Jeremy L. Berg

“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem.” 

Luke 9:51:

Luke divides his account of Jesus’ life and ministry into 2 halves with 9:51 as a kind of hinge point. At this point Jesus transitions from working miracles and parables around Galilee, and “resolutely sets his face toward Jerusalem where he will realize his destiny– His sacrificial suffering and death.

In Luke’s narrative, His disciples are invited to join him “on the Way”, and Jesus’ literal geographical journey to Jerusalem coincides with many invitations, teachings and warnings to would-be disciples who want to be found faithful travelers on the Way to Discipleship. 

Many have made a connection with Luke’s mention of Jesus “setting his face toward Jerusalem” with Isaiah’s account of the Suffering Servant who “sets his face like flint” toward his own suffering. Here’s the passage:

“The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicated me is near….” 

Isaiah 50:5-8

“Face like flint” — what does this image mean? 

One holy land tourist describes walking through the Negev, the deserted region in Israel, encountering not only hot sun and dry air—but rock formations that are stark and yet so incredibly beautiful!  The terrain features long, variegated bands of sedimentary rock created over time and the movement of the earth. Beautiful, breathtaking and daunting! 

One layer of the face of the rock sticks out. Not light in color like the rest of the sediment layers, but a black line running horizontally through it. Like someone had taken a paintbrush and painted black stripes here and there on the rock. 

These black lines running through the bone colored rock is called flint. Flint is a very hard rock and was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fires. Did you know that flint when struck by steel sparks? Harder than the other rock that makes up the Negev. 

Flint: tough as steel. 

Jesus set his face like the flint in the walls of the Negev when it was time to head to Jerusalem. He was resolute and unshakable in his determination to go to Jerusalem to complete His true mission on earth. Firm, stone-faced resolve. Steel conviction. Unwavering commitment. The opposite of a face like flint might be a face like silly putty, soft and ever-changing based on one’s circumstances. 

Similar biblical images describing a person waffling in their faith or character might include:

• A reed on the prairie, shaking in the wind.
• A person who is double-minded, rather than single-minded — that is, a person with divided loyalties. 
• Or, Faith built on a sandy foundation instead of the solid rock of Christ.

In another “servant song” Isaiah prophesied about Jesus 600 years earlier that “by his stripes we will be healed.” Now Look at those dark stripes of tough, hardened flint in the rock, and see the unshakeable love and determination hard as steel that led our savior to leave behind the flowery hills and lakeside views of Galilean countryside and begin his fateful match toward Jerusalem, the city that kills prophets and the place where Christ will give himself freely over to death for our sins. 

Just as Christ set his face like flint toward Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, this Lent we want to set our faces like flint toward Jesus and the Cross. That is, we want to firm up our resolve, from a faith of shifting sand to rock hard devotion. Be less divided in our loyalties and pursuits. Draw nearer to Christ than to our earthly comforts. 

These are tough times in the world…we need tough faith and rugged resolve to weather the storm. The latter half of the 20th century have been uncharacteristically stable and prosperous for those blessed to lie in the U.S. Historians and sociologists (and theologians and pastors) remind us that they are the exception to the rule, and most humans through much of history have faced greater instability and suffering and hardships and political upheavals, etc.

The topsy-turvy drama of the past few years are returning the world to more “normal” times. But has the church turned soft in recent decades? Have American churches been producing Sunday consumers or rugged disciples familiar with suffering with deeply formed character?

How are you feeling heading into the season of Lent? Rock solid or wavering and weak? Determined or disillusioned? A battleship powered by the Spirit or a leaky row boat buffeted by the winds and waves? 

The church may need to shift back to being a kind of ark for people navigating uncertain cultural seas, with Christ our captain. My pirate-obsessed 10-year old knows that the good captain goes down with the ship. In the case of Christ, our captain doesn’t merely go down with the ship; he raises sunken vessels up to new life!

I’m mixing metaphors now…but we need a savior with a face like flint, and we need Christians to re-set their faces—to fix their eyes on Christ, the author and  perfected of faith. In this historical moment, we are being called beyond the lush green hills of a Galilean springtime and onto the road of discipleship and suffering that leads to our own cross in our own Jerusalem. 

Now, let the stripes of flint remind us of the stripes of blood across the Savior’s back. And just as striking flint produces a spark, so let us marvel this Lent at the Savior who let himself be struck, and from his death sparked a revolution of love. May God fan the flickering flame of our faith this season into a roaring fire of devotion.

How? Where might we begin to walk with Jesus toward our own Jerusalem, along our own path of more committed discipleship and devotion? What’s the first step to setting our face like flint? Well, Lent begins with Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested and tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights. 

Lent is a season of fasting, and fasting is something most Americans struggle to wrap our heads around.  Americans are not exactly known for their self-discipline and willingness to abstain from certain things. So, regarding Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days, we ask: Did the devil strike when Jesus was weakest and most vulnerable from physical hunger? Or did Jesus strike the devil when Jesus was most spiritually charged and God-reliant — after weeks of drawing from his Spiritual reserves rather than physical strength? I’ve been led to think the former, but the spiritual wisdom of the sages encourage me to grasp the latter as really true. We abstain from physical nourishment, in order to break our dependence on fleshly comforts, and to become more filled with Spiritual strength.

Isaiah offers at least 4 words to the tired and weak in this passage as we move into Lent:

The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicated me is near….” (Isaiah 50:5-8)

1. Open your ears to God. 
2. Don’t turn away from God in your current personal trials.
3. Don’t hide your face in shame, but hold your head high as a son or daughter of the King. 
4. Remember: God’s help is near!

I’m spending this Lent reading through and reflecting on the Lectionary verses based in Luke’s Gospel, and hope to offer a few thoughts through the season here. May we all find our faith becoming more “firm” and strengthened in the coming weeks as we set our hearts and faces and faith like flint toward Christ and our call to discipleship.

I’m so glad Jesus was resolute in his commitment to give his life for me. May we grow more resolute in our desire to give our lives over in service to Him and the world he so loves. Grace and peace!

Originally posted March 2022.