse 62Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Devotion
Imagine what it must have been like for the disciples who were sent ahead to arrange lodging for Jesus, only to be rejected by the townspeople. James and John wanted to have the village consumed by fires from heaven. But Jesus rebuked them and they moved on. Jesus knew his time on earth was soon to be over. Jesus had "set his face to go to Jerusalem," where he would soon be executed and rise three days later. The urgency of completing his mission took precedence over all else.
How often do we find ourselves as the townspeople, rejecting Christ, or as the disciples, who are rejected? We often lose the urgency of our mission that Christ has set before us. There, however, is one difference between where we are now and where the townspeople and disciples were then: We know how this all comes out. We must not lose sight of what Christ’s journey to Jerusalem has meant for all of us.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, send your Spirit upon us to give us the strength we need to maintain our determination to spread the gospel, even in the midst of opposition and rejection. Amen.