In Luke 9, Jesus “set his face” to go to Jerusalem. That wasn’t just a physical destination, however. Jesus had a clear, guiding sense of purpose. When he “set his face” he chose definitively to go to the place where he would suffer and die. Jesus lived with purpose. Do you?
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
As I was reading along in Luke 9, a phrase in verse 51 grabbed my attention. It was not the phrase “to be taken up,” though this is a curious way to refer to what would happen in the last days of Jesus’s life on earth, including his ascension. The phrase that stood out to me was “he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
This expression in the Greek original of Luke represents a Hebrew idiom that literally meant “to position one’s face in a certain way.” That saying had a literal, directional sense, as in Genesis 31:21, where it says that Jacob “set his face toward the hill country of Gilead” because that was his destination. But this expression also conveyed a sense of purpose or resolve. Jacob was not just traveling accidentally in the direction of Gilead. He was going there intentionally and with purpose.
Thus, in Luke 9:51, we learn that Jesus was heading to Jerusalem. Though he had focused his messianic work in Galilee for a season, the time had come for him to minister in Jerusalem But, as in the case of Jacob in Genesis 31, Jesus was not merely heading in the direction of Jerusalem. Rather, he was going there quite intentionally in order to preach the good news of the kingdom of God in that center of Jewish cultural and religious life. Moreover, Jesus knew that in Jerusalem he would “undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Luke 9:22). His prophetic vision was matched by a deep sense of purpose. He knew that he must undergo what would happen to him in Jerusalem. It was an essential element of his messianic work. So, as we read in The Message version of Luke 9:51, Jesus “gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem.”
The question I want to ask you is this: Have you set your face? Do you have a strong sense of direction, not so much for your travel as for your life? Is your life guided by a deep, abiding purpose that motivates you and sustains you?
De Pree Centers Tod Bolsinger has recently published a book called Tempered Resilience. Though he does not use the phrase “set one’s face,” Tod frequently mentions the critical importance of purpose for leaders who seek to be resilient. For example, he explains that “the sense of calling or purpose is critical to leadership resilience in both Christian formation and organizational leadership literature.” Yet it’s not just any purpose that matters. “Christian leadership that flows from the center of our being,” Tod writes, “must begin in aligning our motivations with the purposes of God.” This is true, not just for acknowledged leaders, but for all Christians. “To be a Christian,” according to Tod, “is to be personally engaged in and have as one’s life purpose the mission of Jesus Christ.”
As we “set our face” in the direction of Christ’s mission, our particular paths will be distinctive. Some of us, like me, for example, will exercise our purpose as pastors and parents. Others will live with purpose as inventors, painters, technology specialists, managers, entrepreneurs, teachers, carpenters, grandparents, Sunday school teachers, and the list goes on. No matter what we do each day, no matter our particular callings, we are all called to the mission of Jesus Christ. May God give us the grace to “set our face” in this direction.
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