Luke 9:51-62 "Set His Face"

In a lot of ways, I’m pretty good at follow-through. If I say I’ll be somewhere, I try to be early. If I say I’ll do something, I do my best to do it on time. I try to be—I like to call it faithful, others might call it stubborn. Once plans are made, I don’t like them to change. Once I start down a path, I want to see it through.

All this is true for a lot of things in my life. But not everything.

I’ve been trying to take off this 202025. You know, the extra twenty-five pounds I put on in 2020. They’re more stubborn than I am. I say I’m going to eat smaller portions and exercise every day until I’m back to my 2019 fighting weight. But the realities of mac and cheese and margaritas are too much for me to bear. I take my eyes off where I want to go and follow those delightful temptations wherever they lead me. Then I step on the scale and have to deal with those 25 reasons to hate myself all over again. 

Or I say, “I’m going to start being more kind to people. Even stupid people. Even people in trucks who cut me off, or people in Hondas who are going 10 MPH under the speed limit in the passing lane—even people who are disrespectful to my face or have the nerve to express an opinion that I don’t agree with.” Next thing I know, the kinder, more gentle Frank is yelling at traffic like an idiot, or thinking of clever ways to ridicule the person with different opinions. It’s not pretty.

I’m guessing you have similar things in your life. Areas where you’re good at following through and areas where you keep getting sidetracked.

We’re going to be looking at resolve today. Setting our sights on the most important goal in life and sticking to it no matter what. What do you think that most important goal might be?

Prayer: Father in heaven, as we open Your Word today, help us to pay attention to what You want to say to us. To delight in Your Word. To meditate on it. Help us to be wise and to listen. AMEN

Luke 9:51-62:

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 

Like I said last week, this verse changes everything. The Gospel of Luke can be divided into two parts—Jesus doing ministry in the outlying areas of Galilee, and Jesus making His way to Jerusalem where He will die and come back from the grave—ultimately, ascending back to heaven. 

You could also say this verse is the central theme to the whole book—the structure of Luke’s Gospel. Everyone who meets Jesus is offered the same route to salvation: participation in His life, death, and resurrection.

This is Jesus setting His face toward the road less traveled. The impossibly difficult path of the righteous. This is Jesus, as Israel reduced to one truly righteous man, taking the road to life for all of us. He’s the only one who will ever be able to perfectly follow it. Jesus is the way of life—His teaching, His miracles, His destiny of death, resurrection, and ascension. The way of the Kingdom of God is a complete reversal of the way human nature thinks we should go. Our sense of direction is way off, and the gravitational pull of the world will never stop trying to get us off the path that leads to life and send us in the direction of death instead. All day. Every day. 

Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem—where He would give His life to offer us grace. He’s calling us to do the same thing. Set our face toward grace.

The poet Robert Frost said, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

The rockstar theologian Robert Plant said, “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, There's still time to change the road you're on.” In the live version of “Stairway to Heaven,” he adds, “I hope so.”

Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Earlier we read the first Psalm, it also talks about the Two Paths—the way of the righteous and wise compared to the way of the wicked and foolish. It’s a reoccurring idea throughout the Bible and a concept that resonates with our imagination at the deepest levels.

There is the way of the crowd, the masses—the way of instant gratification, comfort, quick fixes, living impulse to impulse, led by emotions. It’s the way of fools. Giving up when things get hard. Giving up on people. Giving up on ourselves. Being led by our appetites and desires. It’s the opposite of everything Jesus told us. It’s the opposite of every one of God’s Commands. It’s turning away from grace.

Then there's the way of the wise. The road less traveled, the narrow gate. The high road. The way we go when we listen to the wisdom of God instead of what feels good in the moment. The way of grace. 

Jesus said He is the Way, the truth and the life. That no one will find their own way to God. His way is the only way. He is the only way. 

Follow Jesus, set your face toward grace, or you will get lost in this world. 

Verse 52:

And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 

Remember, Jesus has a lot of followers at this point. They’ve been doing ministry all around the area of Galilee using Capernaum as a home base—Jesus’ family and some of the other disciples had houses in Capernaum. But now Jesus is heading off to Jerusalem—a long way from home—even longer if they don’t take the shortcut through Samaria.

But Jews and Samaritans weren’t on good terms. Most Jews would rather walk a couple weeks out of their way rather than have to deal with those dirty Samaritans.

But Jesus wasn't afraid of Samaria, He sent a few messengers ahead to see if they could find some friendly hospitality for His caravan. But when the local Samaritans found out Jesus and His gang were going to Jerusalem, they said, “no way.”

