Jesus' Laser Beam Focus FOR YOU

Jesus Sets His Face Toward Jerusalem to Save Sinners

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel.

According to St. Luke, the ninth chapter. When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem. And He sent messengers ahead of Him who went and entered the village of the Samaritans to make preparations for Him.

But the people did not receive Him, because His face was set toward Jerusalem. 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 then they went on to another village. And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, I will follow You wherever You go. Jesus said to him, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.

To another He said, follow Me. But he said, Lord, let me go and bury my father. And He said, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another said, I will follow You, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.

And 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 the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. It says in our gospel text, the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, and He set His face to go to Jerusalem.

It's an interesting phrase. Set your face. It's like you've got a laser beam focus on something. I think of it this way. I remember some of the posters. Historically, I love studying American history.

The posters that were put out to raise war bonds after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. One in particular really kind of stands out in my mind. And it's a picture of Uncle Sam. A painting of Uncle Sam.

Kind of like Rockefeller style. And he's got his American vest thingy going on. Red, white, and blue and stars. But he's rolling up his sleeves and he's got this look on his face like you're going to get it.

And that's kind of the point. He set his face. He's about to go clobber somebody. America's about ready to stand up and defend her liberty. We will not be enslaved again by any other force. And if you're going to attack us and declare war on us, we will do everything that we can to defend our freedom.

We are focused on defending that freedom. And so that picture of Uncle Sam comes to my mind as Jesus here has set His face towards Jerusalem. He's getting ready to roll up His sleeves for battle. But the thing is, it's not the battle that He has in mind.

It's the goal of the battle. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. He came to set us free from the dominion of darkness. As the divine author of Hebrews says it, that we are to look to Jesus who is the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.

And He is seated now at the right hand of the throne of God. In other words, think of it this way. Jesus in our text has set His face to go to Jerusalem because of the joy set before Him in forgiving you, of pardoning you, of bleeding and dying for you so that you can be reconciled to God the Father.

So that we can be set free from the dominion of darkness. Not face the consequences of our sin, but instead be forgiven. But having His set face towards Jerusalem, well, this is going to cause a little bit of problem.

Especially since heading towards Jerusalem, the quickest route for Him to travel from Galilee to Jerusalem would take Him through what is now today the West Bank of Israel. But in Jesus' day, that's the land of the Samaritans in Samaria.

And Samaritans and Jews don't get along. I don't know if you know this. You know, you can kind of see that. In fact, the big kerfuffle was over where should one worship? Well, after the tearing apart of the kingdom of Israel back in the days after Solomon's death, the northern kingdom went into idolatry in an extreme way and ended up setting up their own temple on the top of Mount Gerizim, which is near modern day Nablus today.

Sychar is there, the well of Jacob is there, and the tomb of Joseph. This is where they deposited the bones of Joseph after the exodus and they came into the promised land. It's an interesting area. But over and again, the question was, where are you supposed to worship?

And even that woman at the well at Sychar tried to draw Jesus into the fight, if you would. You know, yeah, the Jews say you have to worship in Jerusalem, but we worship over here. What do you say, Jesus?

And Jesus' response was, a day is coming when you will worship God neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. But God is calling those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. But the fact is that in our text, the divide between the Samaritans and the Jews is quite evident because Jesus sent messengers on ahead of Him who went and entered a village of the Samaritans in order to make preparations for Him.

He wanted to stay the night. They needed meals and stuff like that. However, the people did not receive Him. The reason why they did not receive Him is because His face was set toward Jerusalem. So when His disciples James and John saw it, they came up with this great idea.

Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? I love the fact that over and again the disciples and their strange, bizarre, sinful ideas get highlighted here because if they can be forgiven, then I think that there's hope for me.

I might even be able to be forgiven as well. And so you'll note fire coming down from heaven is God's judgment. The idea of fire coming down from heaven, that's kind of a rarity in scripture. And the New Testament is clear.

When it comes to Sodom and Gomorrah, the judgment that they faced was a type in shadow of the eternal fires of hell for those who persist in sin and unbelief. But there was another instance, and it's in the book of 1 Kings, where fire came down from heaven.

