NOTES for Luk 9:49-56

It is striking that Christ's disciples, until His very Resurrection from the dead, are held captive by common Jewish ideas. Faced with the Samaritans' refusal to receive Him, they are already ready to pray for fire from heaven and cite the prophet Elijah as an example to imitate.

It must be admitted that for many Christians over the centuries such a form of preaching appeared optimal. In one empire, a special theological theory was even devised according to which the emperor had to be converted to Christianity, and then by fire and sword he would conquer the whole world and drive all subject peoples into the faith. Everything would have been fine; it is only a pity that the empire fell before it managed to fulfill the mission laid upon it.

Christ's words in response to this strange thought of the disciples are simple and stern: "You do not know what spirit you are of". Though empires nowadays seem to have disappeared (perhaps fortunately), this temptation, and this rebuke by Christ of our inclination to violence, remain very important in the lives of individual people as well. It is not fitting to defend truth by force, because Truth conquers on the Cross.

We have to travel a fairly long road before we reach the simple thought that whoever is not against us is for us. It is easier to look for enemies than to live among comrades-in-arms and co-workers. It is more pleasant to consider oneself the final authority on truth than to recognize oneself as one among many. The knowledge that you are not first but last among those whom the Lord has called takes a long time to digest.

On this path we always try to turn away from "whoever is not against you is for you" toward "whoever is not with Me is against Me." We try to equate ourselves with the Lord and take the place of the first and best disciple, who has understood everything and will immediately reorganize the world according to his understanding. It is precisely from this that the Lord protects us, giving as an example a childlike, infant-like attitude toward hierarchy, power, career advancement, our place in the world, and, in the end, toward what we know at all about Him and ourselves.

The Savior's words that those who are not against Christians are thereby "for" them can at first glance seem somewhat strange. In fact, there are plenty of people in the world who have nothing against Christ and even against Christianity, but who also have nothing, in general, "for" them. They are simply indifferent to all this, either remaining agnostics or choosing for themselves other spiritual traditions and spiritual paths.

Can such a position be called a position "for" Christ or "for" Christianity? If Christianity is viewed as some new religion, then, of course, the answer can only be negative. Every religion needs supporters, preferably conscious, active, and convinced of their rightness, people who could spread this religion and testify to its truth.

But Christianity is not a new religion; it is a new life. Life with Christ in His Kingdom, which He brought into the world. And with life everything is not as simple as with views and convictions, whether political, social, scientific, or even religious. One can become a supporter of certain views or convictions only when one understands and accepts them to the end.

Of course, every religion has among its supporters those who do not especially understand not only its theological subtleties, but sometimes even the subtleties of its doctrine; however, even such adherents who understand little of the subtleties express their support for their religion quite consciously and unequivocally, and sometimes even more decisively than everyone else. But with life everything is not so simple. People often live their whole life, or most of it, without thinking at all about how, by what, and why they live.

The same is true of the life of the Kingdom, which now, according to the Savior's word, has drawn near. A person can sometimes feel the movement of the breath of the Kingdom without really understanding what is happening to him and what he is dealing with. After Christ's coming this happens often, because the Kingdom has drawn near to everyone, not only to Christians. It is an objective spiritual reality, not a spiritual experience belonging to some particular confession or, even more, monopolized by it.

Today anyone can feel the breath of the Kingdom, provided, of course, that he does not reject in advance everything connected with Christ and Christianity. In that case it turns out that a person who appears to have no relation to Christianity can turn out to be "for" Christ and "for" Christians, provided, of course, that he takes his experience and his life seriously.

Of course, such "anonymous" Christianity does not yet guarantee that a person will consciously set out on the Christian path, but he will not become an enemy of Christ and Christians either. This means that the way into the Kingdom will be open for such a person, and the possibility of walking this way can remain for him long enough, as long as the One who brought the Kingdom into the world wishes.

We do not know what spirit we are of. Today the possibility of judgment does not surprise us; we easily judge not only in our own name, but also in the name of Christians, in the name of the whole Church. One often hears, "the holy fathers say..." or "the Pope said," and so on and so forth. In the name of the Church we accuse people of sins, without seeing the beam in our own eye. In every confession there have been periods when people were killed in the name of the Church: the Inquisition, the struggle against the Old Believers, religious wars... In this text we see that even while Jesus was alive, the apostles wanted to destroy in His name those who had not received Him.