Why?

One of the biggest disputes between the Jews and the Samaritans was about where God had wanted His people to worship. The Jewish Scriptures said the Temple in Jerusalem was the only place of true worship, but the Samaritan Pentateuch said God had commanded them to worship on Mount Gerizim. 

So this wasn’t only about some Jews passing through Samaria to go to Jerusalem, that happened all the time. This was about Jesus. The Samaritans had heard of Him, His miracles—and when this hotshot teacher planned to diss their temple and go straight to the one in Jerusalem, they were offended—as if their worship didn’t matter. 

I think it’s important to point out that after the resurrection, the followers of Jesus planted churches all over Samaria. In Acts chapter nine, Luke tells us that the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria all worked together in peace to promote the Gospel of Jesus.

Grace was coming but not today. Today was a hard no. 

Verse 54:

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village. 

Ah, James and John. The ones Jesus called the Sons of Thunder. The ones whose mom tried to make a special deal for them to sit beside Jesus in greatness. 

Notice they didn’t say, “Lord, do you want to call fire down from heaven?” They said, “Do you want us to go all Sodom and Gomorrah on them.” As if they’ve done it before. As if they have that power.

These were the guys who were with Peter and Jesus at the Transfiguration—where they saw Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. Some translations say, “do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them just like Elijah did?” And then Jesus says, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

In other words, “that’s a completely demonic idea—not what we’re here to do.”

They had not set their face toward grace. 

Remember this the next time someone cuts you off in traffic. I might like to imagine I have a bazooka mounted on top of my van that I can fire and destroy annoying cars out of my sight—but that is not the way of Jesus.

Remember this the next time someone gets in your face and makes you mad. I’m always tempted to punish anyone who disagrees with me by pointing out how foolish I think what they said is—burn them down with my clever wit and brilliant arguments. But Jesus doesn’t send us out in His name to destroy people but to show them grace. 

Following Jesus is not easy. It’s the road less traveled. Everyone can get mad and want to knock down their enemies. Everyone can be selfish. That’s easy.

Jesus is calling us to something completely different. The way of love. Self-sacrifice. Trusting the grace He’s offered us and then giving that same grace to other people—nothing easy about it. A lot of people had been following Jesus around Galilee, having a great time. But things are about to get real. The next few verses are spoken to some of these good-time, fair-weather, casual followers—He’s about to lay down the high cost of actual discipleship.

Verse 57:

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 

From now on, we’re not going to be coming home on the weekends. Will you still want to follow me when we’re sleeping outside and your neck hurts from using a rock as a pillow? Will you still want to follow me when it’s not as fun? Not as comfortable? Not convenient?

Verse 59:

To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 

Man! What’s up with Jesus today? Sounds pretty harsh, right? It is, I’m not trying to soften it—but the guy’s father probably hadn’t died yet. The man is like, “Lord, I would love to just drop everything and go with you to Jerusalem but I have too many responsibilities. How about if I catch up to you in a few years, after I get my inheritance—I’ll have time to do all this ministry stuff when I retire.”

And Jesus says, “let the dead bury the dead.” People who don’t believe the Gospel are spiritually dead. This man probably doesn’t want to rock the boat with his traditional Jewish father who isn’t buying all this Jesus Messiah stuff. If he ran off with Jesus, he’d probably lose his inheritance. 

Following Jesus is all or nothing. We don’t get to play both sides.

Following Jesus is about following Him now. Today is the day of salvation. There is no procrastination in the kingdom of God. The man basically said, “I’ll follow you later, Lord.” and Jesus said, “No you won’t. It’s now or never.”

Verse 61:

Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

This is someone who’s thinking about following Jesus but they’re also thinking about what they’d be leaving behind. 

When you put your hand to the plow, you have to keep your eyes focused forward or you won’t cut a straight line. If you keep turning around and admiring your work, you’ll make a field full of crooked lines. The only way to walk the straight and narrow is to keep your eyes looking forward. Keep your eyes on the one you’re following. Set your face toward grace.

We should be reminded of Lot’s wife who was told not to look back at Sodom and Gomorrah when God was raining fire down on those wicked cities. She didn’t listen and when she turned around she became a pillar of salt.

In “Stairway to Heaven,” Robert Plant said there’s still time to change the road you’re on. I guess there’s a sense where that’s true. Today if you hear the Word of the Lord and believe, you can turn and be saved. 

But if you think you can just put off all this Jesus stuff for someday in the future—there’s no guarantee you’ll have the opportunity again.

In Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Less Traveled,” he has to make a decision. He comes to two roads in a yellow wood, they both look pretty nice, but one of them is “more trodden black”—more people had walked that road. He decides he’ll leave that one for another day but then adds, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubt if I should ever come back.”

I love that: Way leads on to way. If he goes down either road, he’ll probably never be here making this choice again. 

Jesus is the way. Following Him leads on to way. There’s no turning back. Not without making a mess of everything—crooked lines, pillar of salt, walking away from life and light and salvation toward darkness and death. Turning away from grace.

Again, “way leads on to way.” Don’t put your hand to the plow and look back.

This is Jesus speaking to some casual disciples who had been following Him around Galilee. He’s calling them to something deeper going forward.

What’s this stirring up in you? How’s it challenging you? 

You can’t follow Jesus and hold on to your old ideas of who you are. Can’t follow Jesus and follow your emotions at the same time. Following Jesus isn’t compatible with the easy way, the comfortable way, the selfish way, the popular way, the “put it off until later” way. Can’t hold your ideas about what you think is right and wrong over the top of God’s Word. Can’t follow Jesus alone—we follow Him with other believers or we’re not really following Him.

But following Jesus is the only way to life. To freedom. You’re still going to go through the valley of the shadow of death—but you can see light ahead. You’re still going to follow Him to a cross. That’s the source of grace. You’ll have a thousand little deaths every day. But you have His promise—He’s leading you to life. To resurrection. To hope. To joy and peace. Ultimately, in the next life, yes. But He also offers you hope every day in this life, too. It makes all the difference. 

In the 1950s, a professor at Johns Hopkins University did some experiments to see how long rats can tread water. He’d put them in a cylinder filled with water and watch them kick and swim until they gave up. Rats are amazing swimmers so he figured they’d be at it for a while. The first time he put any wild rat in the cylinder, they’d give up within fifteen minutes. Every time. But as soon as they gave up, he’d rescue them—pull them out of the water. When he put those same rats that had previously been rescued back in the water, this time they wouldn’t last fifteen minutes. You know how long they’d swim before they gave up now? Usually about 60 hours! Once they had hope of being rescued they refused to give up.

The only difference was hope. Grace. True story.

There’s another version of that rat experiment that’s not true. It’s about two rats, they’re both put in a bucket of milk. One rat gives up after a few minutes and drowns. The other rat keeps kicking and swimming until he churns the milk into butter. It’s supposed to inspire perseverance. But, like I said, not a true story. It would never happen—no matter how hard it swims, it’s still eventually going to drown. 

You can’t save yourself no matter how hard you try. You can only be saved by grace through faith.

The Gospel is like the first experiment. All our working and trying isn’t the thing that’s going to save us. Our hope is in the one who promises to rescue us. This is why we persevere—because we have faith in what God has done for us through Jesus that we could never do for ourselves—the Gospel. Our strength to keep going comes from setting our face toward grace.

Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem. He knew what waited for Him there. He would endure the cross and all the pain that went with it so He could finish what the Father sent Him into the world to do. He would die for you and me and whoever would believe in Him so we could all be rescued. He could see it through because He knew what waited for Him on the other side of all that perseverance. He’d come back from the dead, go back to heaven, and offer His resurrection to all of us. Offer grace to all of us. So we could have hope.

I started this message by saying we were going to talk about the most important goal in life. Have you figured out what it is? It’s grace. Grace that comes from grace and inspires us to never give up on grace.

Can you imagine how different the world would be if all of us who say we’re following Jesus set our face toward grace? Following Him with the confidence of a rat who believes he’s not going to drown because salvation is coming? Able to show grace to others, no matter how hard it gets, because of the grace that’s been shown to us? What would people think of Jesus if all of us who are following Him stopped trying to call down fire from heaven and set our face toward grace instead? How much better would all our relationships be if we set our face toward grace?

And here’s what I mean by that: Set your face toward laying down your life for other people the same way Jesus set His face toward going to Jerusalem and laying down His life for all of us.

Give it a shot. Try to be kind to the next person who says something or does something you don’t like. Try to set your face toward grace for the rest of the day. Then even show yourself grace when you blow it—and try again tomorrow. No looking back. AMEN

Prayer: Father in heaven, search us and show us where we have turned away from You. The ways that we hold things against other people. The ways we don’t believe Your forgiveness should be shown through us to them, the ways we don’t forgive ourselves for our own failures. Remind us to set our face toward grace. AMEN