One of the most exciting things about going on a trip is the planning. When you’ll go, the route you’ll take, who you’ll visit, the places you will go to eat, and all the other fun things you’ll do during your trip.
A man went on a trip to Israel. He was about to enter the famous and impressive Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv to take in a concert by the famed Israel Philharmonic. The man stood, admiring the unique architecture, the sweeping lines of the entrance, and the modern decor throughout the building. Finally, he turned to the Israeli tour guide and asked if the building was named for Thomas Mann, the world-famous author.
“No” the tour guide responded, “It’s named for Fredric Mann, from Philadelphia.”
“Really? I never heard of him. What did he write?" asked the tourist.
“A check,” said the tour guide.
Jesus determined to go to Jerusalem – his time had come;
This would not be a pleasure trip, it would be purely business
Yeshua incorporates the “face” in his journey – Luke 9.51-56
Hebrew has many idioms with various body parts – head; hands; feet; etc.
English also uses the body parts for idioms: “Lend an ear”; “keep an eye out”; “lend a hand”;
I. Face Jerusalem
“Face” is incorporated in many Hebrew idioms:
• Hagar fled from face of Sarai Genesis 16.6, 8
• Jacob fled from the “face” of Esau – Genesis 35.1, 7
• Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh – Exodus 2.15
• Moses hid his face in fear – Exodus 3.6
• God can hide his face in anger – Deuteronomy 31.17-18; Jeremiah 33.5
• God sets his face against idolaters – Leviticus 20.3, 5, 6
• He can make his face shine upon (deal kindly with)someone – Numbers 6.25; Psalm 31.16
22The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23"Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24The LORD bless you and keep you; 25the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
27 "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them." Numbers 6.22-27
• He can turn his face away – 2 Chronicles 30.9
• God’s face – walked with the Hebrews – Exodus 33.15 (also used in Luke 9.53)
• “Angel of his face” is used of the “Angel of the Lord” – Isaiah 63.9
o English translates “Angel of his presence”
o “His Face” = The Lord
• Table of Showbread – Exodus 25.30; 1 Kings 7.48
o Bread of Presence
o Bread of the Face
o Table of the Face – Numbers 4.7
Yeshua set his face (Luke 9.51) = turn in the direction of
Also in 2 Kings 12.17; Daniel 11.17; Genesis 31.21
Some translations give this a more English flavor – NIV – “Jesus resolutely set out”; “He resolutely took the road” (JB); “He proceeded with a fixed purpose” (Weymouth)
Literally in Hebrew this verse would read: “And when the days of his ascension were fulfilled, and he put his face to go to Jerusalem” – In English – “When the time came for him to be taken up to heaven, he was headed for Jerusalem” – When the time came, Yeshua went;
NOT that he had a soul-searching time and then decided to go
II. Headed for Jerusalem In Spite of
A. Rejection (Samaritans)
Mother Teresea
“We have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy. But these drugs do not treat the main problem, the disease of being unwanted. That’s what my sisters hope to provide. The sick and poor suffer even more from rejection than material want. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” Yeshua dealt with rejected people – now he was facing it.
1. His previous encounter with the Samaritans was “successful” – John 4
2. This time he is not focused on them and they rejected him
Maybe racial
Maybe expectations
3. Others rejected him -- Luke 11:53-54
B. Misunderstanding (Disciples)
1. Anger and retaliation
Dale Carnegie tells about a visit to Yellowstone Park where he saw a grizzly bear. The huge animal was in the center of a clearing, feeding on some discarded camp food. For several minutes he feasted alone; no other creature dared draw near. After a few moments a skunk walked through the meadow toward the food and took his place next to the grizzly. The bear didn’t object and Carnegie knew why. "The grizzly," he said, "knew the high cost of getting even." [House of God p. 122]
2. Elijah had called fire from heaven
3. They had experienced great power – Luke 9.1-6
Ten years after World War II, a West German Christian met with some Christians from Warsaw, Poland. He wanted to know if it would be possible for a group of Christians from Germany to come to Poland to apologize for the brutality inflicted upon the Poles during the war.
