No Fire, No Revenge: The Way of Christ When We Are Rejected

Visit Luke 9 with me today:

Jesus has set His face toward Jerusalem, fully aware that betrayal, suffering, and death lie ahead Luke 9:51. As He travels, a Samaritan village refuses to receive Him. The rejection is real and undeserved. James and John respond the way many of us would: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven and consume them?” Luke 9:54. Their instinct feels understandable. When rejection comes, especially when we believe we are walking in something faithfully, we want justice now. We want vindication, exposure, and consequences. The disciples were not cruel; they were wounded and zealous. Jesus rebukes them, and Luke simply tells us that He “went on to another village” (Luke 9:55-56). Jesus does not want fire called down or vengeance upon them. He wants obedience and love moving forward.

Many years ago, I heard a story that gave flesh and bones to this passage in a way I have never forgotten. I came across the account of Dirk Willems, a sixteenth-century Anabaptist. While imprisoned for his faith, Dirk escaped and fled across a frozen body of water. His pursuer fell through the ice and began to drown. Dirk stopped, turned back, and saved the very man who was chasing him, knowing full well what it would cost him. He was recaptured and later executed for his faith.

When I first heard that story, I wept. Not quiet tears, but the kind that come when something deep in your soul recognizes truth. I remember thinking, That is the kind of Christianity I want to live. Not safe or victorious by the world’s standards, but faithful. Christlike, clean-hearted type of Christianity.

That story never left me. As I was reading and studying Luke 9 helps us understand why the story should never leave me. Jesus is not merely correcting a bad reaction from His disciples; He is shaping the kind of heart that can follow Him all the way to the cross. The kingdom He is ushering in does not advance through the destruction of enemies, but through love that absorbs suffering.

Scripture tells us plainly that “while we were still enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” Romans 5:10. Jesus does not save people after they become agreeable. He saves them while they oppose Him.

The disciples wanted to call down fire. Jesus chose to keep going. He knew there would be many more villages that would reject Him, and that a cross would await Him at the end of the road. Still, He did not harden His heart, retaliate, or coerce belief. He loved, served, preached, and ultimately laid down His life Luke 23:34.

This way of Christ remains deeply challenging today. Rejection still wounds and misunderstanding still tempts us toward bitterness. The desire to defend ourselves, to set the record straight, or to demand justice is strong. However, Scripture calls us to something higher: “Do not repay evil for evil but overcome evil with good” Romans 12:17-21. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” Luke 6:27.

To follow Jesus is not only to believe the right things, but to allow Him to form our responses when belief becomes costly. Sometimes faithfulness looks like staying and enduring. Sometimes it looks like going to the next village. In both cases, the call is the same: to carry the heart of Christ, humble, obedient, and willing to love even when love is not returned.

I am still convinced, years after first hearing that Anabaptist story, that this is the Christianity worth living. Not one fueled by fire from heaven, but one shaped by the cross. The kingdom of God does not grow by destroying those who reject it. It grows by reflecting the heart of the One who was rejected for the sake of the world.