Luke 9:51–62

6th Sunday after Pentecost

⁵¹And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, ⁵²And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. ⁵³And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? ⁵⁵But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. ⁵⁶For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. ⁵⁷And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. ⁵⁸And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. ⁵⁹And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. ⁶⁰Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. ⁶¹And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. ⁶²And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Dick Beardsley is a name known to marathon runners for a long time. Growing up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, he had a very successful career running in the early 80’s until an injured tendon and multiple surgeries led to his retirement in 1988. From there things got worse. Back on the farm he suffered an accident which almost tore him to pieces, and broke half the bones in his body. After 5 months he could still barely hobble. By the time he could run again he was blind-sided by another driver in a car accident and was hospitalized with an injured back and neck. The next year he was hit by a truck while running, then in another auto accident. After numerous operations on his back and knee he became addicted to pain medications. But today, since drug rehab, he has managed to turn his life around in spite of such a series of accidents. He set his goal on running again and never lost the vision. He set his eyes on the goal and stayed the course and is today the second fastest runner in the United States. Today, beside running, he helps motivate others to stay the course despite all the obstacles of life. He has written books and even had a movie made of his life story.

In our text today we see how Jesus set his face on the goal and stayed the course, in spite of the many obstacles. The time had come for Jesus to be received up. He was looking ahead to his destination. He did not put his hand to the plow and then look backward. He was looking forward. He knew where he was going and he headed straight for it without wavering or weaving back and forth on his road.

Even in the face of temptation to abandon his mission, he was resolute. And finally, we see how following Jesus requires us to set our face on the goal and go with Jesus to his destination.

To begin, let’s unpack the first verse of our text and did out the meaning of the words it uses.

The first verse says “the time has come that Jesus should be taken up.” The Greek word translated here “taken up” has much more meaning than our English expression. Taken up can mean being lifted up on a cross and suspended in mid-air. Taken up also refers to death, departing this world and going to heaven. The concept that the time was come for Jesus to be “received up” is a pregnant concept including his death on the cross and his ascension into heaven.

The time had arrived, and as Luke continues his gospel he turns his attention to Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. This now becomes the theme of Luke’s book, as he recalls that Jesus resolutely or steadfastly set his face to depart for Jerusalem.

Again, there is much meaning packed into these few, simple words. Literally the Greek says that Jesus “set his face”. Jesus was looking toward the goal; toward the finish line. He was like a plowman who put his hand to the plow and did not look back. When you plow a field, in order to keep your furrow straight, you have to find a pint of reference, a tree, a fence post, some fixed spot up ahead and keep heading toward that spot or your furrow will be crooked.

Jesus had his eyes fixed on a spot: Jerusalem. Again, Jerusalem is the location of his departure, his taking up. It is the place of his suffering, his rejection, his cross, and his ascension. He set his face “to go”. Literally means “to depart from.” But it includes the meaning of mission. It is “to go” but with a purpose; a mission. It also means to conduct one’s life in a certain way, to depart from a certain life style. And finally, “to go” is euphemistic for “death” by “departing from this life.”

These few simple words are packed full of meaning. In this verse we see Jesus turn his entire being toward his mission, his goal of suffering and dying in Jerusalem and departing from this world, its comforts, its pleasures, and it treasures with the purpose of dying on a cross and returning to his Father in heaven. He is to depart this world and this life. He is to suffer and die. And he was doing it for us!

That is the real key to this verse. Jesus knew exactly what was waiting him in Jerusalem. He knew, as he had already told his disciples, that he would be rejected and killed. He was well aware of the horrible suffering and humiliation that he was heading for. He was well aware of the beatings, the floggings, the crown of thorns, the agony of spirit, the pain of the nails, the shame of the cross, and the horrible death in the most excruciating form of execution ever invented by man.

Most of all he was keenly aware that even his Father in heaven would abandon him and forsake him on the cross. He knew that he would feel all the wrath of God on his shoulders. The condemnation and punishment of God’s anger would be upon him.

Yet, he set his face to go. He was steadfast. He was resolute. Nothing could deter him. Nothing could get in his way, because he was doing it out of love; love for us sinners. It was a saga of love. The greatest love a man can have is to give his life for his friend, and Jesus resolved to give his life for us.

It was on account of his love for mankind that he could not be deterred or swayed. His face was set to suffer and die. In the face of many temptations along the way he never once wavered or strayed from his path. He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness to abandon his mission and serve himself. He was tempted by his own disciples when Peter says to him, “Surely you shall not die.” He was tempted by the crowds when they did not want him to heal the blind man or receive the children. All along his way, Jesus was tempted to give up; to quit; to abandon his mission.