The Polish Christians, to a man, refused to even consider such a meeting. "The wounds are still too fresh," one of the men said, with considerable pain in his voice. "Every stone in Warsaw is stained with Polish blood from a German bullet or bayonet.”
The German Christian accepted their answer, and asked, “Before I go, could we say the Lord’s prayer together?” and the agreed to his request.
They all began to recite the beautiful prayer found in Matthew 6, but when they got the part that says, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive…," there was silence.
No one could go on. Then, the Polish Christian who had been the most vehement in his rejection said, "This is difficult, but if I cannot begin to forgive, I cannot pray the prayer.”
A year later, the groups met. The healing had begun.
III. Headed for Jerusalem Because of
A. The Right Year – Passover/Unleavened Bread/First Fruits (Leviticus 23)
“They who come to Christ, do not only come to a resting-place after they have been wandering in a wilderness, but they come to a banqueting-house where they may rest, and where they may feast. They may cease from their former troubles and toils, and they may enter upon a course of delights and spiritual joys." JONATHAN EDWARDS
B. The Right Message
- The first ever vocal radio broadcast on December 24, 1906- Consisted of a reading from Luke chapter two.- A Canadian engineer and inventor, Reginald Fessenden - 1866-1932- The eldest son of an Anglican minister growing up near Niagara Falls
On Christmas Eve, 1906, from his workshop in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Fessenden sent the Morse message "CQ....CQ", alerting all ships at sea to expect an important transmission. When the telegraphers had assembled in their shipboard radio shacks, they heard the unimaginable: The sound of the human voice! . Fessenden, at this moment spoke for the first ever a vocal radio broadcast. He read from Lk. 2 including, "Glory to God in the highest -and on earth peace to men of good will," then played the song O Holy Night on the violin.
Those who were listening that night were no less stunned than if a tree had talked to them. Earphones that had only ever carried Morse code were communicating the full range of sound.
Note an alternative reading:
55 But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village. Luke 9.55-56 (NASB)
Cf. Luke 19.10
C. The Right Purpose
William H. Hinson tells us why animal trainers carry a stool when they go into a cage of lions. They have their whips, of course, and their pistols are at their sides. But invariably they also carry a stool. Hinson says it is the most important tool of the trainer. He holds the stool by the back and thrusts the legs toward the face of the wild animal. Those who know maintain that the animal tries to focus on all four legs at once. In the attempt to focus on all four, a kind of paralysis overwhelms the animal, and it becomes tame, weak, and disabled because its attention is fragmented. (Autoillustrator.com, PRIORITIES/FOCUS/PURPOSE/PERSPECTIVE, Developing the Leader Within You, by John Maxwell)
Father’s Will
Redemption of Israel – and the world
Defeat of Death
Determination and Direction
My favorite sports quotations, though, come from Yogi Berra:
"Nobody goes to that restaurant any more -- it's too crowded."
"If people don't want to come out to the ball park, nobody's going to stop them."
Someone asked Yogi what time it was; he said, "You mean now?"
Yogi was asked his philosophy of life:" When you get to a fork in the road, take it."
"I don't want to make the wrong mistake."
"You can see a lot by watching."
"If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else."
There's actually a lot of truth in some of those statements. Spiritually speaking, if we don't know where we're going, we truly will end up somewhere else! It's important to have a goal, and to keep our eyes set on that goal. If we just spend our lives drifting spiritually "hoping" that we'll end up where we want to be, we're just deceiving ourselves. Notice the determination in Paul's voice:
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind...." (Philippians 3:13-15)
U.S. Senator Sam Nunn once said, “You have to pay the price. You will find that everything in life exacts a price, and you have to decide whether the price is worth the prize.” The cross was a huge price for Jesus to pay. He endured it for the joy set before him. To Him we’re worth it. When it comes to your following Christ, how much will you put up with? What are you willing to endure? What are you willing to sacrifice?
