Racism

“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. When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?’ But He turned and rebuked them…” – Luke 9:52-55a

Why was this situation different from the countless other times that people had rejected Christ? Hadn’t he been mocked by the religious “elite” of Israel, laughed at by those in His hometown? Why on this day did the disciples react with such great emotion? What was stirring their disregard for those around them? Hadn’t Jesus been teaching them to love all people and that everyone was in need of His truth? What provoked such hatred from the disciples?

Maybe you think hatred is a strong word, surely the disciples didn’t hate those who were rejecting Jesus; surely they were simply demonstrating unbridled zeal. Or was something else in play? Interestingly, it was John, arguably Jesus’ closest friend that is credited with the vile, murderous words of contempt. “Do You want us to call down fire from Heaven to consume them?” I imagine it may have caused a great deal of sorrow for Jesus to see such a shallow emotion as that of racism being displayed by those He was working so diligently to teach. Even worse, they tried to conceal their sin by making it appear to be a statement of righteousness. They didn’t just want these people to die, they wanted Heaven itself to open up and destroy them.

Racism is seen in many forms every day. It is the exact opposite of what Christ came to declare: all people are valuable, created equally by the creator, loved equally by that same creator. We are called to imitate that love. Although it can be uncomfortable to think about, how similar are the disciples’ sentiments to that of Hitler? Both wanted to destroy others simply based on their race. Racism has been with us for thousands of years; it strikes everyone from the madmen (Hitler) to the seemingly devoted followers of Christ (the disciples). We are fed the concepts of racism through what we listen to, what we watch, what we read and what we have been taught as we were growing up. We must never forget that racism is purely of the devil. Jesus had no room for it, nor any patience for those who did.

Jesus rebukes our racism; let us rid all traces of it from ourselves.

“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.