Luke 9:55-56

Luke 9:55-56

Luke 9:55-56
(KJV) But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. {56} For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

(NIV) 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village.
(ESV) 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.
(CEV) 55 But Jesus turned and corrected them for what they had said. 56 Then they all went on to another village.
(RSV) 55: But he turned and rebuked them. 56: And they went on to another village.
(NWT- Jehovah’s Witnesses) {55} But he turned and rebuked them {56} So they went to a different village
(NAB- Roman Catholic) {55} He turned toward them to only reprimand them {56} Then they set off for another town
(NASB) 55 But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."] And they went on to another village.

The NASB places the essence of these two verses in brackets which means the same thing as removing them.

Textus Receptus
{55} strajeiV de epetimhsen autoiV kai eipen ouk oidate oiou pneumatoV este umeiV {56} o gar uioV tou anqrwpou ouk hlqen yucaV anqrwpwn apolesai alla swsai kai eporeuqhsan eiV eteran kwmhn

Hort-Westcott
{55} strajeiV de epetimhsen autoiV {56} kai eporeuqhsan eiV eteran kwmhn

Effect
These are two of the most destroyed verses in the New Testament of the modern versions. Between the two verses, in the Greek 20 words have been omitted making 28 less words in the English. Let us look at the context of these verses.

(Luke 9:51-56 KJV) And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, {52} And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. {53} And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. {54} And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? {55} But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. {56} For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Look at the context of these verses and we will see that the deletion of those 28 words are an important part which gives us understanding of two vital biblical truths. The nature of the Holy Spirit and the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus had sent some messengers before him as He was ready to go to Jerusalem but since the Samaritans were not accepted by the Jews, the Samaritans did not accept Jesus so the disciples, in hopeful retribution, had remembered what Elijah did to the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel and to the two companies of men who were messengers of the King of Samaria, whom Elijah destroyed by bringing fire down from Heaven on them (2 Kings 1). They wanted to repeat that action by calling fire down from Heaven to destroy these Samaritans. As usual the Disciples did not understand what was happening. They were looking at vengeance on the Samaritans but Jesus had corrected their attitude for three major reasons.

1) All sin will be judged at the last day and not now. (Mat 13:30 KJV) Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

2) The Holy Spirit was not a vengeful spirit. He was going to guide them into a new way of thinking. No longer would they think vengeance, instead they were to think mercy, truth, and love. (John 16:13 KJV) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. This is why the Lord was emphasizing the fact that they did not know what Spirit they were of. Satan is the destroyer, the Holy Spirit is the life giver.

3) The mission of the Lord Jesus was to save the souls of His Elect. (Mat 1:21 KJV) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Some of those Elect were probably among the Samaritans and Jesus did not come to destroy them, but to save them. The Disciples did not understand this yet. They had to be made aware that their primary responsibility was to be witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ and not to return evil for evil.

The modern versions hold a consistency in their attacks on the Lord Jesus. On August 6, we looked at Matthew 18:11, which is omitted in the modern versions:

(Mat 18:11 KJV) For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

In this verse we see the mission of the Lord Jesus. If you notice, the teaching is parallel to that of Luke 9:56, of which, that part is omitted from the text. Gnosticism attacked the idea of Christ being God in the flesh and the idea of Him being the Savior, so it follows that they would destroy whatever teachings there were concerning the salvation mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a shame that the editors and writers of the modern versions agree wholeheartedly with the Gnostics. A major principle emerges here. In Genesis 1 we see a principle of creation. (Gen 1:24-25 KJV) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. {25} And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. When we look at these verses, we see that like begets like. Cattle do not bring forth baby monkeys, and vice versa. That principle is important when we look at Bible versions. True Christians brought forth true bible versions. Unbelievers brought forth false versions. This means that those who bring forth these corrupted versions are unsaved people. Why would a true Christian choose to deceive another true Christian, unless the one deceiving is a Christian in name only.

There were two manuscript lines. You can look at these on line at www.scionofzion.com/translations.htm Just click on KJV Lineage and Modern Version Lineage. Truth can never produce false, and false can never produce truth. You will see two lines of manuscripts. The bottom line, is that both cannot be correct.

Luke 9:55-56 are mutilated in the Sinaiticus manuscript and the Alexandrinus manuscript. The first part of verse 56 is also missing in the Vaticanus manuscript. All the other manuscripts which contain the Gospel of Luke include these verses in its entirety. It is found in the Old Latin Vulgate (c. 150 AD) and the Peschito (c. 150 AD) plus the Armenian Coptic, Georgian, Slavonic, and Ethiopic versions plus many church fathers such as Tertullian. The Eastern Church reads this portion of Scripture after the day of Pentecost. Westcott and Hort relegated these two verses to their pile of “rejected readings.” Westcott and Hort were two closet Catholics but Hort came out as early as 1847 in hatred of the Textus Receptus and his adoration of Mary. Today, Protestant scholars laud these two men as great Christians. It is obvious that they do not know of what spirit they were of! As true Christians we must choose this day whom we will serve, either the dedicated Roman Catholic deceivers who continue to give us these false versions or the true Christians who literally bathed the lineage of the King James Bible in blood to keep the words of God for subsequent generations. I guess there must be some reason that the Vatican hates the King James Bible but has no opposition to the modern versions. Think about it!


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