Walking Away

Racial and religious tensions drove a wedge between Jews and Samaritans because of the Samaritan intermarriage during the Assyrian captivity, and the Samaritan choice to worship on Mount Gerizim instead of Jerusalem. So Jews often avoided travel through Samaria, and Samaritans rejected travelers coming through their land en route to Jerusalem to worship.

When Jesus sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare a place for himself and His disciples as they traveled to Jerusalem, the village would not receive Jesus. In response, James and John offered to call down fire from heaven to consume the village, similar to what Elijah did in 2 Kings 1:10-12.

Jesus pointed out their proposed course of action was inconsistent with the spirit of a disciple. Then He redirected them to His purpose in coming to earth, to save lives, not destroy them. While James and John sought to escalate the issue with condemnation, Jesus chose to defuse the situation by going to another village.

Was James and John focused on defending Jesus’ ministry and His right to be lodged in the village? Or, was their call for condemnation really an effort to defend their own wounded pride? Did they feel justified to judge and issue punishment to the Samaritans?

How about us? How do we respond when someone has “hit our last nerve?” Do we seek to return hurt for hurt, or are we cognizant of the impact of our response? Being offended or rejected can put us on the defensive and prime us for retaliation. How we treat people in our raw, unfiltered moments tell us a lot about who we are at our core.

Before we try to avenge ourselves, consider the example we set. Sometimes setting that example requires us to do like Jesus and simply walk away.