“When the days were coming to a close for Him to be taken up, He determined to journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead of Him, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for Him. But they did not welcome Him, because He determined to journey to Jerusalem. “ – Luke 9:51-53 (HCSB)
Jesus takes the most direct path to reach His destination. He must realize that this path will take Him through places where He will be scorned and rejected; places that “religious leaders” would never dare to enter; places of trials. It’s interesting to think about Jesus’ upbringing in light of this passage. All of His life He would have been taught to shun and despise this other race, the Samaritans. In His perfect love He demonstrates that He has no room in His heart for racism. He intentionally goes to stay in a village of those he was taught to despise. Would we, a modern so-called civilized people, do the same?
This racism is seen on the part of the Samaritans as well; to this day, racism is rarely one-sided. They reject Christ out of hand because of their hatred for His race. Yet we know from other passages that some Samaritans did come to follow Him. Some looked past the race issue to hear what Jesus had to say.
As Christians, we are called to follow Christ’s example. We too must take the most direct path in our walk with Christ, even when we know this means placing ourselves in difficult situations. We must put aside our prejudice and preconceived notions; many of the things we’ve been taught all our lives must be discarded and replaced with the love of Christ.
Father, purge any trace of racism from me. May I always recognize that all people are those You have created; all equal, all loved. Help me love others as You have loved me.