Day 2904– “The Ultimate Close Encounter”  based on Luke 9:51-62

Putnam Church Message – 06/14/2026

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.

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?

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.’

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.

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.

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.

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. It does not easily yield to pressure.

Many of us are spiritually more like soft clay than flint when pressure comes.

Most people do not drift into faithfulness. | We drift into distraction. / We drift into comfort. / We drift into busyness. / We drift into compromise.

That does not mean we become harsh. Jesus was determined, but He was never cruel. / It does not mean we become inflexible about everything. / Jesus was deeply attentive to people along the way. / But it does mean the Father’s mission governed His life.

The first lesson is this: A disciple follows a Savior whose face is set toward the Father’s will.

As Jesus travels toward Jerusalem, He sends messengers ahead into a Samaritan village to prepare for His arrival.

But the village refuses to welcome Him because He is headed for Jerusalem.

To understand this, we need a little history.

Jews and Samaritans had a long and bitter relationship. The Samaritans were connected to the northern kingdom of Israel, but over time, their ancestry, worship, and religious practices became mixed in ways that the Jews in Judea rejected. The Samaritans had their own worship center on Mount Gerizim, while the Jews worshiped at the temple in Jerusalem.

Most Jews looked down on Samaritans. Many would avoid traveling through Samaria altogether, crossing the Jordan River and going around the region rather than passing through it.

In John 4, Jesus speaks with a Samaritan woman at a well and reveals Himself as the Messiah. Later in Luke, Jesus will tell the parable of the Good Samaritan, making a Samaritan the surprising example of neighborly love. And in Acts, the Gospel will spread into Samaria by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus sees Samaritans not as enemies to despise, / but as people who need the grace of God.

Why? Because His face is set toward Jerusalem. / His destination offends them. / His mission does not fit their loyalties.

The sons of thunder, James and John, respond strongly. They ask, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?”

That may sound shocking, but remember the background. Elijah once called down fire from heaven in judgment. James and John may think, “We just saw Moses and Elijah on the mountain. We are part of the Messiah’s inner circle. These people rejected Jesus. Let’s show them who they are dealing with.”

But Jesus rebukes them. / He will not let His disciples confuse zeal with revenge.

This is especially important because Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem to die for sinners. He is not moving toward the cross to destroy His enemies. He is moving toward the cross to save them.

There will be judgment one day. Scripture is clear about that. But this moment is not a call for fire. It is a call to press on.

So, they go to another village.

Imagine holding a lighter in one hand and a map in the other.

The lighter represents revenge: “Let’s burn this down. Let’s answer rejection with fire.”

The map represents the mission: “We know where we are going. We will not be sidetracked.”

James and John reached for the lighter. Jesus kept His eyes on the map.

That is a needed word for us.

How easily rejection can distract us. / Someone criticizes us, and we spend days replaying it. / Someone refuses to support us, and we become bitter.  / Someone misunderstands our motives, and we want to defend ourselves endlessly. / Someone closes a door, and we want to prove them wrong.

Jesus teaches us that rejection does not have to become our master. / Do not let someone else’s refusal determine your faithfulness. / Press on.

That does not mean rejection never hurts. It does. Jesus understands rejection better than anyone. John says He came to His own people, and His own did not receive Him. / But Jesus did not build His life around retaliation. He built His life around redemption.

The second lesson is this: A disciple must not let rejection turn holy zeal into unholy revenge.