In the liturgy of our thirteenth Sunday, Jesus teaches us another lesson on tolerance and human freedom.(Lk9:51-62).

This happened when he wanted to go to Jerusalem through Samaria and out of civility, he sent some messengers ahead of him in one of the villages of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him.

But some Samaritans did not want to see anybody who had something to do with Jerusalem! They were traditional enemies with Jews for long. Without any second thought, they refused him an entry into their village. 

His disciples were hurt by the rudeness of the Samaritans who failed to see how civil Jesus had been with them by sending messengers before him to ask for permission.

For James and John, these Samaritans were being uncivil and deserved a severe punishment. The disciples knew of the controversy between the Jews and the Samaritans; concerning the place of worship, whether it should be Jerusalem or mount Gerizim near Sychar.

That is why the Samaritans did not want Jesus to go to the temple of their enemies because it would add more prestige to it. 

For James and John, the Samaritans had gone too far. The two disciples turned to Jesus and asked: "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

Typical of men! But Jesus turned and rebuked them; he did not like their intolerance either. Here he taught them a good lesson: Intolerance being a form of egoism, to condemn it so intolerantly is to share it. 

According to Jesus, the Samaritans were doing what was expected of them. And the punishment was not necessary because there were so many other ways which led to Jerusalem, he wanted to leave it at that and look for another village to pass through on their way to Jerusalem. And that is the meaning of tolerance; the ability to accept something while disapproving of it.

To some extent, there was something right in what the disciples said, but there was much more amiss in it as well. They knew that this was not the first time that their master was treated with disrespect.

They must have seen his reaction when the Nazarenes tossed him out of their city, and when the Gadarenes ordered him off their coast; and yet he never called for any judgment upon them, but patiently put up with the injury.  

Perhaps those who spoke out did not represent a big number as those who would have wished to see Jesus and hear his preaching in their village.

That was the point Jesus was making; must the whole town be laid in ashes for the wickedness of a few? Why destroy the righteous with the wicked? Jesus was so tolerant and had never, on any occasion called for fire from heaven on anybody, including the Pharisees.

As we read this story today, we are given a good lesson on tolerance. We may ask ourselves, "How can we be tolerant of those who are intolerant of us?”

Though tolerance may seem an impossible exercise in certain situations; being tolerant nonetheless remains a key to easing hostile tensions between groups and to helping communities move past intractable conflict.

Our community serves as an example for the whole world: After being so deeply entrenched in violent conflicts, being tolerant helps the affected groups endure the pin of the past and resolve their differences. The on going reconciliation process has created an atmosphere which has helped so many people to work through their anger and resentment towards one another.

Jesus’ hard lesson showed that tolerance is the only way forward since the consequences of intolerance are very regrettable. Intolerance creates a sense of permanent separation between groups. Because of its negative consequences, Jesus did not like his disciples to engage themselves in revenge because this would perpetuate more violence.

This teaching call to our mind an important question: how is violence and intolerance perpetuated today in our communities?

What ever the case, Jesus’ lesson is clear: we should encourage tolerance and discourage intolerance because as a principle tolerating tolerance is preferable to tolerating intolerance.

Ends