And here in our text this morning, we see another temptation. When Jesus sent disciples into the village to prepare for him to stay the night there, the villagers did not want him. They rejected him and told him not to come. We see Jesus’ own words come true. He had just told his disciples that he would be rejected. Now it is happening just as he said.

But it is not just a single village that would reject Jesus. The very people who should know better, the Jewish elders and priests rejected him. The scribes and Pharisees rejected him. His own disciple, Judas, rejected him. And in fact all humanity has rejected him. We are born enemies of God; despisers of God; and separated from God. By our sinful nature we reject Christ from birth. We are born in a state of rejection. Our world today rejects Jesus. Society and culture today have become secularized and materialistic. We love the things of this world rather than the things of God. We consider this our home; our family; our nation. We forget that our true citizenship is in God’s kingdom; that our true family is the redeemed of Christ; our true Father is God; and our true home is heaven. We are but strangers in this life. We are but homeless vagrants in this world because our home is in heaven.

Yet, we, like all others, forget and fall in love with the present world. We are idolaters worshiping the things made instead of the maker. We are adulterers, having a love affair with the world around us instead of loving the treasures of heaven. Instead of setting our eyes on Jerusalem, the eternal city in heaven, we set our eyes on earthly cities and nations. Instead of departing from our sinful ways and sinful life, we give in to temptation and remain sinners and rebellious, stiff=necked people.

Like the village, we reject Jesus in many ways. But Jesus came not to destroy us, but to save us. For this reason he set his eyes on Jerusalem to suffer and die for us. So when Satan tried to work through the disciples to derail his mission, Jesus remained resolute on account of his love for us. The disciples told Jesus, “Do you want us to call down fire from heaven on those foolish people who rejected you?” They were tempting him to forget the reason he came and to get even with the people. They were working for a different spirit from the Spirit of God.

But Jesus was firm in his commitment to save us. His eyes were resolutely set on Jerusalem. He would not stray from his course to save us. Not even to get vengeance. He rebuked his disciples and said, “You know not what manner of spirit you are of.” They were following the wrong spirit, not God’s Spirit. “For Jesus came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” He was resolute. His eyes were fixed on his cross. He put his hand to the plow and did not look back.

He was on his way to Jerusalem; to depart from this world. And he invites us to follow him. He had told his disciples, “If any man wants to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Follow him to where? To Jerusalem! To the cross. We must depart this life as he departs it to follow him to Jerusalem and be taken up.

So as he was going his way, a certain man came to him and said, “Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus told him that he therefore had to depart from this world, because that is where he was going. “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but I am homeless.” Homeless, because he was not of this world. His home was in heaven, not in this world. He place was not here. He did not belong here. He could not call this world his home. He could not call this kingdom his kingdom. To follow him we must depart from this world, become homeless in this place, and journey to where he is going; to the heavenly kingdom.

Another person came to Jesus and said: “I will follow you, but let me first go bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “If you are following me, then my Father must be your Father.” Your true Father is the Father in heaven. “Go” says Jesus, “depart.” This is the same word as the title of the book of Exodus. Go out from the world; take up your cross and follow me, proclaiming the kingdom of God. Here Jesus connects his cross and following him with proclaiming the Gospel. Evangelism, mission, preaching, teaching the Word of God all parts of departing this world and setting our eyes on Jerusalem, the eternal city of God. It is the essence of following Jesus to spread the Gospel for the forgiveness of sins. To follow Christ is to take the forgiveness of sins to all people, to all nations. This is the purpose and mission of the church of Christ; to forgive sins. “Whosoever sins you forgive on earth, they are forgiven in heaven,” says Jesus to his disciples. We are a holy nation; royal priests, given the power of the keys to forgive sins.

Still another came to Jesus and said, “I will follow you, but let me first go say ‘bye’ to my family.” But Jesus said, “No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus has come full circle. He started out by saying his eyes were set on Jerusalem, now, in a different metaphor he says our eyes must be fixed straight ahead on the goal, the kingdom of God. For to follow Jesus means to go where he has gone before us. It means to take up our cross as he did his. It means to proclaim the kingdom of God as he proclaimed it. It means to forgive sins as he forgave ours. It means to follow him out of this world and into the eternal blessedness of his kingdom, in the protection of the walls of his house where no tear or corruption or sorrow or sin shall ever enter. It means to join in the eternal song of the church with all the creatures of heaven.

And all of this because out of his love he determined to suffer the rejection, the humiliation and the agony of a cross so that we might be saved.

Amen.