Law...without Grace

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, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 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?" 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 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, NKJV)

I was reading this passage the other day and it struck me that the apostles John and James didn't get it. By this time in John 4, there had already been a revival in Samaria, led by the woman at the well. Gospel harmonies place this event contemporaneous with John 9. So it would seem in the minds of these two "sons of thunder" (read: hotheads) were likely very upset that Jesus, who had been so popular previously among the Samaritans, was now being rejected by them. They rejected him because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. And that was the wrong side of the tracks for the Samaritans.

The Samaritans were the old, sick and very young who were left behind when Nebuchadnezzar had invaded Jerusalem between 606 and 586 b.c. And to make matters worse Nebuchadnezzar had re-populated Samaria with people groups from among those he had conquered. Historically they changed the location of worship from Jerusalem (see John 4), and had altered the Law of Moses to fit their perspective and worship. They were considered by the run-of-the-mill Jew to be ranked right down there with Gentiles (non-Jews) as idolaters. So in one sense it is understandable that John and James showed no compassion. But Jesus' remarks point out that they simply didn't get it.

Jesus rebuked both of them and his remarks reveal some incredible viewpoints about how God views . First, Law without Gospel mandates punishment with no provision of grace that leads to repentance. In one sense, the Samaritans had rejected Jesus, the Son of God and Messiah. That in itself deserved punishment- to reject the anointed one of God was to place one's very soul in jeopardy. We read in the life of David that he dared not even to think about touching God's anointed king, at that time was Saul. Their mindset was punishment first- or..."Zap 'em, and let God sort 'em out."

Secondly, when our Lord said they did not know what kind of spirit that they were of, it shows us how they viewed themselves and Jesus and his mission. They apparently, like many of us, considered themselves "good sinners." Larry Bridges has a great book which the title says it all, "Respectable Sins." James and John considered themselves 'respectable sinners." Oh sure, they had been unbelievers, but hadn't they been there from the beginning? Hadn't they followed John the Baptist? And weren't they the first ones to follow him home and accept his invitation to become discipled? They had become..."churched." And they no longer saw themselves as on the same spiritual level as those to whom Christ had come to save.

Thirdly, Jesus' mission is ever-most at the forefront of who he is and what he does. He doesn't come to destroy men's lives. We've all been in the situation where we have heard the fire and brimstone preacher scream condemnation upon us for sins that we are ever aware of (thanks to the Spirit of God), yet he leaves the pulpit having bruised and battered the congregation, with no answer and no hope of being set free from the Law of God.

The Law of God is good- it does what God intended for it to do. It condemns our sin for what it is and shows us, not only what God requires for us to have a relationship with him, but the punishment for breaking his Law. Yet it has no power to enable us to fulfill what God commands. Either we leave hearing the sermon becoming an atheist because we been poisoned with frustration or we invent a new set of rules by which we think God will now accept us. J. Dwight Pentecost (my professor at Dallas Theological Seminary) said in his book, Design for Discipleship, that when we think we are going to be more acceptable to God because we keep a law, whether that be the Law of Moses, or a man-made law, then we have become legalists. And legalists are like forming a close friendship with prunes.

Michael Horton, professor at Westminster Seminary in California, has noted the Law is like a clipper ship at sea. It has a direction, sails, a captain, crew and rudder. It has maps to tell it where to go. The problem is that there is no wind. No matter how many maps you store on board, no matter how many times you wiggle the rudder, no matter how many times the captain screams at the crew to go, go, go, the ship isn't moving if the sails aren't full of wind. It is the Spirit of God who is given to us as a blessing and benefit of the New Covenant (Jer.31) that enables us to do what God commands.

Jesus' mission was to save men's lives. Sure, they must repent and believe: those were Jesus' first words in his first sermon (Matt.4). And by the way, every time you read an Old Testament prophet who brought the news of God's condemnation of sin (like James and John-Law) he also brought the good news of God's road to repentance (grace).

James and John are a lot like us. We are "churched" sinners who are in desperate need of re-contemplating the incredible grace of God to us who have been saved by grace. Law and grace are certainly not incompatible. With Law alone we are like the quadraplegic who just got his cane knocked out from under us. With grace by itself, with no repentance for breaking God's Law is like inviting the man to a group hug...there is only confusion as to why he would need it. Many preach about the love of God but leave out his righteousness. Many preach about the Law of God (his righteousness) but leave out his grace.

To be on the same mission with Jesus...we must teach and live both Law and grace. That's the gospel.