Luke 9:51-56

Expanded Bible

A Town Rejects Jesus

⁵¹ When the time was coming near for Jesus to ·depart [ascend], he ·was determined to go to [resolutely set out for; ^Lset his face toward] Jerusalem [Matt. 19:1–2; Mark 10:1]. ⁵² He sent some messengers ahead of him, who went into a town in Samaria to make everything ready for him. ⁵³ But the people there would not ·welcome [receive] him, because he was ·set on going to [heading towards; ^Ltraveling with his face toward] Jerusalem [^CSamaritans worshiped at Mount Gerizim, not in Jerusalem]. ⁵⁴ When James and John, ·followers [disciples] of Jesus, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and ·destroy [burn up; consume] those people^[a] [2 Kin. 1:10]?”

⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and ·scolded [rebuked] them. |And Jesus said, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to. ⁵⁶ The Son of Man [^Ca title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] did not come to destroy the ·souls [lives] of people but to save them.”|^[b] Then they went to another town.