Luke

9:51-56

The teachings of Messiah, 9:51-19:44

1. The kingdom and its message, 9:51-10:42

i] Rejection in Samaria

Synopsis

Jesus now determines to head toward Jerusalem. He sends some disciples on ahead to prepare for his entry into a nearby Samaritan village. The villagers send Jesus' disciples packing and when James and John hear of it they look for an Elijah type of response. Jesus' response is to go to another village.

 
Teaching

The message of the kingdom concerns deliverance, not judgement.

 
Issues

i] Context: See 1:5-25. With Jesus' Galilean ministry now concluded, we move to the second major section of Luke's gospel, The Teachings of Messiah, 9:51-19:44. The setting for this section entails Jesus' journey from Galilee to Jerusalem (Samaria to Bethany) - "Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem", 9:51. A large part of the gospel tradition that Luke draws upon for this section of his gospel is unique to Luke. Whereas the first section of the gospel concerned the acts of the messiah, now the focus is on the teachings of messiah, revealed both through instruction and debate. Luke takes little interest in the sequence of events, or in geography, because this section is all about the teachings of Jesus, not his travel itinerary. This major section ends, as it begins, with rejection, with Jesus tearfully entering Jerusalem as the rejected messiah, 19:28-44.

Again, these notes follow the overall structure suggested by Ellis, given that his approach encourages the consideration of individual episodes within their wider context. Ellis again proposes that this second major section is made up of six individual sections each consisting of a six-layered Lukan sandwich. In the first section, The kingdom and its message, 9:51-10:42, Luke tells us that the message of the kingdom concerns deliverance, not judgement, and that gaining this deliverance must take priority in our life. These episodes concentrate on the disciples, "first their failures and then their success.... Thus, the journey begins with instruction: knowing God is both a blessing and life's highest priority", Bock. None-the-less, even though Satan is brought low, 10:17-20, many will still reject the message, v1-16, resting in their own righteousness, v25-37. Inevitably, the capacity of the message to engage and renew derives from the gracious nature of our God and Father exercised through his Son, v21-24. So yes, there will always be those who think they can claim "eternal life" on the basis of their own self-righteousness, v25-37, but in the end, "eternal life" is possessed by listening and responding to the gospel, v38-42.

 

ii] Structure: Rejection in Samaria:

The journey begins, v51;

Samaritan opposition, v52-53;

Response of the disciples, v54;

Jesus' rebuke, v55;

On the move again, v56.

 

iii] Interpretation:

The point of this story is not overly clear. It maybe that Luke wants us to focus on Jesus' rejection by the Samaritans; they join with the Jewish officials, etc., in not welcoming Jesus. "As the ministry in Galilee is made to begin with a typical rejection of Christ at Nazareth, so this ministry outside Galilee (with Jesus setting out on his journey to Jerusalem and the cross) begins with a rejection of Him by Samaritans", Plummer. "The disciples recognise Jesus has authority as Lord to bring divine judgment, but they misunderstand that this Lord has come to face rejection and go to the cross", Thompson. Jesus is indeed a rejected messiah, but the rejection of the Samaritans is not of the order of the rejection of Israel. Luke gives us the reason for the Samaritans' reaction, namely oJti, "because", Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem. It appears to the Samaritans that Jesus is in a hurry to get away from Samaria - a typical Jewish response to an unholy environment. Of course, Jesus has no such thoughts, but the Samaritans react accordingly.

If anything stands out, it is the response of James and John. They want divine judgment to fall on the Samaritans, but Jesus rebukes them. His mission is all about saving the lost through the preaching of the gospel, not judging them. Jesus' answer to the situation is to move to another village.

