Notes from the Wayside: Perspective: How (Not) to Call Down Fire from Heaven

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

How (Not) to Call Down Fire from Heaven

If you love those who love you, why should you be commended? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, why should you be commended? Even sinners do that. If you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, why should you be commended? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be paid back in full. Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. If you do, you will have a great reward. You will be acting the way children of the Most High act, for he is kind to ungrateful and wicked people. Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.

Luke 6:32-36 (CEB)

Oh, Father, won't You forgive them

They don't know what they've been doing

Oh, Father, give me grace to forgive them

'Cause I feel like the one losing

From "Losing" by Tenth Avenue North

Jesus' early ministry took place in the region of Galilee. When Jesus headed south toward Jerusalem in the region of Judea, He and His disciples had to pass through the land of the Samaritans. He sent some of His disciples into one of the Samaritan towns to find a place for them to stay for the night, but they returned to report that the people in the town would not welcome them. James and John, two disciples whom Jesus had nicknamed "Sons of Thunder," likely because of their fiery temperament,¹ said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"²

James and John were taking their cues from Elijah, and ancient prophet who took no prisoners. Once, when Elijah predicted that the king of Israel would soon die, the king sent an officer with a unit of soldiers to bring him back to the palace. When they found Elijah sitting atop a mountain, the officer said, "O man of God, the king says, 'Come down.'" Elijah replied, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Fire then came down from heaven and annihilated the soldiers. The king then sent out another officer with another unit of soldiers, and the same thing happened. The king sent a third officer with another fifty soldiers, and, when they found Elijah, they fell on their knees and begged him to return to the palace with them.³

This incident was not the first time Elijah killed a large number of people. Years earlier, he challenged four hundred fifty prophets of Ba'al to see which of them could get their deity to accept an offering. After Elijah won the contest, he slaughtered all of the prophets of Ba'al.⁴

Elijah's successor Elisha had brutal tendencies as well. Once, when some little boys made fun of him because of his baldness, he miraculously summoned some bears to maul them.⁵

Does it disturb you that prophets of God would perform such violent "miracles"?

James and John wanted to obliterate the Samaritan village in the same way that Elijah destroyed the soldiers who came to arrest him. They were merely following an example from a story they knew from Scripture, but Jesus apparently didn't like their suggestion very much. He rebuked the two hotheads, saying, "You do not know what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them."⁶ By rebuking James and John, perhaps Jesus was also critiquing the prophet Elijah. Maybe Jesus thought that calling down fire from heaven was not the right thing for Elijah to do.

Elijah had made an appearance in the Gospel story not long before James and John made their suggestion. One day, Jesus hiked up a mountain to pray, with James, John, and Peter. While praying, Jesus was transfigured, taking on a heavenly appearance. Elijah, along with Moses, appeared and talked with Jesus, and an awestruck Peter offered to build dwellings for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses. Suddenly, a cloud enveloped everyone present, and God spoke from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"⁷

Brian Zahnd notes that, by wanting to enshrine Jesus, Moses, and Elijah on the mountaintop, Peter was basically putting all three of them on equal footing with each other. God responded to Peter's suggestion by telling everyone present to listen specifically to Jesus. A disciple of Jesus must take his or her cues from the teachings and examples of Jesus Himself and not from Moses or Elijah or any other biblical or historical figures.⁸ There is a reason why Christians ask, "What would Jesus do?" and not, "What would Elijah do?"

In some ways, Jesus was like Elijah and Elisha: He took a stand against the evils of His day, and He performed a lot of miracles to help people. Unlike Elijah and Elisha, who had no compunction against smiting those who got in their way, Jesus chose to endure suffering at the hands of those who would do Him harm while praying for their forgiveness.⁹ In this way, Jesus was like the later prophets who suffered greatly for the stand they took.

James and John had heard the teachings of Jesus, so they should have known the Jesus way of dealing with detractors. Jesus said, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."¹⁰ It's hard for us to think of other people as our enemies when we're loving on them. If you are having trouble loving certain persons or certain groups of people and would like to love them more, try to find a way to serve them. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"

Jesus once sent out His twelve disciples to travel throughout the region, doing what He had been doing - healing the sick, casting out demons, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God. He gave them instructions not to take provisions for themselves but rather to rely on the hospitality of others. He said that if any town refused to welcome them, they were to shake the dust off their feet and move on.¹¹ Upon leaving non-Jewish territory, some of the stricter Jews would literally shake the dust off their feet as if it was unclean.¹² This simple act of protest against an unwelcoming city was a far cry from calling down fire to destroy it.

These lessons had yet to sink in for James and John. Thank God that people are not static. St. John, a "Son of Thunder" who once wanted to smite his enemies, would someday pen these words:
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.¹³

True Christians strive to know the Heart of Christ and they allow the Holy Spirit to transform them so that their hearts become more like His. To seek the destruction of one's enemies is not the fruit of God's Spirit but the fruit of a divisive, ungodly, anti-Christian spirit. Christ teaches us to love all people, including our enemies, for He came to save and not to destroy.

Notes:

Mark 3:17
Luke 9:51-54 (NRSV)
2 Kings 1 (NRSV)
1 Kings 18:20-40
2 Kings 2:23-25
Luke 9:55-56 (NRSV) (Note that, in some versions of the Bible, these words of Jesus are found in footnotes.)
Luke 9:28-36
Brian Zahnd. "Ghosts on the Mountain." Word of Life Church podcast, 03/07/2014.
Luke 23:34
Luke 6:27-28 (NRSV)
Luke 9:1-6 (NRSV)
William Barclay. The Gospel of Luke, Revised Edition. 1975, Westminster Press. p. 115
1 John 4:7-8 (NRSV)