Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 9:54

"And when his disciples James and John saw [this], they said, Lord, wilt thou that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?" — Luke 9:54 (ASV)

When His disciples James and John saw this.—The burning zeal of the sons of Zebedee, more fiery even than that of Peter, was eminently characteristic of those whom our Lord had named as the Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17). Their anger was probably heightened by the contrast with His former reception in a city of the same people (John 4:40–41), and by the feeling that what seemed to them an act of marvellous condescension was thus rudely repelled. Did not such a people deserve a punishment like that which Elijah had inflicted on the messengers of Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:10, 12, 14)? The latter words, as Elias did, are, however, missing in some of the best manuscripts.