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. (Luke 9:51-56)
Oh, James and John, those silly sons of thunder! But as silly and eye rolling as we may see their response, it was wrong, and we know this because Jesus rebuked them over it. Even though they were right to not like that Jesus wasn’t accepted there, in desiring that they be consumed showed how flippantly James and John viewed those people’s value to Jesus.
Hadn’t Jesus already told them on their last missionary journeys that if they were not received to shake the dust off their feet and keep walking to the next town? How quickly they forgot His words and in turn failed to apply them in the next situation.
Yet, we don’t read that Jesus like smacked them upside the head or even started yelling them or anything, He simply rebuked them and then led by example as they went on to another village without further incident.
Are We Like Sons of Thunder?
How often do we get all up in arms over something that we shouldn’t? Or try to make a bigger deal out of something that should remain small. As humans, we can tend to make mountains out of mole hills. Sometimes this is caused by gossip, other times anger, and yet other times just a sinful desire for drama. Yet that’s not what Jesus desires for us as children of God, nor as His ambassadors.
Instead of James and John being saddened by the hard hearts of the Samaritans, they were angered so much that they wanted fire to come down and consume them. For all we know, there were people in that village who would eventually believe in Jesus unto salvation as the gospel would spread into Judea, Samaria, and reaching towards the ends of the earth after Jesus’ death and resurrection. But the anger of James of John blinded them to the love Jesus had for these people despite them not receiving Him right then and there, and just as James tells us, the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20).
Not All Bad
To James and John’s praise though, they went into a village of the Samaritans and didn’t put up a fight over interacting with them, like they had when we first read Jesus talking about going into Samaria in John 4. Now while their comment about bringing down fire from heaven was said wrongly, they seemed to have great faith.
They had faith enough that they believed they could indeed tell fire to come down from heaven to consume this village and that it would happen. In their faith, they were learning as they walked with Jesus, but they still needed course correction along the way, which Jesus gave them. Ultimately, they had faith and zeal, but their love was lacking. This is exactly what Paul mentioned to the Corinthians when he said if he had faith to remove mountains but not love, that he was nothing, as he further then defined what love was in the rest of 1 Corinthians 13.
Rebuked by God
Lastly, we assume the rebuke wasn’t fun for them, and it probably pierced their hearts to hear Jesus rebuke them. But while chastisement isn’t fun in the moment, it is effective. When we get disciplined by God, it’s not fun and it’s hard to hear, but a rebuke from God, as rough as it is, is a good thing because it means you’re His child. Look what Hebrews has to say about this:
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:7-11)
These sons of thunder may have started with desiring to call down fire from heaven, but because of Jesus’ rebuke and continued training in righteousness, which later would continue through the work of the Holy Spirit in them, they ended up being men who not only learned compassion for people, but were persecuted for the sake of Jesus without their former desire to call down fire from heaven. They endured to their end, having yielded that peaceful fruit of righteousness.
When a situation arises where you feel quick to anger and a desire for retribution, and the Spirit of God convicts you of it – remember that you’re His child, humbly repent, and ask God to help you see other people with eyes and a heart of compassion and love for them the way He does. We truly need Him to teach us to be like Him, and we do this as we seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.