"For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."
I was impressed, in reading Luke, ch. 9 today, at how Jesus would have His gospel preached, and His kingdom (church) established no matter how much opposition and rejection there might be to this happening. But the answer to resistance is not to call upon God's harsh judgment on sinners (as James and John had sought to do, in v. 54). Instead, it is simply to go to the next person, and/or town, and bring the message to others.
This is highly-helpful for us, since we tend to get discouraged by the general state of things today. Instead of getting down, let us get excited about telling people of the One who came, not to destroy them, but to save them.
[Puritan quote of the day: "As the sun rises by degrees till it comes to shine in glory, so it was with the Sun of Righteousness [Christ]. He revealed Himself in the church little by little." --Richard Sibbes, in "Glorious Freedom"]
