Luke 9:51–56 has been named the beginning of the travel narrative of Jesus. It serves as a transitional nexus between the ministry of Jesus in Galilee and Jerusalem. It is the central section of the Gospel that Moessner (1983:575–605) argued that the narrative is saddled with the central problem of stiff tension in the Gospel. He observed the four main approaches to unravelling such a complex narrative: (1) Theological-Christological sought to argue for the movement (migration) of the salvation message (mission) from Galilee to Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth; (2) Ecclesiastical-Functional proponents argue that the narrative was meant to teach the disciples of the Gentile mission as Jesus was preparing to end his ministry. The most important element in the Gentile mission is patience and respect for human rights amid conflicting national interests; (3) Literary-Aesthetical approach sees the passage as a designed and cohesive piece to reflect the story of Moses (migration) in the Book of Deuteronomy. Tradition in scripture had been alluded to in the composition of the text for ease of assimilation and present Jesus as Moses – biblical Israelite’s prophet par excellence; (4) Traditional-Logical view considers that the text existed in its chronological order that Jesus had finished his work (mission) in Galilee and would have to move on to Jerusalem for death exaltation. Luke then distorts the narrative with ecclesiological and nationalist themes. All these four approaches have immensely contributed to the delineation of the text.

Migration is well-known in the African context. It is often motivated by economic aspirations. It is a means for economic, educational and social well-being (Walls 2002). Although it is considered a brain drain by some scholars because some of the migrants are educated and young persons (Bekoe 2018), migration is a form of expansion of African Churches (mission), and African culture and national ethos in a foreign land. The reason is that Africans are incurably religious and would practise their religion and culture wherever they find themselves (Mbiti 1991). This study will help the African Christian to effectively manage mission, migration, and nationalism as a critical component of life and nurture.

This study undertakes a socio-rhetorical re-examination of Luke 9:51–56 to determine the correlation between the various themes the implied narrator engaged in the composition and how he intends to persuade implied readers to ‘see’ Jesus as a man of peace in the context of mission, migration and nationality. The approach will be both Traditional-Logical and Ecclesiastical-Functional. Traditional-Logical approach will be used to delineate the building blocks of the narrative, while the Ecclesiastical-Functional method will apply the findings to migration in Africa without neglecting mission and national values in the diaspora.

Kodell (1987:415–430) opined that the pre-Lukan tradition was saturated with Luke’s theological themes for a desired result. The theme of discipleship is critical and demonstrates a training curriculum that includes diplomatic communications to prepare conducive access for a master to conduct his ministry. This concept suggests the meaning of discipleship to be not only following but also what follows. It fosters a bilateral relationship between Jesus and his entourage and cities that grant access. This is confirmed by the narrative of the sending of the seventy (Lk 10:1). Kodell (1987) explained that the hostilities that erupted between the disciples and the Samaritans happened at the beginning of his Galilean ministry when he was rejected at Nazareth. Hence, the beginning of a new phase of the ministry of Jesus is characterised by rejection. The Samaritans conceived a political challenge with Jesus’ use of their city as a means to reach Jerusalem. He added that Luke portrays Jerusalem as a heavenly exaltation of Jesus rather than an early mission. Although Luke 9:51–56 is an independent pericope, ‘each of the three pericopea (vv. 46–48, 49–50, 51–56) contains similar contrasting pairs: disciple-child, John-exorcist, Samaritans-Jesus; the figure of John connects the Marcan material to the Lucan special material’ (Kodell 1987:423). The perspective of Kodell concerning the interpretation of Luke 9:51–56 reflects the Traditional-Logical approach of the journey to Jerusalem.

Allison (2002:459–478) postulated that although other passages in the Hebrew Bible relate to fire, Luke 9:51–56 resonates with the encounter of Elijah and the soldiers he commanded fire from heaven to burn (1 Ki 1:9–12). The setting for the Elijah and the soldiers encounter took place in Samaria and the disciples of Jesus were sent to a Samaritan city. He added that the two passages offer two different theologies. While the theology of 1 Kings 1:9–12 portrays the God of biblical Israelites to be violent in judgement against opposition, Luke 9:51–56 depicts a theology of a Christian God that is non-violent against opposition. Allison (2002) offered an intertextual study of the text, which is closely related to the Literary-Aesthetical approach of interpretation.

Loubser (2002:206–219) explored the media communicative and orality nuances of how the author manipulated existing text either in oral or pre-Lukan tradition to interpolate various themes to depict a form of communication in the ancient Mediterranean society. He situated his argument in the context of orality and literacy at the time of the composition of the Gospel by analysing media technology and theories that were engaged and how they affected the text. It is the attempt to bring to the attention of Lukan scholars to consider the media texture of Luke 9:51–56 to bring to bear a contemporary niche on the ancient text. He stated that the:

This situation can be unravelled by entering into the text with a media critical point of view. It is within the approach of media point of view that the rebuke of Jesus concerning the thoughts of John and James to call down fire against the Samaritans can be perceived. The proposition of Loubser resonates with the Traditional-Logical approach of interpreting Luke 9:51–56 with a more contemporary slant of media texture.

