Luke 9:51 – Like A Rock! – Bible study

Luke 9:51 Like A Rock! Perhaps some of you recognize that slogan. It was Chevys slogan for many years. However, it is also true of Jesus. In fact, Jesus is not just like a rock, He is THE Rock. But there is an Old Testament prophecy of Jesus that is fulfilled in our text. The text is found in Isaiah 50, the great Old Testament prophecy chapter on the crucifixion. There Jesus Himself wrote of His own cruel death and described some of the events that would take place before it, during it, and after it. Isa 50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Notice the phrase, "therefore have I set my face like a flint." A flint is rock. In Isaiah, Jesus prophesied of this day by saying, I have set my face like a rock. Here in Luke, Luke wrote of Jesus, "he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem." How steadfast was Jesus? He was steadfast "like a rock," that is, Jesus was absolutely determined and could not be stopped from going to Jerusalem. In two Sundays, we will celebrate Easter or the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Before Jesus could rise from the dead, He had to die. Before Jesus could die, He had to go to Jerusalem. This verse started that procession of events. Would you allow me to guide you along a journey that our Savior took? Let me share three things. I. Jesus knew WHAT was going to happen. A. I believe that sometimes people forget that Jesus was God. 1. That is actually understandable for looking at Jesus in the gospels, what we mostly see is Jesus humanity. a. His earthly body was conceived in a womans womb. b. He was delivered from that womb into humble surroundings, including His birthplace, His earthly parents, and His first 30 years of life. c. Even in His ministry, Jesus was sustained by the gifts of earthly donations. d. The Bible tells us that Jesus body grew tired, that His belly needed food, and that His body needed drink. e. Jesus was tempted of the devil like we are. f. Jesus was arrested, beaten, and even died in like manner as we ourselves might be killed. g. Studying the Bible, one would have to say that Jesus was 100% human, a Man. 2. However, the same Bible also makes it clear that Jesus was 100& God. a. Though Jesus body was conceived in a womb, that is not where Jesus began. (1) Jesus is eternal, having no beginning and no end. (2) Jesus merely took up residence in that human body at the point of its conception. b. Though Jesus surroundings were meek and humble, He wasas it wereundercover, incognito; for He was and is the God of the Universe and the Owner of all that there is masquerading as a common man. c. Though Jesus could be tired, hungry, and thirsty in the flesh, He could not have died by any means until He first took upon Himself the sins of others. d. And though Jesus was arrested, beaten, and crucified, none of those things could have happened had Jesus Himself not allowed it, for He had more than 12 legions of angels that He could have called upon to rescue Him!! \#Matt 26:53\ B. So, my friend, Jesus was 100% Man but He was also 100% God and although it may be difficult to remember that, we need not forget it for in this text, Jesus was revealing that He knew what was about to happen to Him. 1. In fact, Jesus not only knew, He had begun to intensively teach His disciples what lay ahead for Him. Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. a. Jesus described what would happen in Jerusalem: He would be rejected. b. Jesus described who would reject Him: the elders (rulers of Israel, the scribes and the chief priest (the religious leaders of Jerusalem). c. Jesus described how they would express their rejection: they would kill Him. d. And Jesus described how this would all end: He would be raised on the third day. 2. \#Mark 8:31\, a parallel passage, says that Jesus "began to teach them" this, meaning that Jesus repeated this teaching over their journey back to Jerusalem. 3. Luke recorded Jesus teaching this truth again but with more details. Lu 18:31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. a. Here Jesus added the Gentiles (primarily the Romans) would also have a part in His death. b. Specifically, Jesus said that the Gentiles would mock Him, spit on Him, scourge Him, and kill Him. (1) So who was actually going to kill Jesus in Jerusalem? The Jewish religious leaders or the Gentiles? (2) BOTH were and BOTH did. c. Then Jesus explained again how things were actually going to end: He would be raised from the dead. C. Two questions have to be asked: 1. How did Jesus know these things? The answer: He is God! a. Again, we tend to forget that Jesus is God and God is not limited in anyway unless He wants to be limited. b. Remember, God is not only everywhere; He is also every WHEN. c. Not only is the no place where God is not at, but there is no time where God is not at. (1) That will blow your mind. (2) Have you ever wished you could go back in time and