But it's important to note this, that when that fire came down from heaven, it did not consume the false prophets of Baal. It consumed the sacrifice of Elijah, which is a very different thing altogether.

And so the thing is that God is not in the business here of calling down fire to come down and to consume those who are rejecting Jesus. No, Jesus is heading to the cross so that He can be consumed in the fires of God, in His wrath, so that we would not perish eternally.

And so Jesus is not in the business. That's something down the road coming at the end of time when judgment will be handed out in that way. But in the present text we have before us, Christ is not there to go and call down fire from heaven.

Instead, He's to go to the cross to bleed and to die for them, so that those who rejected Him could be forgiven. And this is going to bite us a little bit here, because over and again we oftentimes think about, well, that group, or those people, or them, or whatever.

And you can usually kind of lay it out like this. Well, those group of people from California, we all know how crazy they are. It's easy to pick on Californians. I'm formerly from there. I've repented of it.

But we can also say, well, what about that ethnic group? Or how about those people who watch that news channel? You know, over and again we want to somehow divide ourselves along these lines, but Jesus' rebuke of His disciples reminds us that there isn't a single person that we can point to anywhere on the planet that Christ has not bled and died for, whom He does not love, whom He desires their repentance, and for them to be reconciled to the Father.

And so that rebuke to Jesus' disciples in this text falls now to us, and we should pay close attention. And it's in this context that the fire coming down from heaven, I want to weave in portions of Elijah's story from 1 Kings 19, because I think it helps kind of flesh out some of the themes of what's going on in our Gospel text.

And so looking back now at 1 Kings 19, we'll go back a little bit into the context and remind you that 19 is the immediate aftermath of the showdown between Elijah on Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal.

That God Himself is basically to open up the eyes of the people of Israel that Baal doesn't exist. He's not a real God. He doesn't bring the rain, despite all of the plausible-sounding arguments of those who buy into the religion of Baal.

And so God told Elijah, it's not going to rain until you say so. He announced it and said, it's not going to rain until I say so. And then He went hiding. He disappeared for three years. And you can tell from this text and the aftermath that this has taken some kind of a psychological toll on him.

One where you would think that after winning the Super Bowl of Religion, because that's kind of how that was on Mount Carmel, God answered his prayer by fire, that he would be ready to go on tour, sign autographs, maybe get a book deal.

Elijah, you just defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. What are you going to do next? I'm going to Disneyland! It wasn't anything like that at all. And you'll note that having the prophets of Baal shown to be the con men that they were, the flim-flam that they were, well Jezebel is not repenting.

And so what we see in 1 Kings 19 goes something like this. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with a sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods, plural, she's still an idolater, do to me and more also if I don't make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.

Well, you'll note there's a vow there that well, she didn't keep it because Elijah skedaddled. So Elijah was afraid, he arose and ran for his life, came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

So he's heading south rather quickly. And he's terrified. Three years of being in hiding, you've got to think about this. For the first part of his time that he was disappeared, he stood, he lived in the brook, near a brook called Kerith and the ravens fed him.

And eventually that dried up and he ended up having to go and live with a widow. And he was outside of Israel and so he had to be careful where he showed his face. Oftentimes he was indoors. And they were King Ahab and Jezebel were searching diligently for him everywhere and nobody found him.

So now that Jezebel is basically saying you're a dead man, he's done. He's just done. So he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. And you'll note that the travel back is going to hearken to Israel's wilderness wanderings itself.

It's almost like the movie, not the movie but the book, The Wild Things where Max goes across the sea in and out of weeks and through a day and a year and travels back. And then when he goes back he travels exactly in reverse.

And it's kind of like that. And all the themes are hearkening to it. But I would argue he's heading the wrong way. You can't go back to Mount Sinai in this way. And so it's fascinating because everything's kind of backwards and wrong and it's all because of his fear and his anxiety.

So he went a day's journey into the wilderness and he asked God that he might die. And he said it's enough now O Lord. Take away my life for I am no better than my father's. And you can just see it's just taken its toll.

