Mission Obstacles

It didn't take long after Jesus resolutely set His face toward Jerusalem before He ran into mission obstacles. Remember Jesus telling the would-be disciple that He had no where to lay His head? (Lk.9:58) Here is an example. Jesus is leaving Galilee and setting out with his entourage for Jerusalem and the Feast of Booths. He sends messengers ahead of Him to secure lodging and food for the journey. Jesus is taking the most direct route to Jerusalem, through the heart of Samaritan territory. When He did this in John 4 He ended up staying in Sychar for two days teaching the people there. On that trip He was confronted with the question of where one would worship acceptably. Though He did not favor Jerusalem over Gerizim they still held on to their prejudices. So in this case Jesus had no where to lay His head, no hole and no nest. They would not allow Him to stay in their village. Jesus understands when people are turned away from hotels because of the color of their skin or because of their mission (civil rights). Didn't they understand how important His mission was? Didn't they know that He had to go to Jerusalem? It was a divine appointment. Didn't they understand that He was doing it for them and the rest of mankind? Didn't they see that His mission was God's mission and that they were putting an obstacle in His path? Actually, they did not see any of this. They saw their prejudice against Jerusalem. They were acting according to their belief and conscience. They were not going to assist a Jew on His journey to Jerusalem.

So what do we do with mission obstacles? Ask James and John, the sons of Thunder. Burn the obstacles down! If one is not for us they are against us, and need to be eliminated, right? If you do not support me and my mission then you have to go. Perhaps they were confused because Jesus had received such a warm welcome a few months back when asked to stay for two days in one of their villages. Perhaps they were thinking that these people should be grateful that Jesus would want to stay there in a Samaritan village. Perhaps they were struggling with their own prejudice against the Samaritans. Maybe they were glad they were not welcomed there because it confirmed their bias and beliefs. We love to have our beliefs about others confirmed. We love to be right. James and John could say, "See there Jesus we knew these folks were not worthy of us and You." But, did they seriously think they could command fire to come down from heaven and burn an entire village? The only fire was in their hearts. Is this how we get when others will not cooperate with our mission? Do we want to fry those who just can't see how important our mission is? Admit it. Sometimes.

Let's be clear. Jesus mission was the most important and God-inspired mission of all time. There was nothing more important happening than Jesus destiny in Jerusalem, and the Samaritans should have been happy to assist Jesus in completing it. But they did not get it. They did not understand it. So they denied the reservation. James and John opted for immediate judgment on them. Jesus opted for staying in another village (wipe dust from feet and move on) and leaving the possibility open for this Samaritan village to perhaps get it in the future. Who knows whether later this village may have been the very one Philip entered in Acts 8, where miracles were done, Simon was opposed, people were baptized and a church was formed?