change something you did or didnt do? God can. How? He is not bound by time like you and I are. If He wanted to, He could easily change a yesterday, a yesteryear, a tomorrow, an event that happened thousands of years ago or an event that will happen thousands of years from now! (3) However, God never does that! (a) Why? (b) Because by being every when and everywhere, He never makes in mistakes. (c) He knows what is going to happen with every action that occurs. (d) How? Because He is already at the end of that action. He is at every point in time that an action will effect. (4) I am telling you this will blow your mind! (a) Finite beings cannot spend too much time attempting to figure out an invite God or you would go insane. (b) But you can get the result of Gods infinite ability. (c) The result is that Jesus KNEW exactly what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem, every detail! 2. Why then was Jesus stedfast to go? Why did Jesus "set His face like a flint" to go there? a. Because that is why Jesus came! Jesus came to pay the price of our sins and death, separation from God and all of Gods goodness, is the only payment that could pay that debt. b. Jesus spoke of this very fact: Joh 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. c. As Jesus approached the cross, He did not shrink from it, He steadfastly determined to march toward it! d. That should do one of two things to you: (1) If you are saved, it should make you leap for joy! (2) If you are unsaved, it should make you reach for the cross! II. Jesus knew WHEN this was happening. Luke 9:51 when the time was come. A. That is interesting to me for Jesus had been watching the clock, waiting for the time to come. Ga 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come. B. John recorded three times when it was too early for Jesus to die. 1. The first time, John quoted Jesus. Joh 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 2. The other two times, John it pointed out. Joh 7:30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. Joh 8:20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come. 3. But after Jesus set His face like a rock to go to Jerusalem, John recorded three times that it was time. Joh 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Joh 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Joh 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. C. Get this. It is not just important to God WHAT happens. It is also important to God WHEN it happens. 1. Did you know that God has a time table for you? a. God selected the time you would be born. b. God has also appointed the time you would die. \#Heb 9:27\. c. But God also has a time for you to be saved. 2Cor 6:2 behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2. I am not saying that now is the only time you can be saved. You could have been saved yesterday or last year, but I am saying right now is the best time for you to be saved! III. Jesus knew WHERE this would happen. Luke 9:51 he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. A. It was to happen at Jerusalem. B. And knowing that, Jesus steadfastly set His face to go there. 1. From this point, everything that is recorded in Luke will be of Jesus on His Farewell Tour. 2. \#Luke 10:1\ tells us that Jesus sent others ahead to prepare the way for Him. 3. He sent to let the people in those locations and in the surrounding areas know that He was coming. 4. They did not know it was their last time to get to see Him, to hear Him, to be healed by Him, to believe on Him. but He did. C. It is interesting that some of the people on Jesus route totally rejected Jesus. 1. One of the first places that Jesus had planned to go rejected Him. 2. \#Luke 9:52-56\ a. In John 4, a Samaritan village was one of the first to accept Jesus as their Savior. b. This passage tells us that another village was one of the last to reject Him. c. If you map out Jesus final journey to Jerusalem, you would see that He did not press them. d. At that point, Jesus turned sharply to the east, crossed over the River Jordan into an area the Bible calls "wilderness," it is the area in which Jesus and John baptized, and went toward Jerusalem on the far side of the river, never coming close to the land of the Samaritans ever again! e. That just demonstrates that we never know the last time that Jesus will pass by! 3. That route brought Jesus through the city of Jericho where a blind men called upon Jesus to receive his sight, and he did! \#Luke 18:35-43\ a. The crowd tried to hush the blind man, to stop him from calling out to Jesus, but he would not be stopped. b. Good for him for had he not called upon Jesus that day, he would have been lost in darkness the rest of his life and perhaps the rest of eternity! Jesus, knowing what, when, and where His crucifixion was to happen, set His face like a rock to be there. Why? Because YOU need Him and because HE wants you. I pray that you will trust Him today.