Luke 9 Devotional

Resolved to Go to Jerusalem

“As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”Luke 9:51 (BSB)

Luke 9 turns on a single verse. As the time approaches for him to be taken up, Jesus sets his course for Jerusalem with firm resolve (9:51). He knows what waits there. He has already told his disciples he must suffer, be killed, and be raised (9:22). On the mountain, Moses and Elijah speak with him about the departure he is about to accomplish at Jerusalem (9:30-31). The cross will not take him by surprise. It is a road he chooses.

His disciples keep misunderstanding, arguing over who is greatest (9:46). When a Samaritan village refuses to welcome him, James and John offer to call down fire, and Jesus rebukes them and goes on (9:52-56). He meets rejection with patience, not fire. The voice from the cloud names him as God's chosen Son and tells the disciples to listen to him (9:35). Following him has a real cost (9:23), but he walked the harder road first, on purpose, for people like them. That is reason enough to keep listening to him.

To think about: What part of following Jesus feels most costly to you right now, and how does his own resolve to go to Jerusalem speak to it?