This was a manifestation of love for Him, but not true love. Love for God is impossible without love for one's neighbor. We do not know what spirit we are of, but we know for certain that Machiavelli was wrong when he wrote that the end justifies the means. Love for one's Teacher and God cannot be imposed by violence. Nothing can be achieved by violence, especially not love. God and violence are incompatible. God died for every inhabitant of that Samaritan village that did not receive Him; He also died for each of the apostles, He died for Judas, He died for each of us, and apart from Him, no one can judge.

The Lord Jesus Christ says these words in answer to the strange proposition of His followers to make fire to come down from heaven and consume those who didn’t want to receive them with Jesus. "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of" rebuked the Rescuer with bitterness. These words contain a very important aspect of our faith. Judgment begins with the coming of Jesus into the world, quite as from the moment every person contacts with Him. According to the words of the Lord, judgment consists of the fact that - Light came in the world, and through this Light the deeds and intentions of everyone become visible. And each of us chooses between Light and repentance or darkness and self-content. Difficulties and dangers wait us on this way, and to make this choice despite its conspicuity is not so easy. And often, very often, we appear to be unable to follow the Christ. And Voila, the Lord lets know that He did not come "to catch" us and doom to perdition because of our unreadiness to receive Him. No, the purpose of His advent is to save men’s lives. It is one of the most important reasons why He admonishes very often and obstinately His followers of judgment, of condemning others. And this is an amazing hope for us, unworthy of His sacrifice.

How close the apostles' reaction is to us. On the one hand, there is nothing surprising in this, since we are all human, and besides, being like a future apostle is a very good thing. On the other hand, in what way are we like them? Precisely in the fact that we are human, and in our "common human" reactions. The disciples, burning with zeal for the Teacher, are offended that people did not want to receive Him. Someone treated their Teacher the same way any other people would be treated: a traveler was refused shelter. And now "righteous anger" is raging before us, since these simple fishermen surely did not calmly speak the words about calling down punishing heavenly fire, however unemotionally this is set out in the Gospel (see Luke 9:54). And these simple people consider themselves entitled to avenge such inhospitable treatment of their Lord. They may be moved by the words of Christ when He sent them out to preach: "And if any place will not receive you and will not listen to you, when you leave there, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town" (Mark 6:11). And then it was about them, while here it is about their Teacher. So the punishment must be corresponding!..

And if we imagine Joseph behaving this way when no one wanted to admit him and Mary, who was about to give birth? How many people and houses would have been burned with fire?

It is astonishing that in this case the disciples have faith that fire will come at their request. And the question does not sound like this: "Will fire come down from heaven if we ask?" but "Do You want us to say that fire should come down from heaven and destroy them?" (Luke 9:54).

And how wonderful it is that faith in God and in the truth that "whatever they ask will be given them by My Father in heaven" is accompanied by dialogue with the Lord. Because He rejects the disciples' proposal and rebukes them (Luke 9:55), directing their paths along the right way.

These words are addressed not only to those who are just beginning to follow Jesus. They are addressed to the disciples themselves, and to us. Does it never “occur to us” to wonder which of us is greater? Or do we never feel the urge to “forbid” someone who thinks differently? Or to ask God to send fire from heaven upon our enemies, “as Elijah did”? Do we always know what spirit we are of? Yet many of us have not merely “put a hand to the plow” but have already plowed half the field. And what now—are we looking back again?

Today we read a small selection of short accounts about Jesus, assembled by the evangelist to show how extraordinary His Message is and how incompatible it is with normal human ideas. In the coming Kingdom of God, everything will be different from what is customary on earth: the most important and respected will be those who are least valued in human eyes (for children had no rights before reaching adulthood and were regarded as their parents' property, like slaves, yet Jesus holds them up as an example to the disciples). Jesus forbids His disciples to divide people into “ours” and “not ours,” although this is a fundamental principle of human society (for comparison, watch the news on television). His Kingdom lies outside our system of values and proves more important even than the sacred duty to bury one's father, more important than a comfortable home and family. It takes hold of a person entirely—the one who asked Jesus about His Kingdom has already “put his hand to the plow,” already begun the paradoxical path toward God...

