Our passage today is from Luke chapter 9, verses 51 through 56. It is printed also in your bulletin, so you may find it, this short passage in your bulletin or in your Bible. And Luke chapter nine is actually a lengthy chapter filled with well-known passages such as Jesus feeding the 5,000, such as Peter's confession of Jesus as the son of God, and also Jesus' foretelling of his death in Jerusalem, and then Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain. But along with these well-known passages, there is a short and often overlooked passage in this chapter, and that is our passage today, which is about Jesus passing through a Samaritan village. Actually, this is a very important passage because this narrative is actually marks the turning point in Luke's gospel. For from this point, Jesus was on his final journey to Jerusalem to accomplish what he has purposed to do from the eternity. He was moving toward the end and also the climax of his ministry on earth. So let us pay attention to the word of God. When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent his 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. Let's pray for God's blessing of his word. O God, our Father, we thank you for revealing to us this short but important narrative about Jesus Christ. And Lord, we pray that you will give us understanding to rightly interpret the meaning of this message And above all, Lord, we pray that you will unite us in a spirit of unity, that we will be like the precious oil coming down from Aaron's head, or like the dews coming from Mount Hermon, but not like but that we will not live in a spirit of enmity, in a spirit of division, calling fire to come down from heaven to consume each other. So Lord, draw our minds and hearts to your word, to Jesus Christ, your beloved son. In his name we pray, amen. In the past two weeks, we have witnessed a renewed escalation of the old conflict between Israel and Palestine. And as I watched the video clips of rockets being fired and bombs being dropped, I was reminded of the story that we just read in Luke chapter 9. I was reminded of the request by James and John, sons of Zebedee, sons of thunder, They said, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Sadly, this unfulfilled wish of James and John has become reality in our days, for rockets and bombs did come down from heaven, from the sky, and more than 250 lives were consumed. And this is the so-called progress we have been able to make through these 2,000 years. So clearly to me, this is not an age of tolerance, which we used to boast about. But this is an age of enmity, an age that is characterized by a spirit of enmity, an age that is not very different from the age of Jesus. So brothers and sisters, how shall we live in this age of enmity? Shall we look to the politicians for answers, for solutions? Shall we look to the experts for answers? No, we must turn to our Lord and Savior, our King, for answers. For how did Jesus respond to the enmity of his age, to the enmity of his opponents? And how did Jesus deal with the enmity of his disciples who seemed to defend him? And how did Jesus face enmity in an age of enmity just like our age. This is what we shall look into from today's passage. So now let's start from the beginning of this passage. And in the beginning we are told that Jesus was going to Jerusalem. And this is not a regular trip to the holy city to celebrate an annual feast there. This was actually Jesus' final trip, final journey to Jerusalem, where he would embrace his suffering, his death, his resurrection, and also his ascension. And for this reason, verse 51 says, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Jesus steadfastly fixed his face toward Jerusalem. He unwaveringly resolved to go to Jerusalem to fulfill his mission there. And when he arrived at a Samaritan village on his way, Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him to make preparations for him. And this was the common practice for travelers at that time, and especially for poor travelers who had no money to buy food or pay for their lodging. They relied on the hospitality of the townsmen or villagers they met on the road. But Jesus was denied hospitality at the village of the Samaritans. Verse 53 says, But the people did not receive him. Why? Because his face was set toward Jerusalem. So Jesus received no hospitality, but only hostility from the Samaritans, only because his face was set toward Jerusalem. What an absurd reason. These Samaritans didn't care who Jesus was. They didn't even ask why he was going to Jerusalem. They rejected Jesus only because he was on his way to the city that they hated. But I tell you, that single fact was actually enough for the Samaritans to shut the door to Jesus. For Jews and Samaritans, hated each other. In the eyes of the Jews, Samaritans were dogs. Their blood was polluted because of their intermarriage with Gentiles. And their souls were corrupted because of their adoption of pagan worship. And from the Samaritan perspective, however, Jews were even worse. Jews were liars, were thieves, and were invaders, for they tampered with scripture, they stole the line of priesthood from them, and worst of all, they burned the Samaritan temple that had been established among garrison. Well, the Samaritans would gather and worship. And the bloody conflicts continued between Jews and Samaritans in the first century, in the days of Jesus. And it was recorded that sometimes the case was so intense that even Roman armies were called to intervene. Why do I record this history of conflicts between Jews and Samaritans? to