Socio-rhetorical criticism propounded by Robbins (2004) ‘…is an interpretive analytic – an approach that evaluates and reorients its strategies as it engages in multi-faceted dialogue with the texts and other phenomena that come within its purview’. It is a cohesive approach to biblical interpretation because of the diversity of procedures and approaches it advocates. Socio-rhetorical criticism is adjustable in diverse situations. It is an adroit blend of narrational criticism and social-scientific criticism. It is composed of five textures: (1) inner texture, (2) intertexture, (3) socio-cultural texture, (4) ideological texture, and (5) sacred texture. In this study, the inner texture is adopted because of the close reading the study adopts and the relationship between mission, migration, and nationalism in Luke 9:51–56. The inner texture of socio-rhetorical interpretation is the investigation of terms and concepts as found in a narrative piece or within the vista of a study. The objective of the inner texture ‘is to gain an intimate knowledge of words, word patterns, voices, structures, devices, and modes in the text, which are the context for meaning and meaning-effects that an interpreter analyses’ (Vondey 2012:134–159). It can be referred to as the close reading of the text. Inner texture in this study will delineate the communicative significance of the narrative for the implied narrator and the implied reader(s), and how the keywords link the rhetorical communicative process between the implied narrator and the implied reader(s). It also investigates words, phrases, and topoi that lead to the possible discovery of the social identity, ‘cultural, and ideological networks of meanings and meaning effects in the rhetoric of [the] text’ (Robbins et al. 2016:xxii). It is the literary and rhetorical exegesis of a text guided by repetition, progression, narrational, opening-middle-closing (plot), argumentative, and sensory-aesthetic textures. All these elements (rhetology or rhetography) in the inner texture help generate a graphic image or reasoning of a certain possibility of persuasion.

Migration is an important phenomenon in many African countries. It is motivated by economic and educational aspirations. Mission and nationalism serve as a byproduct of migration. Migration is mainly driven by the quest for economic and educational welfare. This can be referred to as a voluntary migration. There is also a forced or compulsory migration where the migrant moves and settles in another jurisdiction because of force majeure such as war, conflict, natural hazards, among others. However, the majority of migration in Africa is voluntary migration for greener pastures in economically well-endowed countries (Mouthaan 2019:1–20). That notwithstanding, religious groups move from one jurisdiction to the other with the desire to convert others to the faith. It is a form of migration that is motivated by conversionist ideas of religious expansion through numerical increase. Although nationalism was keenly manifested when many African countries were under colonial rule and there was the quest for political independence, which the African Initiate or Indigenous or Independent Churches (AICs) contributed immensely (Baëta 2004). Nationalism took a revised mode when political independence was achieved by many African countries. Nationalism is demonstrated in foreign lands or countries where migrants find their neighbours. It helps the migrants and their children born in the diaspora to maintain their national identity.

Africans mostly migrate to Europe and the United States of America (USA) for economic or educational pursuits and later gather together and start branches of Churches that are dominant in their home countries. These Churches in the diaspora have the candour of nationalist elements such as language used for liturgy, culture, and a sense of community. These diaspora Churches later become branches of the local Church in the home country where missionaries are sometimes sent from the home country to oversee the activities of the diaspora Churches (Edu-Bekoe 2018). For example, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, the Methodist Church, Ghana, and some Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches have international missions’ directorates that coordinate these diaspora Churches founded by immigrants (Edu-Bekoe 2018).

Hence, there is a dichotomy between Luke 9:51–56 and mission, migration, and nationalism in the African context. In terms of pattern and emphasis, Luke 9:51–56 is mission-migration-nationalism, while in the African context, it is migration-mission-nationalism. Nationalism in Luke 9:51–56 is expressed by the community used for transiting, while nationalism in the African context is expressed by the migrants to keep to their home culture in worship. In Luke 9:51–56, the mission was determined before the migration, while in the African context, the mission of economic and educational well-being finds expansion in Church planting. Therefore, the concept of mission, migration, and nationalism is Luke 9:51–56 and the African context is motivated by personal goals. Although the same themes can be found among the two poles, the emphasis differs. There was resistance by the transiting community – the Samaritans – to avoid and prevent Jesus and his disciples from having extended missions that would contribute to the dominance of biblical Jews over the Samaritans. The African migrants did not experience such resistance from Europe and the USA to set up Churches, although that was not their main mission.

Luke 9:51–56 demonstrates a rhetorical relationship between mission, migration, and nationalism. Mission is critical to the movement (migration) of Jesus from one location to the other. The Samaritans resisted Jesus and his disciples’ access through Samaria, it was accepted by Jesus. The disciples attempted to force the mission and migration of Jesus against the nationalist notions of the Samaritans. Migration by many Africans is motivated by economic aspirations. The issue of mission and nationalism are byproducts of migration. It makes Luke 9:51–56 a relevant narrative for African migrants in the diaspora and Africans who are harbouring migration aspirations. It expresses an Ecclesiastical-Functional concept of the interpretation of Luke 9:51–56, which demonstrates the religiousness of many Africans who take their religious practice anywhere they find themselves.