Thur’s. Devo - The Towns of Samaria

Read Luke 9:51-56 Jesus knew it was time to ascend to heaven so he headed to Jerusalem. Some of his followers went ahead of him to plan his trip. They planned for him to stay in a Samaritan town but the Samaritans didn’t want him there. When James and John found this out they wanted Jesus to send down fire and destroy Samaria. At one time Samaria and Jerusalem were both capitals of Israel. At the time of Christ, Palestine was divided into 3 provinces: Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Samaria lie in the middle of Palestine. It had some copies of the law and they had a worship system like the Hebrews with some differences. They seem to be the counterfeit. The devil looks a lot like God only he is a deceiver and a counterfeit. Samaria was one of his strongholds which would be greatly evangelized after Jesus’ death. Jesus actually taught in some of the Samarian towns and the woman at the well was a Samarian. She was instrumental in winning her city over to Jesus. But when Jesus sent out his 12 he told them not to go to the Samarian towns. After his death he specifically told them to go to Samaria and Judea after they had the power of the Holy Spirit. It would take that power to bring down the strongholds over the towns of Samaria and Judea. Back to today’s reading: Jesus response to the disciples desire for judgment on this Samaritan town was a rebuke. Jesus didn’t come to bring judgment but salvation. When he died his apostles went back to these Samaritan towns and built up churches because it was then time to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. Jesus came to the Jews so he was headed to die in their capital of Jerusalem.