Sunday, in an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about touring Italy, someone from Florence was quoted as saying, “The trouble with you Americans is that you think the best way to get from point A to point B is a straight line. For Italians, the journey is the destination.” As an American Geometry teacher who has recently been lost in Italy, I’m ready to adopt the Italian mindset.
“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51) But Jesus traveled in anything but a straight line. Find a map of his ministry, read the rest of Luke, and notice the winding road Jesus took to Jerusalem. He went through little towns and villages. He climbed mountains and crossed lakes. When his disciples learned that a certain village in Samaria would not welcome their Master because he was going to Jerusalem, two asked if they could “call down fire from heaven to destroy them.” James and John must have believed in a “straight-line, scorched-earth” approach, but Jesus rebuked them for such thinking and simply went to another village.
So what does “resolutely” mean? Another translation says “…he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Jesus knew his purpose on earth; he came to save all men. He came to be the sacrifice that would please a holy God. He came to accomplish the will of the Father… and that meant going to Jerusalem. But on his way, Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and called the lost sheep of Israel to repentance. He taught about his Father, he hung out with the poor, and he ate in the homes of sinners. He told stories with hidden meanings, he proclaimed the Kingdom of God, and he helped his followers catch fish. At times, a bystander might have thought Jesus had forgotten about Jerusalem, but those closest to him knew differently. When Peter tried to tell Jesus to quit talking about the horrible things he was predicting would happen, Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of man.”
While you won’t find a straight line from Luke 9 to Calvary, you will find a resolute Savior. So how do I walk in his steps? I’ve got to have in mind the things of God and not the things of man! “To know Christ…” is our goal and we must steadfastly keep our eyes fixed on him. Jesus kept his focus by staying in constant communion with his Father and he had joy in the journey. So it will be for all who stay in constant communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
“God is the source of all joy and if we come into contact with Him, His infinite joy comes into our lives. Would you like to be a radiant Christian? You may be. Spend time in prayer. You cannot be a radiant Christian in any other way. Why is it that prayer in the Name of Christ makes one radiantly happy? It is because prayer makes God real. The gladdest thing upon earth is to have a real God! I would rather give up everything I have in the world, or anything I ever may have, than give up my faith in God. You cannot have vital faith in God if you give all your time to the world and to secular affairs, to reading the newspaper and to reading literature, no matter how good it is. Unless you take time for fellowship with God, you cannot have a real God. If you do take time for prayer you will have a real, living God, and if you have a living God you will have a radiant life.” (R.A. Torrey from “Springs in the Valley”)
“After he had dismissed the crowd, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.” Matt. 14:23
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35