Jesus was greeted by Mary and Martha in Bethany (two miles east of Jerusalem).
These events took place during the last six months of Jesus’ ministry before he was crucified.
Students offer the nuclear city of Samaria (Luke 9: 51-56)
51 And it came to pass, that when he was come to the resurrection, he turned his face to Jerusalem.
52 And they sent messengers before him, and went and came to the village of the Samaritans, to prepare him. 53 And they received him not: for his countenance was as if he were going up to Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, as Elias did?
55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what spirit ye are.
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. In Luke’s chronology, there is a certain and significant time lag between verses 9: 1-50, beginning here in verse 51 – probably several months. This is shown in the words of verse 51: “And it came to pass, when the time was come to take him, that he turned his face to Jerusalem.” You can read more about Luke 10 18 meaning !
As Jesus prepares for a trip to Jerusalem, an advanced group searches for a Samaritan city to stop by. These Samaritan villages knew that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, so they continued to argue with Jews and Samaritans and “did not receive him.” Concerned, the disciples asked Jesus if he wanted a fire from heaven sent to this village. Jesus answered, “For the Son of man came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
Here you must admire the faith of James and John. Shortly afterwards, James and John and Peter were punished by Jesus for lack of faith because they failed in their attempt to cast out the demon (Matthew 17: 14-21; Mark 9: 14-29); Luke 9: 37-42 (see notes). When Jesus said in Matthew 17:20, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Come out of this place, and it will move, and you can do nothing.’ it made a great impression on James and John. They voluntarily set the whole city on fire. Even if this belief is wrong, you still have to believe they read it. In fact, they refer to Elijah’s dealings with the soldiers in World War II. Royal 1 (see notes).
Luke 9: 57-62: These last 6 verses of Luke 9 are not included in this chronological presentation. Because it is similar to Matthew 8: 18-22, the notes to these verses are included in the reading of Matthew 8. Matthew and Luke seem to refer to the same occasion, but placing Matthew 8 a few months in advance seems to be the right time for this event. Click here for notes on these six verses with a similar description by Matthew.
57 And it came to pass, as they went on their way, that a man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds are nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. And he said, Lord, let me go first and bury my father.
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their dead. but go and preach the kingdom of God.
61 And another said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first say goodbye to those who are at home with me.
Seventy were sent (Luke 10: 1-24)