Welcome to Day 2904 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.
Day 2904– “The Ultimate Close Encounter” based on Luke 9:51-62
Putnam Church Message – 06/14/2026
The Good News According to Luke: “Snapshots From An Amazing Album.”
Last week’s message was “Snapshots From An Amazing Album,” in which we studied four snapshots from Christ's ministry.
Today, we continue with our twenty-eighth message from Luke’s narrative of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Today’s message is: “A Face Like Flint.” Our core passage today is Luke 9:51-62, on page 1611 of your pew Bibles.
Samaritan Opposition
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Opening Prayer
Father, we come before You today grateful for the steady, determined love of Jesus Christ. We confess that our hearts are often divided. We are distracted by comfort, delayed by excuses, wounded by rejection, and tempted to look back when You call us forward.
Lord Jesus, as we watch You set Your face toward Jerusalem, help us see the depth of Your love and the seriousness of Your mission. Teach us what it means to follow You with unreserved sacrifice,>undivided devotion,> and unwavering commitment. Give us courage to press on. Give us grace to forgive. Give us faith to follow.
May Your Word shape our hearts today. Amen.
Introduction: The Finish Line in View
The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles gave us one of the most unforgettable marathon moments in Olympic history.
Gabriela Andersen-Schiess entered the stadium near the end of the women’s marathon, but something was terribly wrong. Heat exhaustion and dehydration had taken hold of her body. Her legs were stiff. Her movements were uneven. Her body looked like it might collapse at any step.
Doctors moved toward her, but she waved them off because if they helped her, she would be disqualified. She had already run more than twenty-six miles. Only a few hundred meters remained.
So she kept moving. / Step by painful step. / Lean, stagger, recover. / Another step. / Another step. / Another step.
For nearly six agonizing minutes, she willed herself forward until she crossed the finish line and collapsed into medical care.
What stayed with people was not that she won the race. She did not. What stayed with people was her determination. The finish line had become her single focus. She had come too far to quit.
In Luke 9:51, Luke brings us to a major turning point in his Gospel. Jesus has healed the sick, calmed the storm, cast out demons, raised the dead, fed the multitudes, revealed His glory on the mountain, and taught His disciples what the Kingdom of God is like. / But now the story turns.
Luke says, “As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”
That phrase — “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem,” — is powerful. It draws from the Old Testament image in Isaiah 50:7, where the Servant of the Lord says, “I have set my face like flint.”
Flint is a hard stone. It does not bend easily. It is not soft clay. It is firm, sharp, and unyielding.
Jesus set His face like flint toward Jerusalem. / Why Jerusalem?
- Because Jerusalem was where betrayal waited.
- Jerusalem was where rejection waited.
- Jerusalem was where false trials waited.
- Jerusalem was where the cross waited.
- Jerusalem was where the tomb waited.
- But Jerusalem was also where resurrection would break the power of death.
- Jerusalem was where salvation would be accomplished.
From this point forward in Luke’s Gospel, the cross is always in the background. Every conversation, every parable, every miracle, every encounter is moving Jesus closer to the place where He will give His life for the sins of the world.
The theme of this passage is simple| but demanding:
Jesus pressed on toward the cross, and He calls His followers to press on after Him. Here are the four truths that we can glean from today’s passage, as found in your bulletin insert on the side ‘A Face Like Flint.’
Main Point 1: Jesus Set His Face Toward the Father’s Mission
Luke tells us that the time was approaching for Jesus to be taken up. That points beyond the cross, beyond the grave, beyond the resurrection, all the way to His ascension. Jesus knew the whole journey.
- He was not stumbling into Jerusalem unaware.
- He was not trapped by circumstances.
- He was not surprised by the hostility waiting there.
- He was not swept along by political events beyond His control.
- Jesus knew where He was going.
- And He went anyway.
- That is love.
In the previous message, “Snapshots From An Amazing Album,” we saw Jesus tell His disciples again that He would be handed over into the hands of men. They did not understand. They were afraid to ask. But Jesus understood fully. He knew the cost before He paid it. / Now, He begins the journey.
This is the beginning of what many Bible students call Luke’s “travel section.” From Luke 9:51 through much of chapter 19, Jesus is moving toward Jerusalem. Luke will remind us again and again that Jesus is on the way.
- He is not
- He is not
- He is not
- He is pressing on.
Ancient Context: The Servant With a Flint Face
Isaiah 50 gives us the background. The Servant of the Lord says He gave His back to those who struck Him, / His cheeks to those who pulled out His beard, / and His face to humiliation and spitting. Then He says, “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone.”
That is the spirit of Luke 9:51.
Jesus knew humiliation was coming. / He knew suffering was coming. / He knew the cross was coming. / Yet He set His face like flint.
This is not stubbornness. Stubbornness can be foolish. This is holy resolve. This is obedience anchored in the Father’s will.
Object Lesson: Flint and Clay
Hold two objects: a piece of soft clay and a slate.
Clay can be pressed, shaped, bent, and changed by almost any outside force. But flint is firm. It holds its edge.