show you why the Samaritans didn't like Jews, why they didn't receive Jesus. Not because they were bad people, not because they were racists and bigots, but because they had some reasons to hate Jews and reject Jesus. When these Samaritans encountered a group of Jews going up to Jerusalem to visit their magnificent temple, when these Samaritans remembered the ruins of their own temple still lying among garrison, it was only natural for them to feel anger, bitterness, and resentment, for them to refuse to welcome Jesus and his disciples. And that is what I call an age of enmity. For in an age of enmity, it's not just the bad people who are violent and hostile. In an age of enmity, everyone feels that he is fully justified to show hatred and enmity to their enemies. Everyone feels that he is a victim of the violence of others, he is a victim of the injustice of the society, and therefore he has every right to avenge himself. And this is what I call the Age of Enmity. And this is what actually Apostle Paul calls the Age of Enmity in Titus 3. in which he says, we're passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. The age of Jesus was an age of enmity for the Jews and Samaritans both felt that they were justified in hating one another. And the age of ours is also an age of enmity When both Israel and Palestine both feel that they are justified in killing one another. When many liberals and conservatives believe that they are fully justified in insulting each other. When some blacks and whites believe that they are fully justified in blaming one another. And just as the Samaritans shut the door to Jesus, as long as they realized that Jesus was going to Jerusalem, many people in our age will shut their ears to anyone who, as a Trump supporter, many people in our age will shut their hearts to anyone who affirms that black lives matter. For as soon as a certain name is mentioned, as soon as a phrase is used, as soon as an opinion is expressed, divisions formed, enmity is justified, and violence is rationalized. And you need only to recall the presidential debates or read posts on social media to realize that indeed we are living in an age of enmity. Let us get back to our text. Let's see how the disciples responded to the enmity of the Samaritans. Verse 54 tells us that the disciples were irritated, and two of them in particular, James and John, ventured to ask Jesus, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? What a horrible request, calling fire from heaven, desiring to consume the whole village. But guess what? They actually had biblical support for their request. For they were simply referring to what Elijah did in second Kings chapter one. In that passage, the King Asmariah sent out a captain and his 50 soldiers to arrest Elijah. And Elijah said to them, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his 50. Then the king sent another captain with his 50 men, and the fire came down again and consumed them again. Then the third captain was sent, and this man entreated Elijah and said, let my life be precious in your sight. This time Elijah didn't call the fire to come from heaven, but he went with him to the king. So obviously, James and John were referring to the very story of Elijah when they made this request. How did they make this connection? They quoted this text because they had just seen Elijah on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. And they quoted this text because they were now passing the region of Samaria, where Elijah performed this miracle. And moreover, they believed that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to claim his throne, to restore the kingdom of Israel. And therefore, anyone who did not receive the king must be destroyed. They were quite confident that their request reflected the will of Jesus, their King. However, their request only revealed what a kind of spirit they were of, the spirit of enmity, the spirit as a consuming fire, the same spirit that led the Samaritans to reject Jesus. Indeed, The disciples were not only living in an age of enmity, but they were also living in the spirit of enmity. Brothers and sisters, while we are also living in this age of enmity, are you also living in the spirit of enmity? And your spirit is best revealed by how you treat people who disagree with you, who reject your opinions, who belong to your opposite camp. Last year's presidential election could be a spiritually revealing opportunity. And the no mask debate should have invited much heart searching. and the hard issue of racism would either serve to open our hearts or to deepen our division. Brothers and sisters, it is possible for us to stand on the right side but to live in the wrong spirit. It is possible for us to hold the truth while harboring a spirit of enmity. So the burning question is, are you living in a spirit of enmity? This question is more urgent than whether you are right or wrong on a particular issue. For even if you are right on the issue, but you are holding a spirit of enmity, your righteousness, your right position will not save you. and your right opinion will not be pleasing in Jesus' sight as long as you are holding a spirit of enmity. So do you tend to belittle or avoid brothers and sisters who hold a different opinion from yours? Do you desire to humiliate and even consume people who oppose you and reject you? Do you repay enmity with enmity? Do you repay evil with evil? We have to examine our own spirits. Do we really reach out to people who disagree with us? Do we really care about people who hold a different position from us? or we'd rather leave