Jesus and Elijah: A Meditation on Luke 9 for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost

And it came to pass, when the time was come

that he should be received up,

he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,

And sent messengers before his face: and they went,

and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.

And they did not receive him, because his face

was as though he would go to Jerusalem.

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, even as Elias did?

 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said,

Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.

For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives,

but to save them.

And they went to another village.

 

1^st Kings records the various stories of Elijah, including the reference made in Luke 9 above.  Elijah was a prophet made powerful by the Holy Spirit to testify to God’s people in his time, bearing His Word of repentance and faith.  The northern tribes of Israel had become so corrupt that instead of hearing Elijah or believing God even after tremendous miracles (such as the fire which descended on Mt. Carmel, proving the impotence of Baal and the almighty power of God alone,) the political leaders sought to murder him.  Rather than turn and repent and live, many of the people in power chose instead to fight against the Word of God, eventually bringing about their own destruction.  Over 600 years later, as Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God came to Samaria, many rejected Him, too.  Jesus’ disciples were so incensed that they suggested calling down fire like Elijah to consume them, but Jesus reminded them that this was not why He had come.  Elijah was sent with the Word of God for the salvation of His people, and Jesus was sent for the same purpose.  The reaction of the people to that Word would determine whether it brought them healing or harm, justification or judgment… not the subjective thoughts or emotions of those who bore that divine Word.  Elijah did not call down fire to consume evil king Ahab and his monstrous queen Jezebel, but He did preach the Word of God to them.

 

I think this is important for the people of God to remember in our own day, as well.  As St. John recorded Jesus’ teaching, God has not sent His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  Thus the ministers of His Church, the servants of His Word, carry that message of Law and Gospel into the darkness all around them, and let the Word of God do what He has sent it out to do.  Sometimes, people will hear the Word of the Lord, repent, believe, and live.  Sometimes, they will reject that Word, bringing upon themselves the just condemnation they have earned under the Law.  And sometimes, people will become so perversely angry with the Word of God that they will attack and kill those who bear it, somehow convincing themselves that if they can silence the messengers, they can escape from the Word.  Yet the Word of God is not dependent on mortals to accomplish its purpose, as if lumps and bits of clay can overthrow the Potter at His wheel of creation.  That God chooses to speak His redemptive will to His creatures is a marvelous grace toward us, and that He uses fallen men to carry His Word to others is grace upon grace.  We are unworthy of the Word of God, let alone to be keepers and proclaimers of it, yet He comes to us with this priceless divine gift anyway.

 

Knowing that we have received the Word of God freely, and that by it the Holy Spirit has worked faith in our hearts to believe and trust in Jesus for eternal life, there is nothing we lack in heaven above or the earth below.  As saints of the Living God, the Vicarious Atonement of Jesus washes us of our sins and His Holy Spirit indwells us to walk according to His Word, reconciled to the Father forevermore.  That Word and Spirit gives us the mind of Christ to battle against the sinful inclinations of our fallen flesh, that we might always live in contrition before the Law which we know we have not kept, and in faith before the Gospel which raises us up to new and eternal life in Jesus alone.  We become sons and daughters of the King of the Universe, grafted into Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, knowing that wherever our Lord is, there we will be also.  The Word of God has sought us out, given us grace by faith in Christ alone, taken away our guilt and blessed us with eternal life.  What are the baubles of this world compared to such riches?  What is the space of time we walk in this world, compared with eternity?  What are the halls of power, money, influence, and pleasure in this world, compared with the infinite and unending Kingdom of Almighty God?  As inheritors with Jesus of His Kingdom, we lack no good thing, not only in the present moment, but for all time.

 

This is a truth beyond the reach of those who reject His Word, and it is why the demonically inspired world will not only attack the Word, but its messengers, as well.  This should not surprise us.  Which of the Prophets were not attacked by the world for carrying the Word of the Living God?  Elijah certainly knew what it meant to be rejected by the powers of his own day, and even to be hunted into the wilderness by those who thought themselves righteous for persecuting him.  Jesus fulfilled this image and foreshadowing of the ancient Prophets by being rejected and persecuted and murdered by the powers of His age.  Yet what Elijah knew in part, Jesus declared in full:  fellowship with God by His Word is a blessing beyond any earthly treasure.  There is nothing to compare with communion in the Most High God, to be reconciled to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be a citizen of His Eternal Kingdom.  The Word of God has come to call all people to repentance, faith, and life in that Kingdom, knowing that apart from Jesus as our Savior and King, there is nothing left for us but the fires of eternal judgment which we have so fully earned.  Judging the world is easy, because people have already brought that upon themselves.  Bearing witness to forgiveness, life, and salvation through the Word and Work and Spirit of Jesus Christ—that’s the divine work which saves us, and desires to save all who will hear and believe.

 

The world will continue to respond to the Word and Spirit of Christ in a variety of ways, but we remain the messengers of that life-giving Word, because we ourselves have been enlivened by it.  There is nothing which should terrify us in our witness to Christ, because nothing can overthrow the Word of grace which He has sent to us; not riotous mobs of anarchists, murderous factions of political zealots, nor the devious intrigue of global power brokers.  The Word of God which brought the universe into being, which has come into this fallen world to seek and to save the lost, is not weakened or diminished by the flailing machinations of wicked men or twisted demons.  The Word of the Lord is the Everlasting Gospel which secures you forever in Jesus, and which sends you out as fearless witnesses to the salvation which Jesus alone offers to everyone who will repent and believe in Him.  Hear that Word as it comes to you today.  Be filled with the Spirit of the Living God, conformed to the mind of Christ, and shine forth like the sun into every darkness of our age.  Soli Deo Gloria!  Amen.