Jesus turned and rebuked them and they journeyed to another village. It appears that the two brothers James and John did not get anything out of Jesus “lecture” on greatness. As today’s Gospel passage clearly shows, they were ready to show the Samaritan village who the BOSS was. Fortunately, Jesus was present to show them how to deal with situations like that. And it is highly probable that this scenario had a hand in the instructions that Jesus later issued to the seventy-two he sent on mission (10:1-12). The brothers James and John were ready to teach the residents of this particular Samaritan village an unforgettable lesson on account of their failure to welcome Jesus and his group. It was a reaction that was the opposite of all that Jesus was trying to teach them. It must also have come as a test to the disciples on how they were going to handle the “power” that Jesus was going to hand over to them (cf. Luke 10:19). This Samaritan village had Jesus to thank for their being spared the fate that befell Sodom and Gomorrah.
Jesus rebuked the brothers since what they were suggesting was an irresponsible use of their positions. They had been called by God to be co-creators with God, not annihilators; to bless rather than to curse. Jesus must have reminded them that as his disciples, they were standing in the line of the great prophets of old who were rejected as well but never called fire on those who persecuted them (prophet Elisha who called on bears to devour the youth who jeered at him being an exception rather than a rule [cf. 2 Kings 2:23-24]). A disciple of Jesus never seeks for revenge for he/she has been called to be holy (set apart). For if a disciple deals with the world the way the world deals with him/her, what exceptional thing has he/she done?