 

iv] Synoptics:

See 3:1-20.. In the first major section of Luke's gospel, there is substantial alignment between Luke and Mark such that most scholars argue that Luke has used Mark as his prime source. Of course, there is a good chance that an oral and/or written tradition of Jesus' Galilean ministry existed before Mark composed his gospel (proto-Mark). In the second major section of Luke's gospel, 9:51-19:44, much of the material used is peculiar to Luke. Most commentators argue that, like Matthew, Luke is drawing on a source known as Q, but the differences between the so called Q pericopes in Luke and Matthew indicate it is more likely that they are separately drawing on their own local version of the oral tradition of the early Christian church (usually identified as L and M). The episode / pericope before us is unique to Luke.

 

v] Exposition: A simple exposition of this passage may be found in the linked pew-level Sermon Notes.

 
Text - 9:51

Jesus' rejection by the Samaritans, v51-56. i] The journey to Jerusalem and the cross begins, v51.

egeneto de (ginomai) "-" - but/and it came about. Transitional, "And it came to pass", AV; See egeneto, 1:8.

en tw/ + inf. "as the time [approached]" - in the = while [to approach, complete the days]. The articular infinitive with the preposition en introduces a temporal clause, contemporaneous time. Given that taV hJmeraV, "the days", are most likely the days leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection, the phrase would be better rendered "when the days were fulfilled / when the time was fulfilled." The timing difficulty in the phrase is probably explained by the presence of an ellipsis (missing words), so "when the time was about to be fulfilled", or "as the days of Jesus life on earth were coming to an end."

thV analhmyewV (iV ewV) gen. "to be taken up to heaven" - of the taking up, receiving up [of him]. The genitive is adjectival, epexegetic, limiting hJmeraV, "days", by explanation; "The days when he would be taken up", Culy. The word is a difficult one. It probably refers to the whole work of Christ in his death, resurrection and ascension, in much the same way as John's "lifting up" is wider than just the crucifixion. The idea of Christ's translation to heaven is certainly a possibility, "the time of his ascension", Berkeley, but the general idea of "taken away from this world", JB, is better.

esthrisen (sthrizw) aor. "resolutely" - [and he the = his face] he firmly fixed. Hebraic phrase "to set one's face in a certain direction" means "resolved firmly / resolutely set / decided definitely" = "to plan", Harder. It was time for Jesus to meet his destiny and so he set his "face" to it.

tou poreuesqai (poreuomai) pres. inf. "set out" - to go [to / into jerusalem]. This construction, a genitive articular infinitive, is often used to express purpose in Matt., and Luke/Acts, or more generally, as here, end-view, goal. So, to set set one's face in a certain direction in order to achieve a certain goal, here Jerusalem. "Jesus planned to make his final trip to Jerusalem."

 
v52

ii] Samaritan opposition, v52-53: The Samaritans were half-breed Jews, having intermarried with Assyrian veterans who settled in the region in the eighth century B.C. Religious Jews regarded the Samaritans as unholy, worse than a Gentile. The Samaritans didn't much like the Jews either, and so when Jewish pilgrims had to pass through Samaria, journeying to Jerusalem, abuse, and sometimes violence, resulted. For this reason, a Jew would normally try to skirt around Samaria when heading for Jerusalem, but the picture we get here is of Jesus' pressing on toward his destiny - he is in a hurry to face the cross. The disciples set out to organise lodgings in a nearby village, but the locals sense Jesus' agitation to be on his way to Jerusalem and this only provokes racial hostility.

apesteilen (apostellw) aor. "he sent" - [and] he sent [messengers]. This is not actually a mission to the Samaritans, but certainly alludes to the role of the disciples as sent-ones, going before the coming king, preparing his way. This is of course, the role of all disciples in all ages.

pro + gen. "on ahead" - before [face of him]. Spatial; "before, in front of." "Before the face of him" is idiomatic for "ahead of him", ESV. An allusion to Mal.3:1.

poreuqenteV (poreuomai) aor. pas. part. "who went" - [and] having gone. The participle is possibly adjectival as NIV, although attendant circumstance is more likely, expressing action accompanying the verb "they entered"; "they went and entered a Samaritan village", Moffatt. Possibly adverbial, temporal; "When they reached a certain Samaritan village", Cassirer.

