Our daily reflections follow the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, designed for those who want to read the whole Bible in one year. Each reflection focuses on one of the chapters from that day's readings. Darllenwch rhain yn Gymraeg.
Lord, thank you for your word. Help me to listen. Help me to trust. Help me to act.
Chapter 9 starts off Jesus’ journey from the rural province of Galilee to the spiritual capital, Jerusalem. As he travels through a region called Samaria, some of his disciples who have gone ahead into a village are rejected by its inhabitants.
Samaritans descended from Jews who had intermarried with Assyrian settlers in the eighth century BC. At one point they even built their own temple to compete with the Jerusalem temple.
So, when Jesus and the disciples approach the Samaritan village, the hostility of the people towards a group of Jews heading for Jerusalem comes as no surprise. Jesus’s decision to travel through Samaria, instead of skirting round it, is an un-Jewish thing to do in the first place. Disciples James and John, meanwhile, are up in arms: ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ (verse 54). No doubt they are thinking of the prophet Elijah’s epic battle with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). The villagers have rejected the Messiah; surely they deserve God’s punishment, just like the pagan idol worshippers who defied Elijah. But Jesus forgives and moves on. He has come, not to destroy, but to save.
We get both in Scripture: judgement and grace. Jesus’ entire mission of mercy is set against the expectation that God will bring not just peace but justice, meaning that injustice will be judged. Until that day we are called to err on the side of grace, remembering that revenge is not ours but God’s.
Lord, keep me from judging others, remembering that your Son came to save the lost.
This reflection was written by Michael Pfundner, Bible Society's Publishing Support Manager
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