them alone, or we'd rather live within our own circles and embracing the so-called peace among us. Well, brothers and sisters, if we are united in one spirit, we can endure all kinds of disagreement in many particular issues. But if we are holding an amity, a spirit amity, even though we may have the same opinion on this issue, but very soon a future topic will arise, may divide us, and then quite soon we become enemies and we start to hate each other and even consume each other. And when Jesus saw the response of James and John, when Jesus heard their horrible request, how did he respond to their enmity? He turned and rebuked them. And if you look at the footnote of verse 55, you will find that some manuscripts add the content of Jesus' rebuke. Jesus said, you do not know what a manner of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man came not to destroy people's lives, but to save them. Although we cannot be certain whether these words actually appeared in the original manuscript, at least we can read them as the best commentary on Jesus' attitude toward the enmity of his disciples. Jesus rebuked James and John because he knew the manner of their spirit, the spirit of enmity. He knew that they were living in the spirit of enmity. And Jesus rebuked James and John also because they didn't know the purpose of his ministry. They didn't know that God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, to destroy the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Jesus. And in order that the world might be saved through Jesus, Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem. He went to Jerusalem to suffer many things. He went to Jerusalem to be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the scribes. He went to Jerusalem to be delivered into the hands of men. He went to Jerusalem to be crucified, to be killed, and to be raised from the dead. So his experience at this Samaritan village is actually only a small foretaste of what he would face in Jerusalem. And the Samaritans rejected Jesus because he was going to Jerusalem. They didn't know that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to suffer for their sake. And the disciples discarded Jesus because he was put on the cross. They didn't know that Jesus went to the cross to die on their behalf. But neither the Samaritans' rejection or the disciples' desertion prevented Jesus from accomplishing his mission on the earth. He set his face toward Jerusalem, he fixed his eyes on the cross, and he finished his journey and achieved atonement and salvation for us. Jesus was born in the age of Amity, and he suffered in this age of Amity, but he did not live in the spirit of Amity. He died to the spirit of Amity. And through his death on the cross, He has reconciled us to God. And through the breaking of his flesh, he has broken down the wall of hostility, the wall of enmity between us. So brothers and sisters, if you understand Jesus' mission on the earth, if you understand Jesus' work on the cross, if you understand the spirit of Jesus, You are not living in the spirit of enmity. You would rather choose to be hated by all than to live in this spirit of enmity to hate others. Yes, we are living in an age of enmity, but we must die to the spirit of enmity. We must live in the spirit of Christ. in his spirit of mercy and peace, the spirit that desires no one to perish, but all may achieve, all may receive salvation through Jesus. And the last verse, verse 56 tells us that Jesus and his disciples went on to another village, but the story between the disciples and the Samaritans did not end up there. For Luke actually reserves the end of this story in the book of Acts. In Acts 8, when Philip went to the Samaritans and preached the gospel of Jesus, The Samaritans rejoiced in the news they heard, and they believed in the word of God. And when Peter and John heard about Samaritan's conversion, they themselves went down to Samaria, and they laid their hands on the Samaritans, and the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit. The Samaritans who had rejected Jesus now received his spirit and his gospel. And the Apostle John, who had wished to consume the Samaritans with fire from heaven, now baptized these Samaritans with the Holy Spirit, the true fire that came down from heaven, the fire of purification instead of fire of destruction. So the story, which started with Amity, ended with joy. The enemies became brothers and sisters in Christ. It happened because Jesus came into the world, into this age of Amity, to die for his enemies. and it can happen in our days if we are willing to die to the spirit of enmity and to live in the spirit of mercy and peace among ourselves, but also toward our enemies. Let us pray. Oh God, our Father, We know that we are living in an age of enmity, and we are often tempted to live in the spirit of enmity. When we are being hated, we tend to repay hatred with hatred, enmity with enmity. We try to revenge ourselves with violent words, with evil attitudes, But Lord, you have shown us the spirit of Jesus, how he set his face to go to the cross, even for his enemies, for those who rejected him, for those who persecuted him. And Lord, we pray that the same spirit may dwell in us also, especially as we are already experiencing divisions among us, Not in this congregation, but in many churches. And Lord, we pray that you will not let this spirit of enmity to continue to spread among us, but we may be united in one spirit, the spirit of Jesus Christ, the spirit of peace, the spirit of mercy. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.