Can we call down fire?

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?" But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." And they went to another village. – Luke 9.51-56

This is quite a story. Jesus and His disciples were headed down to Jerusalem. It is near the end of His ministry. He was determined to go, but he sent of couple of guys out to decide on the proper route. The came to a town to prepare for Jesus to pass through, but the village would not receive Him.

James and John were furious. ‘Lord, they wouldn’t let us through! Can we call down fire from heaven to destroy them like Elijah did?’

I read this and it is kind of like ‘What? Where did that come from.’ No wonder these guys were called the ‘Sons of Thunder.’ They were so angry at the rejection by this town that they just wanted to wipe them out.

But Jesus made it clear that they were not there to kill or destroy. They were they there to save men’s lives. That was their purpose and their goal and their A1 priority. They didn’t have time to be bothered by opposition or the things of the world. They had a saving gospel to share and they could not afford to get side-tracked.

We have that same task today. We have that same gospel to share. There is no more important thing we get. Don’t get drawn away for the things that offend us. Keep loving and keep preaching.