The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.

Luke 9:51-10:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; ⁵² and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. ⁵³ But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ 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?” ⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; ⁵⁶ for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village…

10 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. ² And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ³ Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ⁴ Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ ⁶ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. ⁸ Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; ⁹ and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

In today’s text we see one of the many paradoxes, things that seem to contradict each other, in scripture. Many people will point to these paradoxes as proof of the inaccuracy of scripture. In truth these paradoxes can help us to know and understand the fullness of God’s character and truth. Today’s text begins with two of the disciples, James and John, asking Jesus if they should  “command fire to come down from heaven and consume them”, regarding a Samaritan village that did not receive Jesus. Jesus response: He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; ⁵⁶ for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”    We too need to remember that Jesus came to save the lives of those who are lost. We, as followers of Christ, are not to judge or condemn people. James 4:11-12 says: Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?   Jesus Himself says: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:44-45) and on the cross, Jesus said of the very ones who crucified Him: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”  (Luke 23:34) That’s the response we are to have for those who do not believe or receive compassion, not condemnation, forgiveness, not judgment, remembering that: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Our actions and our words should also be a demonstration of the love of God to sinners.

Now the paradox, Jesus sends out His disciples. He sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. His instruction was: “Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; ⁹ and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.”  Here is the thing, because the kingdom of God has come, because Jesus the Lord and Savior was coming and now has come, there is a judgment for those who do not receive Him. Jesus says:  But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

Genesis 19:24-25 describes the judgment of God on Sodom.   Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, ²⁵ and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.    This judgment is probably what James and John were thinking when they said:  “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?  To be clear Jesus instruction still was/is not to call for the destruction of those who do not receive. He says that we should warn them saying: “Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you.”   It is not our job, our place to condemn or judge, but if we, knowing of the coming of the Lord, knowing that there will be judgment for those who do not believe and receive Christ, if we fail to warn them, if we fail to tell them the truth, then we haven’t truly loved them. One of the forgotten verses of 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, is verse 6 which says: (Love) does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.

Ours is not to judge, convict or condemn, that is for God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. But, if we truly love people we must tell them the truth. We must warn them that the path they are on is a path which leads to destruction and judgment. James 4:4 says: You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.      1 John 2:15-16 says: Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 

Our lives, our words and our actions must be a paradox. We, like Jesus, need to love and forgive sinners, showing them compassion, mercy and grace. But we must hate sin, all the lust of the flesh, all the evil and darkness which Jesus paid for on the cross. Jesus came, not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. But if they do not believe, if they do not receive, they will be judged and condemned. Jesus says: "He who has believed… shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Romans 10:9-13 says: that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”    The Lord is Lord and savior of all; all who call upon His name.     Romans 10:14-15 continues: How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ How will they preach unless they are sent? 

We have been sent. We are to love others and demonstrate God’s love and compassion, His mercy and grace, but we also are to preach, to share the good news, the truth of the gospel. The truth is:  "He who has believed… shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”  If we who know that truth fail to tell the truth, we have not loved.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You that You are love and grace, mercy and compassion and You are also righteousness and justice. Only as I live in You, in submission to the Holy Spirit can I be all that I am called to be and do all that I am called to do, to love sinners yet hate sin, to speak the truth and share Your love, compassion, mercy, grace and Your justice and righteousness.  Amen.