Luk 9:54-55 | JFB | STEP | 54. James and John —not Peter, as we should have expected, but those " sons of thunder " ( ), who afterwards wanted to have all the highest honors of the Kingdom to themselves, and the younger of whom had been rebuked already for his exclusiveness ( ). Yet this was "the disciple whom Jesus loved," while the other willingly drank of His Lord's bitter cup. (See on ; and ). That same fiery zeal, in a mellowed and hallowed form, in the beloved disciple, we find in . fire . . . as Elias —a plausible case, occurring also in Samaria ( ).

Luke 9:54-55

54. James and John—not Peter, as we should have expected, but those "sons of thunder" (Mr 3:17), who afterwards wanted to have all the highest honors of the Kingdom to themselves, and the younger of whom had been rebuked already for his exclusiveness (Lu 9:49, 50). Yet this was "the disciple whom Jesus loved," while the other willingly drank of His Lord's bitter cup. (See on Mr 10:38-40; and Ac 12:2). That same fiery zeal, in a mellowed and hallowed form, in the beloved disciple, we find in 2Jo 5:10; 3Jo 10.

fire . . . as Elias—a plausible case, occurring also in Samaria (2Ki 1:10-12).

55, 56. know not what . . . spirit—The thing ye demand, though in keeping with the legal, is unsuited to the genius of the evangelical dispensation. The sparks of unholy indignation would seize readily enough on this example of Elias, though our Lord's rebuke (as is plain from Lu 9:56) is directed to the principle involved rather than the animal heat which doubtless prompted the reference. "It is a golden sentence of Tillotson, Let us never do anything for religion which is contrary to religion" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].