We Just Have to Move On

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a 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 they went on to another village.” (Luke 9:51-56 ESV)

I am not a biblical historian, so please pardon me if I am lacking in knowledge and understanding of all the historical part of this. For I don’t know the timeframe between the events mentioned here and the time in which Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for the sins of the people of the world. But there is a lot that happened between this incident and his crucifixion and his resurrection and his ascension back to heaven, which is written about in Luke, chapters 22-24. And so you can read about it there.

So, the time was drawing near for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, so this means that the time was drawing near for his crucifixion on a cross whereby he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. For in his death he put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, we might be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

[2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-24]

Now, when it says here that Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem, it was evidently similar or exact in nature as Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 50:7: “But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know I shall not be put to shame.” And the meaning of to set one’s face like a flint is to be fully convinced and determined and resolved and courageous against all opposition and to not let any opposition dissuade us from obeying the Lord, doing what he says.

And for Jesus Christ to go to Jerusalem, knowing that he was going to be put to death on a cross, and that he was going to take upon himself the sins of the entire world, he had to “set his face like a flint” and to be fully determined and resolved that this must take place. And when we follow Jesus with our lives, and when we do what he says to do, we are going to be opposed, too, and others will hate and reject and persecute us, but we have to set our faces like flint, too, so that we are able to endure the opposition.

Now, evidently Jesus had to go through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem, as it was the most direct route to get there. But the Samaritans did not like the Jews, for the Jews rejected the Samaritans because the Samaritans were a mixed race of Jew and Gentile, and so they were regarded as unclean. But Jesus had no issues with going through Samaria, for at some point in his ministry he spent a great deal of time there talking with a woman at a well. And she told her people, and many of them believed in Jesus Christ.

But historically speaking, I don’t know where that situation occurred in relationship with this one, but in this situation the Samaritans rejected Jesus and would not allow him to stay in Samaria, because they knew he was going to Jerusalem to the temple of God. And many people will not receive us, either, if our hearts and minds are set toward following God’s will for our lives with that same determination as what Jesus had. And many of those who reject us may be people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, too.

For when we think about who Jesus’ primary opponents were and who ultimately were those who arranged for him to be put to death on that cross, they were the rulers in the temple of God and in the synagogues, and they were the Jews and the religious zealots among the Jews who found Jesus to be offensive to them and who did not like him, and so they worked hard at opposing him and at trying to lay traps for him to fall into with his words. So we should not be surprised if other professing Christians oppose us, too.

Now James and John were ready to call down fire upon those who rejected Jesus and who did not receive him for who he was, but Jesus rebuked them for that. And we are taught in the Scriptures that we are to rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus and for the sake of his gospel and for the sake of righteousness. And we are instructed to love our enemies, to pray for them, to do good to them, and to wish them well and to do and say what will be beneficial for them (Luke 6:27-36).

And then what happened next? They went on to another village. They moved on. And that is what we have to do, too, when other people reject us and when they will not receive us for who God made us to be and for what God has called us to do. For we cannot make other people be who we want them to be. We have to make our choices, and they have to make theirs, and if one of their choices is to not receive us for who we are, but to send us away, or to exclude us, or to shut us out, then we just have to move on.

We have to set our faces like flint and be determined to keep following our Lord in obedience regardless of how we are received or not received by other people, including by others who profess to be Christians. We are not to get even with them, but we are to love, forgive, pray for them, and do good to them despite how they treat us in return. But we may have to accept that they are not going to accept us for who we are and so they are not going to be a part of who we are and what we do, and we have to be okay with that.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

His Tender Mercies 

An Original Work / January 26, 2014

Fear not! I’m with you.

Be not dismayed!

God watches o’er you.

Trust Him today.

He’ll lead and guide you;

Give you His aid.

He’ll love and keep you

With Him always.

Walk in His footsteps.

He’ll lead the way.

Trust in His love;

Believe that He cares.

He will not leave you.

Faithful He’ll be.

His tender mercies

Now you will see.

Fellowship with Him

Throughout the day.

Tell Him your heartaches.

He’ll heal always.

Rest in His comfort.

He is your friend.

Your faith He’ll strengthen,

True to the end.

https://vimeo.com/379513308