Lord kill me. Just kill me. So he lay down and he slept under a broom tree. And behold an angel touched him and said to him arise and eat. And he looked and behold there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water.

And he ate and he drank and he lay down again. So you know he's being miraculously fed in the wilderness. And so the angel of the Lord, now Jesus comes, comes a second time and touched him and said rise and eat for the journey is too great for you.

And indeed it is. It's too great for any of us. At least in the way it is meant here. So he arose and he ate and he drank. And then he went in the strength of that food. The Lord sustained him on his journey back to Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb, the Mount of God.

And so there he came to a cave and he lodged in it. And behold the word of the Lord came to him and he said to him what are you doing here Elijah? Why are you here? Now do you think God needs to know the answer to this question?

He's like scratching his head going what is this? Why are you here? No, there's more to it than that. God knows exactly why he's here. But watch what Elijah does. He now lays out his petition. Why are you here?

He said well I've been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of armies. A little bit of an implied you know we need some muscle here Lord. Things are really, really, really bad is the gist of what he's getting at.

And by invoking Yahweh's Sabaoth he's implying that he's expecting God to kind of show some power, some strength, some muscle here. I don't know if you've noticed Lord but yeah we had the big Super Bowl win but you know the day after we're against the ropes.

So I've been very jealous for the Lord, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, they've thrown down your altars, they've killed your prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away.

Alright. Now a little bit of a note here. Have you ever heard of the Elijah complex? It's an actual thing. It really is. You can look it up. So the Elijah complex is kind of the psychological disorder where somehow you think you're the last person who believes the truth.

Everybody else is totally wrong. You're the only guy who's got it right kind of thing. It's a psychological disorder. And so you'll note here it looks like and I'll just put it out there that it's possible that here Elijah is suffering from the Elijah complex.

Now the question is and this is kind of an interesting exegetical one. I don't have a satisfactory answer. Is he really the last one or not? Is he the last of the prophets? Is he the last one to believe in the Lord?

Is he really? Well he thinks he is and it's got him quite concerned and very anxious. So the Lord answered him and said alright I want you to go and stand on the mount before Yahweh. So behold Yahweh passed by and this kind of invokes even when Yahweh passed by and had his glory passed by while Moses was there and he's in a cave.

You'll note that similarly hidden in a cleft of a rock per se. So go and stand on the mount before Yahweh. And so behold Yahweh passed by in a great and strong wind tore the mountains broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord.

Alright here's some muscle. Yeah! But the Lord was not in the wind. And after that an earthquake. The Lord was not in the earthquake. After that a fire. And this is where earth wind and fire came from.

I just want you to know.

I had to do that. Okay.

So the Lord wasn't in the fire. And after the fire and you know earthquake, wind, fire, crashing of the rocks, all power muscle. The Lord's not in any of that. Instead after the fire there was a low a rejectable whisper.

A voice you had to strain to hear. But when Elijah heard it he wrapped his face in his cloak. Can't see the face of God and live. Wrapped his face in his cloak went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And behold there came a voice to him and said what are you doing here Elijah? Notice it says a voice came to him because he's got his face wrapped up right. So he has to record it this way because he didn't see where the voice was coming from.

So he said I have been very jealous for Yahweh the God of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant thrown down your altars killed your prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away.

You know what God does next? He fires Elijah. You're done. You're done. I'm going to give you a couple of things you need to do. Grab that box. Get all that stuff out of your desk. Take your portraits down.

Get rid of that ugly piece of artwork on the wall. I never liked it anyway. You're done. But before you hand in your keys I want you to do a couple of things. I want you to go to return to the wilderness of Damascus when you arrive you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.

Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Mehaloah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. So you've got to train your replacement but you're done.

That's it. I'm giving you your pink slip. I expect you to have this all worked out and these are the last bits of your assignment. You're going to note here that if you pay attention to the details he asked that God would kill him.

God didn't even answer that prayer. Elijah never died. It's kind of fascinating when you put all the pieces together you sit there and go what does all this mean? Well the thing is that Elijah like all of us he utterly failed in so many ways.

