When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead of himself, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him. But they did not welcome him, because he determined to journey to Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village.
Luke 9:51‭-‬56 CSB

The Samaritans were a mixed race, and were hated by the Jews. This was partly because they had intermarried with historic enemies, the Assyrians, and the Jews’ conquerors.

And Samaritans hated Jews.

Jesus would have gone to this specific Samaritan village to preach the Good News to them, but they refused Him.

Two of His disciples, James and John , who were not called the Sons of Thunder for nothing, wanted to call down fire on the village!

Jesus reprimanded them for such an attitude.

In today’s present political climate, I wonder if Jesus would reprimand us for our attitudes toward those who disagree with us.

Are we always cognizant of the fact that Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers”?

It doesn’t mean we are not to stand for what we believe, but that we are not to do it in an adversarial way, ever conscious of the fact that every person we talk to is someone Jesus loved and died for.