Luke 9:55-62 Sept. 27 2020

Bible verse: Luke 9:55-62 Sept. 27 2020

Title: Luke Explication Lord’s day Morning Service

There is a world-renowned vocalist named 'José Carreras.’ He was selected as the 'best artist' in the entire world of classical music. Since the beginning of the recording history, there have been only two releases of more than 10 million classical albums, and "Hose Carreras" is the one.

José Carreras is praised as the greatest musician in the world. And for him, there was a big crisis in his life. At the age of 41, when his fame was at the peak, he suddenly fell.

On that day, he was passionately practicing the main character of the opera "La Bohème,” with his members and suddenly collapsed. The doctor diagnosed him with a death diagnosis called ‘Leukemia.’ Back then, Leukemia was a helpless disease. It's not an easy disease even today. After he was announced sentenced to death, he put everything down. And then started praying to God. The prayer was similar to the tearful prayer of Hezekiah to God.

He prayed, ”God, if you extend my life, I will be loyal to the Lord for the rest of my life." After prayer, he underwent a bone marrow transplant surgery as well as a difficult chemotherapy. His hair fell out and his nails and toenails fell too.

Nevertheless, José Carreras did not stop singing and praying. Hallelujah!~~ God listened to his prayers. The speed of treatment became miraculously rapid after the operation. He thanked the Lord and began to practice the words he has prayed to God.

First, he sold his entire fortune and founded the "José Carreras Leukemia Foundation." He also sent all the profit he has earned from the performance to this foundation. This is how he confessed in the distant future. "Sometimes our lives can be diseased or exposed to death. But what I'm grateful for was that before I had leukemia, I was only a person solemnly for myself. But through the crisis of death, I became a person who is able to take care of others.

Standing in front of the fear of death, I realized how great and blessed it is to live for God. If it weren't for the fear of death, I wouldn't have been able to take care of my neighbors in help, and unfortunately my life would have ended. But I thank God for giving me chance through the fear of death.

Hallelujah.

Through the “Feeding of the 5,000,” Jesus showed his disciples a great miracle. And it makes me wonder who Jesus is. Jesus questioned, "Who did they say I was?” After giving the disciples a time to think, He then I asked, "Who do you think I am?"

Peter confesses, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Nevertheless, we do not know the true meaning of the Lord being the Christ and the living Son of God. Let us read verse 55 together.

Hallelujah

Jesus scolded His disciples. What was the reason for his scolding? Let us read verse 51-53 together.

Hallelujah

After Jesus decided to go up to Jerusalem He sent some of his disciples to advance party the first. They went to find a place for Jesus to stay. But among the land, they went to a Samaritan Village to ask for a place to stay.

Yet they simply refuse to accept the request of Jesus' disciples. Then the disciples used abusive language against these Samaritan. Let's read verse 54 together.

Hallelujah

As the disciples went pass the Samaritan village, they searched for a place for Jesus to stay, but all refused in a single stroke. Then the two disciples, John and James asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

Gentlemen, if you can give a realistic description of what James and John have said to Jesus, it can be said like this: "Jesus! Let's put them out of the fire and just kill them. Bad guys! Bad guys! Jesus Christ, let's put the fire down from the sky and just kill them!”

Then Jesus scolded his disciples. Now, then, why did the people of Samaria refuse when the disciples searched for a place for Jesus to stay?

Let’s read verse 52 - 53 of the main text, again.

Hallelujah

One reason why the Samaritans did not provide a place for Jesus mentions in verse

53. "but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.“

What does this mean? Samaria, which appears in the Bible, is called Shechem by the Jews today. And Arabs call it 'Nablus.' Samaria is located between Mount Grishim and Mount Ebal, which appear in the Old Testament, and still has the same names today.

The current Samaritan region is divided into Palestinian Arab’s boroughs. Until recently, Samaria has been in both small and big conflicts with Israel continuously.

Samaria, also called as Sekem or Nablus, is currently a home for about 130,000 Arabs, most of whom are Muslims. The origin of Samaria is Shechem. Shechem appears in the Bible of Genesis Chapter 12 of where Abraham is said to have stayed under the tree located at Shechem.

And this is place where Jacob put up a tent on his way back from Batdan Aram to Canaan. After the conquest of Canaan, this was also the land given to Ephraimites, Danites and Manasseh tribes as enterprises.

In Deuteronomy 11:29, Shechem is used as the boundary between Grishim, the mountain of blessing, and Ebal, the mountain of the curse. Sharmaneser, king of Assyria, invaded and captivated the inhabitants of Israel to Assyria (1 King17:3-6). And the people from Assyria immigrated to this place, followed by the people of the Babylonian Empire immigrating as well. Through this process, Samaria began to be recognized as a place of gentiles.

Alexander the Great of Macedonia established Hellenistic culture in Samaria and implemented a mixed-race policy. Due to this, in a Jewish perspective, Samaria became more and more recognized as a land for gentiles.

Because of these circumstances, people in Samaria have mixed blood. They are like half-blooded people. But in Israel there is a taboo against mixed blood. And since gentiles who live in Samaria adapt these lifestyles, idol worship became a natural practice as well.

When the disciples were searching for a place for Jesus to stay within Samaria, this historical connection could have been the reason behind the response of non- Jewish strangers. To the Gentiles, Jesus is not a Messiah or the Son of God, but just a son of a country carpenter.

Furthermore, if you look carefully at the verse 53 of the text, people refused because of the reason that ‘he was going to Jerusalem’. The people of Samaria called Mount Grishim a holy mountain, Like how the considered Jerusalem as holy.

And the Samaritans worshiped at Mount Grishim. It's a matter of course for Samaritan people who treat them as strangers. They were Samaritans who were unable to visit Jerusalem when they wanted to. That's why they had only one choice, to worship at Mount Grishim in Samaria.

But in today's text, it tells them that Jesus is going up to Jerusalem, not Mount Grishim, making another scar on top of the unhealed wound. At the time Jesus' disciples found a place to stay in Samaria, Samaritans had no choice but quickly refuse because they knew that Jesus was going up to Jerusalem.

What's important is the behavior of the disciples after of the refusals of the Samaritan people. Jesus rebuked his disciples for ignoring these historical and circumstantial reasons and simply making indiscriminating attacks on Samaritans who were refusing to provide a place for Jesus to stay.

To the disciples, the Samaritans are people who have given up. They mistook gentiles and mixed-race people for rotting. But Jesus saw them as subjects of evangelism. Jesus could not give up their souls. A healthy person does not need a doctor, but a sick person needs one. Samaritan, they were the ones who really needed the gospel. Hallelujah.

Then on verse 57, the disciples leave to another village. After this incident, Jesus provides us with a certain teaching. Jesus meets three types of people. Let's read verse 62 - 57 together.

Hallelujah

The first type of people are the ones who are willing to follow wherever Jesus goes. Jesus replies to them, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

And for the second type of people when Jesus says, 'Follow me,’, they reply “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

And the