Set His Face to Go to Jerusalem

In one paragraph

This message walked through Luke 9:37-51, a passage that shows the disciples repeatedly stumbling while Jesus moves with growing resolve toward Jerusalem. Pastor Mark traced the contrast between human failure and divine purpose, ending at the moment Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem and what that cost him. The sermon opened at the foot of the mountain, the morning after the transfiguration....

Read together

1. Luke 9:37-50 main passage covered in the sermon
2. Luke 9:51 the turning point verse about Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem
3. Matthew 18:15 mentioned as the Matthew 18 principle about winning your brother, noted as a separate teaching moment to cover later
4. Isaiah 46 referenced alongside Numbers 11 as background for the phrase 'as for you, let these words sink into your ears'
5. Numbers 11 referenced alongside Isaiah 46 for the phrase 'as for you, let these words sink into your ears'
6. Isaiah 42 identified as a suffering servant passage
7. Isaiah 50 the suffering servant passage containing 'I have set my face like flint', which Pastor sees as the image behind Luke 9:51
8. Isaiah 53 referenced as the suffering servant passage that clearly points to the cross
9. Isaiah 61 mentioned as an additional suffering servant passage
10. Psalm 51 David's prayer used as the closing benediction, specifically 'restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit'

Talk about it

1. The pastor talked about the father who cried out, 'I do believe, but help me with my unbelief.' Have you ever found yourself in that same place, genuinely trusting God but struggling with doubt at the same time? What was that like?
2. When the disciples could not cast out the demon, Jesus said, 'You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you?' What do you think it looks like in our own lives when we have seen God work and still fail to trust Him in the next hard moment?
3. The disciples were afraid to ask Jesus about what He meant when He said He would be handed over to men. The pastor said we should not be afraid to bring our confusion and hard questions to God. What keeps people from doing that, and what has helped you push past that hesitation?
4. Jesus used a child as a visual aid to answer the disciples' argument about who was the greatest, telling them that whoever receives a child in His name receives Him. Where do you see the church today doing well at valuing 'the least of these,' and where do you think we still have room to grow?
5. The pastor read from Isaiah 50, where the suffering servant says, 'I have set my face like flint,' and connected it to Luke 9:51 where Jesus resolutely set His face toward Jerusalem. What does it mean practically for followers of Jesus to embrace suffering as part of the way, rather than something to be avoided?