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As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

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The season of Lent begins already next week with Ash Wednesday.\xa0 And so starting next week our devotions are also going to jump over to Luke\u2019s account of Holy Week, starting with Jesus\u2019 entrance into Jerusalem in chapter 19.\xa0

But Jesus starts out for Jerusalem much earlier in Luke\u2019s gospel, already way back here in chapter 9.\xa0 It\u2019s a simple little throwaway sentence that starts it off.\xa0 \u201cAs the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.\u201d\xa0 A simple statement on the face of it, but it marks a hard pivot in the Gospel of Luke that shapes the character of everything and everyone that follows.\xa0

In the chapters we\u2019ve just come from, we discover how Jesus is the Son of God in ever increasing dimensions.\xa0 Just before this in chapter 9, in a couple of the sections we skipped, we see Jesus reveal the heights of His glory in the feeding of the 5,000 and being transfigured in bright splendor on the mountaintop.\xa0 But Jesus had also begun to reveal the depths of His suffering just before this too: predicting His impending death, twice.\xa0

When Luke says that Jesus has \u201cresolutely set out for Jerusalem,\u201d those of us who know how the story goes know that \u201cJerusalem\u201d really means the cross and Jesus\u2019 death.

And so it\u2019s here in Luke, just a third of the way through, that Jesus resolutely turns His face toward his purposes in death, resurrection, and ascension.\xa0 The depths of suffering, the heights of glory.\xa0 And everything that follows is done, said, and written in light of this journey to the cross.\xa0

Immediately after these verses, in fact, Jesus will have some hard words for all those who would seek to follow Him in this journey.\xa0 Words like, \u201cNo one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.\u201d\xa0 Jesus says this now as one who has firmly put His hand to the plow.\xa0 Jesus is resolute.\xa0 He is headed for Jerusalem.\xa0

We know who Jesus is now.\xa0 The question, is are we resolute in our desire to follow him?\xa0 He\u2019s headed to Jerusalem. \xa0There is no way to follow him there that does not involve taking up our cross and facing our own death.\xa0 So are you resolute?\xa0 Ready to follow, daily?\xa0

For those who do resolutely take up their cross and follow, the promise of Jesus\u2019 gift of life waits just on the other side. \xa0\xa0

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