Jesus Rebuked Them

It's an alternate reading of Luke 9:55. That means the more modern translations omit the phrase. The NRSV, for example, simply says "But he (Jesus) turned and rebuked them" (Luke 9:55). The alternate reading is referenced in a footnote because the oldest, most reliable Greek manuscripts did not include it. It is considered an add on to the original. When a scribe was copying the original, he (and the scribes were always men) added his commentary. What he added caught my attention: But he (Jesus) rebuked them and said, "You do not know what spirit you are of for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them."

Jesus and the disciples were on the way to Jerusalem. But rather than taking the common route down the Jordan River, they went through Samaria. One particular Samaritan village refused to receive him. He wasn't welcome there. Their rejection didn't sit well with James and John. They didn't like Samaritans to begin with. (Most Jews of that time looked on Samaritans with contempt.) So the Samaritan village's rebuff of Jesus touched a raw nerve with James and John. "Who did they think they are? Don't they know who Jesus is? How dare them?" James and John were ready to put the Samaritans in their place. They wanted to show them what's right. They wanted to punish them for their arrogant rejection. They wanted to call fire from heaven to consume them. That'll show them.

But Jesus rebuked the two disciples. The rebuke must have stung. They, James and John, were the ones in the wrong, not the Samaritans!

The alternate reading suggests the essence of the rebuke: you do not know what spirit you are of. The scribe recognized that James and John's spirit was out of step with the spirit of Jesus. So he added, "That's not how we do things. That's not the spirit out of which we live. You are not aware of the spirit that you are expressing, much less the spirit that is in your heart."

The alternate reading points to two things: first, the spirit out of which we live and, second, a lack of awareness of that spirit (self-awareness).

The spirit out of which we live is about what is in the heart. That spirit is reflected in what we say and what we do. James and John's desire to punish the Samaritans reflected how they viewed the Samaritans - as less than and no good. And here's the thing: they were not aware of their spirit, much less how it was out of step with the spirit of Jesus.

As I observe the polarization in our nation today (choose an issue: pandemic, wearing masks, freedom to go to restaurants and bars, race, Black Lives Matter, Police brutality, Support the Blue, Trump), what strikes me is the spirit that is expressed in what is said and done. I suspect that most of us are like James and John, totally unaware of the spirit we are expressing. A lack of awareness means the attitude (spirit) of the heart has not been examined. A lack of self-awareness indicates a lack of self-reflection.

If there is no self-reflection and no self-awareness, how do we know if our spirit reflects the spirit of Jesus?

Much of what I see being said and done attacks and demeans those with whom we disagree. But Jesus is not in the business of attacking and destroying. Jesus doesn't call fire from heaven to punish and destroy (thank you, God!!). Jesus lives out of the spirit of love. Love is expressed in compassion, understanding, mercy, forgiveness ... and rebuke!

Self-reflection which leads to self-awareness is a vital part of being a follower of Jesus. It is how we align our spirit with the spirit of Jesus. It is how we learn to respond with compassion, understanding, mercy and forgiveness rather than with anger that wants to call fire down from heaven on anyone who takes a different position than we do. And it is how we avoid the rebuke of Jesus.