Don’t worry, fire-wanting disciples, the fire is coming, just not now.
[Luke 9:51-56]
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.
[and some lost passages that followed, just recently found]
But privately, while they were walking, Jesus said to them, “Be patient, young disciples, wait until these Samaritans die. Then I will cast them into an eternal fire for their disbelief. Then they will suffer endlessly in hell without hope of my love or restoration simply because they did not receive me. You are too naive to understand this right now, but there will come a time in the future when my disciples will understand both my love and justice, proclaiming my judgments to cast not only Samaritans into hell, but all who do not believe and receive me in this life. I understand your desire to consume them, and in due time, they will be consumed. Be patient. Though I do not desire for any to perish, once they die, my hands are tied and a hellish justice must be served, for that is what the law demands.”
And when they arrived at the other village, they began preaching this gospel of the good news, exhorting men to repent and be born again, to believe and accept Jesus into their heart as their personal Lord and Savior or face an eternal, fiery afterdeath in hell. And as prophesied by Jesus, few believed. Their hearts were hardened and their fates sealed. For wide is the road to destruction, and many will chose it, and narrow is the path to life, and few will find it.
And so Jesus set his heart to ultimately die for a small minority of men and women, knowing the rest would never believe before they died and he would have to usher them through the gates of hell.
[or perhaps we've misinterpreted Jesus' words and intent. God forgive us if we have.]
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