Guilty

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. Luke 9:51-56

As Jesus was walking to Jerusalem, about to give himself up to die on the Cross, He entered a “village of the Samaritans.” The people of the village to did not welcome Jesus, and, apparently, refused him. Seeing this, the disciples asked Jesus if they should immediately destroy those that did not receive Him. To the disciples, these people were guilty of dishonoring Jesus and deserved immediate death.

Maybe, probably, the disciples knew Old Testament Law. The commandments were strict and brought immediate punishment. One did not break the laws of a holy God without repercussion. Deuteronomy is a difficult read. A different culture and time period, tough to comprehend. So, in the minds of the disciples, the Samaritans were refusing God and needed to be destroyed.

The heart of Christ, the purpose of Christ, the mission of Jesus shines through in these verses. He says that he didn’t come to destroy but to save. Were the Samaritans guilty? Sure. But, at this point, the disciples were missing that they were also guilty. Were it not for the grace of God, they, too, deserved to be destroyed. They missed the grace being shown to them and the world through Jesus.

So, on His way to the Cross, in this Samaritan village, Jesus displayed the grace offered to us all. I am guilty. You are guilty. We are all guilty.

The world likes to emphasize the differences in people, but, regardless of denomination, religion, profession, color of skin, political affiliation, gender, marital status, where you live, where you are from, how much money you have, the Bible says we are all the same. Guilty.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Romans 3:23-24

These verses say that “there is no distinction” between people. There is no difference. We point out distinctions, but there is no difference. Start here, look around, and know that we are all the same and we are all given grace. Do away with stereotypes and man-made definitions – we are all the same. We are all one. Guilty, needing grace.

This is the message of Easter. This message is our hope personally and for the world. There will be a time when we stand in unity as one.

And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10

Grace. We all need it, because we are all guilty.

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