Today's reading is entirely devoted to the theme of the Kingdom and to how the people around Jesus understood it, including His closest disciples. And once again we encounter a complete failure, even on the apostles' part, to understand what the Kingdom is and what its laws are. The very question of primacy, of who is greatest in the Kingdom (v. 46), loses all meaning there. Jesus was able to explain this by pointing the disciples to a child, whom the problem of primacy, because of age, does not yet concern at all (vv. 47-48).

According to the laws of our world, still not transformed, the great person is the one who is great by his own greatness; in the Kingdom, as it appears, one's own greatness means nothing, and the less a person relies on it, the more the greatness of the Kingdom shines through him. That is why there is no need to impose this Kingdom by force, as the apostles thought of doing in one Samaritan village where Jews, as usual, were not welcome (vv. 51-54): in that way one can only demonstrate one's own force and prove one's own importance, but it is impossible to bring people closer to the Kingdom by such a method. It is no accident that Jesus tells the disciples that they are not acting in the spirit of the Kingdom: for the Kingdom, any violence is unacceptable; no one can be driven there by force, because to enter it one needs above all a relationship with God and with the One whom He sends, and that relationship must not be imposed but freely accepted.

A Kingdom imposed by force is not the Kingdom, but only its phantom, which can destroy a person but cannot save him. And since the Kingdom is not a place but a relationship, it is not limited by any structure. Even the apostolic community does not limit it, if one looks at that community not as a fellowship of people living in the Kingdom, but as a kind of organization for promoting the idea of the Kingdom of God. That is why everyone who bears witness to it in Christ's name, revealing to those around him its power and effectiveness, finds his own place in it, even if formally he has no relation to the apostolic community (vv. 49-50). Thus, dispelling the myths of mass religious consciousness that were so widespread in those days, Jesus strengthens in the hearts of His disciples those ideas about the Kingdom that must help them live through His death on the cross and receive His resurrection.

As can be seen, Jesus keeps explaining to His disciples, through different examples, what the life of the Kingdom is and what it is like. And the Evangelist gathers these examples together, making a kind of digest that contains short descriptions of them. Here are the disciples arguing over who is the greatest in the Kingdom. Well, after the Teacher, of course. Here are the same disciples eager to call thunder down on a Samaritan village where they are not received. Not for their own sake, of course, but for the Teacher's sake. And for the truth, naturally.

And here are people they meet along the road. One is ready to go, but Jesus tells him: I have nowhere to invite you. To another Jesus Himself says: Follow Me, and that man asks permission to bury his father, and receives an answer that sounds merciless. As does another one: the answer is softer outwardly, but in substance it says: leave it, forget everyone, or else you will have to forget the Kingdom.

What is this: a particular kind of selectiveness? Yes, of course: Jesus sees every person's heart; it is as transparent to Him as it is to His heavenly Father. But there is also something common here. The Kingdom is open to everyone. But on one condition: it must be first in the life of the one who wants to reach it. In the Kingdom people do not live out their remaining days; they live. And those who refuse to go, in one way or another, want to live out what remains. To stay with those who are living out what remains. They do not understand that one can go on living out what remains, alone or with others, endlessly. In the fallen world there is no real life; here there are only its remnants. And one has to choose: either gather up these remnants and try to squeeze the last out of them, or go where there is life in abundance. Without trying to drag along the remains of that imitation of life that can be found in the fallen world.

But there, in the Kingdom, the laws are different. There are no bosses and subordinates there; there are ministries that must be carried, and whoever knows how to do this better is the greatest. The one who is greatest in the Kingdom does not receive the best places, but the more responsible ministries. And there is no need there to prove anything to anyone. In this world too, the Kingdom does not need to be proved to anyone.

It can be shown, of course. But proving it is pointless. For proof, especially with heavenly thunder involved, always presupposes a desire to persuade by force. To make someone accept, to make someone believe. And then it no longer matters what the irresistible arguments will be: in any case they presuppose that a person yields before the inevitable, whether it is a force from which there is no escape or an obviousness that cannot be evaded. The Kingdom, of course, is both force and obviousness. But it is a force one can walk away from, and an obviousness one can choose not to notice. God does not impose Himself, and the person is free. To the free, freedom; to the saved, paradise.