Christ had not yet finished training his disciples, when the time appointed by the will of God approached for him to suffer and give himself a ransom for the world. The Son of the Highest knew that his disciples did not understand him completely, for their hearts were still bound by sin, and the Holy Spirit had not yet abided in them. So he went toward Jerusalem to reconcile men with God on the cross, and then ascend, through his triumph on Golgotha, to heavens to bring down to us needy the power of his Father that it might bring us to knowledge, humility, love, and patience.
Beginning from this reading, Luke tells us how Jesus left Galilee, his homeland, and started his long journey knowing that he would not come back, but die there. He was thirty years old, and the world was in need of his words and healings. However the Son of Man knew that his death was more essential than his life on earth, therefore he denied himself, took up his cross, and gave his life a ransom for many.
Christ did not allow sorrows to prevail in him, but he organized his procession of love, and sent the apostles to the villages to prepare shelter and food, which entails that the guidance by the Spirit does not avoid organization in the life of individuals and churches, for our God is not the God of disorder, but the Lord of good order and organization.
They who traveled straight from Galilee to Jerusalem at that time had no alternative but to pass by Samaria, which was inhabited by people mixed with remnants of the tribes of Israel, as well as those whom the Assyrians put up in the promised land, and whose religion also became mixed, which made the Jews despise them and consider them unclean. The Samaritans, in return, despised the Jews, and caused harm and injury to travelers and incomers. Thus a state of enmity and deep-rooted hatred prevailed over them.
This spitefulness exploded in John, the apostle of love, and his brother James, when the Samaritans rejected Christ, the Lord of the world, and his companions, and prevented them from passing and sleeping, maybe for fear that the considerable number of pilgrims might enter the village, rob it, and destroy in their zealous spirit their beloved Samaritan gods.
John wanted to answer this insult with a holy vengeance. He resented the slight, and wanted to avenge the Son of God, by commanding fire to come down from heaven and consume them, justifying his zeal by referring to the case of Elijah and the condemnation of his anger upon the enemies of God. But Jesus rebuked John and his brother in the presence of all the disciples, in the same power as he had already rebuked the fever in a sick man, silenced the storm, and drove out demons. In all these events, we find the word "rebuked" revealing the flaming wrath of God. Thus we know that Christ did not wreak his wrath upon the ignorant, sinful Samaritans, but rebuked his two disciples who became open to the spirit of vengeance and spite, for all those who repay evil for evil belong to the Old Testament. Yet Jesus renders good for evil, forgives his enemies all their offences, and loves those who curse him in order that they should repent and turn to him and be saved.
The Son of the Highest does his Father’s will: he saves, blesses, and endures. He neither condemns, nor destroys, nor rejects, even if he were slighted or insulted. The love of God is beyond our minds. Of what spirit are you born? Are you born of the spirit of the world, affected by the Old Testament, where the dominating principle is "eye for eye, and tooth for tooth", or are you born of the spirit of heaven and the power of the New Testament, passing silently wherever you are rejected, cursed, or betrayed, and loving when treated badly? So when Christ was refused by the Samaritans, he departed from them and went toward another village in which he was received warmly. We see that John and all the company did not forget this teaching as long as they lived because of its meekness.