It was true that he's just as sinful as his father. He deserved death. But this was clearly way over Elijah's head. He couldn't really truly accomplish the task that needed to be accomplished here. But then again nobody could until Jesus showed up.

And so Jesus the task wasn't too difficult for him and although they sought his life rather than run to Horeb Jesus goes the right direction. He sets his face towards Jerusalem. They want to kill me? Oh may the gods do to me ever this and more.

If by this time tomorrow you're not dead Jesus rock on let's do this. And Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem and it's not too difficult for him. And rather than fleeing it rather than fleeing death Christ runs to it and joins the battle because of the joy set before him to save you and me.

And then note here the last bit of this. God says and by the way the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael Jehu shall put to death. Jehu's the fellow who put Jezebel to death. Fed her body to the dogs.

She didn't get a Christian burial in any sense of the word. And the one who escapes the sword of Jehu Elisha will put to death. Seems like an interesting thing for a prophet to do but there it is. And yet and then God answers this last bit.

Yet I will leave 7 ,000 in Israel. And the way the Hebrew works here it can be translated differently than this. And so when you check the different translations this is where the question is. Has God already left 7 ,000 for himself in Israel who have not bent the knee to Baal or is he giving a positive answer to Elijah's request?

Either way God knew ahead of time. Listen. I'm in charge of this and although there are lots and lots of people in the northern kingdom and in Samaria yet I have reserved for myself 7 ,000 who have not bent the knees to Baal.

God's quite subversive in this way. He will always leave himself a remnant in every mouth that has not kissed him. And so it is. So Elisha goes and throws his cloak on Elisha and this fellow doesn't turn back.

He goes right after it. In fact talk about a barbecue. I mean he literally slaughtered sacrificed all of his oxen and gave the meat to all of his neighbors and followed Elijah. Finished his training so to speak.

Following Jesus Means Discomfort, Not Ease

So all of that being said coming back then to our gospel text Jesus is not like Elijah. He doesn't fail. He doesn't get fired. He actually goes to his death so that we can be forgiven. And as he's on his way you'll note that this next group of people for one reason or another they think that following Jesus should be a simple easy thing to do.

That there's nothing that you're going to lose as a result of that. And Jesus' basic message is following me is going to be uncomfortable. Uncomfortable. And if you don't want to be discomforted yeah well then following me doesn't make any sense.

So as they were going on the road someone said to Jesus I'll follow you wherever you go. Jesus is like yeah right. Okay so foxes have holes. Birds of the air have nests. But the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

You sure you're going to want to do that? Doesn't say the guy followed him. Right? So another he said follow me. And he said well Lord let me go first bury my father. And Jesus said to him leave the dead to bury their own dead.

But as for you you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Doesn't say he followed Jesus either. Yet another said I'll follow you Lord but let me first say farewell to those at my home. Jesus said no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

A little bit of a note here. I've kind of learned from some of the all that back in the day that when you plow you got to plow straight. And you're never going to plow straight while doing this. You know.

Those furrows are going to be all over the place. And that's kind of the point. And so you'll note then that although this is just too much for us the discomfort of being a Christian is such a disincentive that often times we make decisions contrary to the way in which Christ is said to follow him.

And like Elijah we too deserve to be fired. You know over and over again I hear the words of Tuck and Roll. You fired! You fired! You know. And that's what we deserve. But then again rather than calling down fire from heaven and consuming us in all of the ways in which we have fallen short.

All of the ways in which we have bucked against the call of God to follow Christ. Rather than consuming us Christ was consumed for us. So consider that then. That Jesus here has set his face towards Jerusalem to save you.

To save me. To redeem us and to forgive us and not give us what we deserve. And yet over and again we fall short. So many times daily we fall short. But let us take comfort then that Christ has taught us to pray forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Because in him is mercy, forgiveness and life. Because rather than go back to Mount Sinai he went to Mount Zion to Mount Moriah and bled and died and was consumed in the wrath of God so that we can live and not be rebuked by him on the day when he returns in judgment to judge the living and the dead.

In the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Oslo Minnesota 567 -44. We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message. And again, thank you for listening.