Jesus starts heading for Jerusalem and sends a few disciples ahead. The disciples come to a Samaritan village who rejects Jesus because he was going to Jerusalem.
The disciples want to call down fire from heaven and incinerate the city, Jesus just rebukes the city, and then they go to another village.
On one hand, it shows greater faith on behalf of the disciples, that Christ is full of the same power as God of the Old Testament. However. Jesus never told them to call down fire from heaven if someone rejects Christ. Rather, they were instructed to shake off the dust of their feet and move on. Jesus response fits this more low-key pattern.
It also shows that Jesus does not want other people punished for their lack of faith. The lack of faith is punishment enough.
The event might give some insight on how the disciples understood all of Jesus talk on hell. To them, if one rejects Jesus, then we should call literal fire down from heaven to consume them. Jesus' response means, "no, it does not work that way".
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