Luke 9:51-62 (NRSV)
Read Luke 9:51-62 on biblegateway.com
Verse 51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Verse 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; Verse 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. Verse 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" Verse 55But he turned and rebuked them. Verse 56Then they went on to another village.
Verse 57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Verse 58And 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." Verse 59To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Verse 60But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Verse 61Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Verse 62Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Devotion
Twice Luke says that Jesus “set his face towards Jerusalem.” Have you ever watched a person set their will on a goal? Typically it shows in the face – the jaw firms, the brow furrows, the eyes focus. Thus Jesus has set his face, directing all that he is and does towards Jerusalem with new urgency. We see hints of rejection and suffering to come. Moreover, he warns the disciples that following him will be an all-or-nothing kind of life. They will give up many things, important things, to take up their lives with him. Yet they also will receive something unimaginable and new in Jerusalem on that first Easter when Jesus is raised, and later on Pentecost, when they receive the Holy Spirit.
In the same way, through baptism, Jesus calls us away from many things. Yet he gives us something unimaginable: new life in him and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, give us the faith to follow you, wherever you lead. Amen.