Samaritwn (hV ou) "Samaritan [village]" - [they entered into a village] of samaritans. The genitive is adjectival, attributive, limiting "village", as NIV, or idiomatic, "a village where Samaritans lived", Culy. The incident may image the coming worldwide mission, but more likely illustrates Jesus' urgent resolve to fulfil his destiny in Jerusalem.

wJV + inf. "to [get things ready]" - to [prepare, make arrangements. This uncommon construction, wJV with an infinitive, expresses purpose or result. Jesus sent the messengers on ahead for the purpose of getting things ready for him, or, as a result of sending them, they got things ready for him. Purpose and result, particularly hypothetical result, "so that", are close in meaning.

autw/ dat. pro. "for him" - to = for him. Dative of interest, advantage.

 
v53

ouk edexanto (decomai) aor. mid. "the people did not welcome" - [and] they did not receive [him]. This negative reaction may be toward the disciples as they made plans for Jesus' arrival in the village, therefore, "they would not receive him.

oJti "because" - because. Introducing a causal clause explaining why the Samaritans did not welcome Jesus.

hn poreuomenon (poreuomai) pres. part. "he was heading" - [the face of him] was going, journeying. A periphrastic imperfect construction probably emphasising aspect; "because he was making for Jerusalem", NEB. The implication is that the villagers are not so much reacting to Jesus' messianic credentials, but rather are reacting to another wondering holier-than-thou Jewish rabbi who wants to get out of Samaria as quickly as possible ("his face was set") so he isn't overly polluted by the experience.

eiV + acc. "for" - to, into. Spatial, expressing the direction of the action; "his face was set toward Jerusalem", ESV.

 
v54

iii] The response of the disciples, v54: As usual, the disciples have missed the point, and so they ask Jesus whether they can call for an Elijah type judgement upon the village.

idonteV (oJraw) aor. part. "when [the disciples James and John] saw this" - [and the disciples james and john] having seen [the response of the Samaritans]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, so serving to introduce a temporal clause, as NIV.

eipwmen (eipon) aor. subj. "us to call" - [said, lord, do you wish that] we should call / we should order. Plummer notes that the usual iJna + subj. which would serve to introduce an object clause / dependent statement, is often missing when qelw is second person and the subjunctive first person, as here, so "do you will / wish that we call / tell fire to come down." An allusion to 2 Kings 1:10, 12. The disciples have asked for an Elijah type judgement upon the villagers.

katabhnai (katabainw) aor. inf. "down" - [fire] to come down. This infinitive, as with analwsai, "to destroy", introduces an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what the disciples should call on fire to do, namely, "come down from heaven and destroy them."

apo + gen. "from" - from [heaven to consume, destroy them]. Expressing separation; "away from."

 
v55

iv] Jesus' rebuke, v55: Jesus' rebuke exposes the disciples' failure to understand the nature of his journey, which, despite their lack of perception, continues. Jesus is heading for the cross and thus, the deliverance of those enslaved by sin. Even the Samaritans are to share in this salvation - this is good news, not bad news.

straqeiV (strefw) aor. pas. part. "turned" - [and] having turned. Emphatic attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "rebuked"; "he turned and rebuked". Note again Luke's use of the phrase "Jesus turned" to emphasise Jesus' engagement with someone.

epetimhsen (epitimaw) aor. "rebuked" - he rebuked, reproved, denounced. The point is that judgement will come to those who deserve it, yet this is not the time for judgement, but the time for journey, journey to the cross and the realisation of the covenant promises. So, Jesus rebukes the disciples for their lack of perception.

autoiV dat. pro. "them" - them. Dative of direct object after the epi prefix verb "to rebuke."

 
v56

v] Refusing to retaliate, the mission team moves on to another village.

eporeuqhsan (poreuomai) aor. pas. "they went" - [and] they journeyed [to another village]. Luke makes the point that the journey continues.

 

Luke Introduction

Exposition

Exegetical Commentaries

 

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