Luke 9:51-54

Jesus Sets His Face Towards Jerusalem Followed By Centring on the Lord's Prayer For The Evangelisation of the World (9:51-11:54).

This section commences with Jesus setting His face towards Jerusalem because the time for Him to be received up (as mentioned in Luke 9:22; Luke 9:31; Luke 9:44) is approaching, and it centres around the Lord's Prayer for the evangelisation of the world (Luke 11:1) which is exemplified throughout. This is apparent from an analysis:

a ‘And it came about when the days were well nigh come that He should be received up He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem' (Luke 9:51).

b The Samaritans reject Him because of the physical place to which He is going. They do not look underneath to the heart. Nevertheless there is no woe on the Samaritans (Luke 9:52).

c Call to discipleship and singleness of purpose so that they may proclaim the Kingly Rule of God (Luke 9:57).

d The seventy go out preaching seeking men to win under the Kingly Rule of God - woes on the cities who reject them (Luke 10:1).

e “He who hears you hears Me, and he who Hears Me hears Him Who sent me” (Luke 10:16).

f The disciples rejoice because the devils are subject to them, Jesus declares ‘I saw Satan fallen from heaven.' They will be delivered from serpents and scorpions (Luke 10:17).

g Jesus rejoices in the Spirit, God has revealed His truth to babes, and given to His Son the privilege of revealing Him (Luke 10:21).

h About the Good Samaritan who responds and gives good things to the one in need (Luke 10:25).

i About Martha who serves well and feeds Jesus and the Apostles, and Mary who chooses the better part, the presence of Jesus (Luke 10:38).

j The Lord's Prayer for the evangelisation of the world (Luke 11:1).

i About the friend at midnight who responds and feeds his friend (Luke 11:5).

h God will freely give from His goodness to those who reveal their need of Him (Luke 11:9)

g Those who come to Him as Father will receive good things, (not serpents and scorpions), including the Holy Spirit given to those who seek Him (Luke 11:11).

f The Pharisees accuse Jesus of being aligned with Satan because the devils are subject to Him, and He describes Satan's total humiliation and defeat (Luke 11:14).

e “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me, scatters” (Luke 11:23).

d Evil spirits are out looking for men to possess. Woe to the present generation for rejecting the Great One and His preaching (Luke 11:24).

c The light is shining and men should open their eyes to it with singleness of eye and let it fill their lives (Luke 11:33).

b The Scribes and Pharisees reject Him because He refuses to conform to their physical requirements, for they also do not look at the heart. But there are woes on the Pharisees, for they should know better (Luke 11:37).

a ‘And when He was come out from there the Scribes and Pharisees began to press Him hard and provoke Him to speak of many things lying in wait for Him to catch something out of His mouth' (Luke 11:53).

Note that in ‘a' mention is made of Jesus being ‘received up' as a result of the action of His enemies, and in the parallel the Scribes and Pharisees are trying to entrap Him so that they can accuse Him. In ‘b' the Sadducees are influenced by the physical place to which He is going, they do not look at the heart, however, no woe is to be declared on the Samaritans, but in the parallel the Pharisees are influenced by His failure to conform to their physical requirements, they too do not look at the heart, but woes are declared on the Pharisees for they should have known better. In ‘c' men are called to follow Him with singleness of purpose, and in the parallel they are called to singleness of eye. In ‘d' the seventy go out preaching and woes are declared on those who do not hear, and in the parallel evil spirits go out looking for men to possess and Jesus speaks of woes on the people because they reject His preaching. In ‘e' there is a saying of Jesus, and in the parallel a similar saying is given. In f there is rejoicing over the defeat of Satan, and in the parallel Jesus is accused of complicity with Satan and describes his total defeat. In ‘g' Jesus rejoices in the Spirit and reveals the Father to His own, and in the parallel the Holy Spirit is given to those who ask the Father for Him. In ‘h' the Good Samaritan gives good gifts to the one in need, while in the parallel God will respond to those who reveal their need of Him. In ‘i' Jesus is fed and in the parallel the friend at midnight is fed. Central to the whole passage in ‘j' is the Lord's prayer, which is reflected throughout the surrounding material.

Connections In This Passage With the Lord's Prayer.

Central to this section is the Lord's Prayer in Lucan form as follows:

· ‘Father.' See Luke 10:21; Luke 11:11, the first full revelation in Luke of the special nature of the Father in relation to His special people. Compare Luke 1:32; Luke 2:49; Luke 6:36; Luke 9:26.

· ‘Hallowed be Your Name.' This has in mind the prophecy of Ezekiel 36:23 where we learn that His name is to be hallowed by the future outpouring of the Spirit and the transformation of His true people. See Luke 10:21 where the Spirit is connected with the full revelation of God to His people; and Luke 11:13 which refer to the Holy Spirit's coming. But His Name will also be hallowed by the coming about of His Kingly Rule (Luke 9:62; Luke 10:9; Luke 11:20) and His judgment on sinners (Luke 10:13), and by His being known in the eyes of many nations (Ezekiel 38:23). If we take its wider meaning of ensuring that His name is treated with reverence and worship and is not blasphemed (Isaiah 8:13; Isaiah 29:23) we can consider Luke 11:14 where the hypocrisy of those who claimed to be His mouthpiece and brought shame on Him is condemned. See especially Luke 11:19; Luke 11:42; Luke 11:49.

· ‘Your Kingly Rule come.' See Luke 9:52 to Luke 10:20 which are concerned with the spread of the Kingly Rule of God. Also Luke 11:20 where the coming of the Kingly Rule of God causes the defeat of Satan. The Good Samariatan can also be seen as es establishing the Kingly Rule of God (see on that passage).

· ‘Give us day by day tomorrow's bread.' See Luke 10:38; Luke 11:5 which speak of the provision of food. The Good Samaritan also provides the needy Jew, who represents the people of God, with his daily food. We see there an example of how God does cause His people to be fed, often through strangers.

· ‘Forgive us our sins for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.' See Luke 10:25 where the good Samaritan personifies forgiveness.

· ‘And bring us not into testing.' See Luke 10:25; Luke 11:16, the deliverance from Satan (Luke 11:14) and the comparison of those who will be brought into testing (Luke 11:37), of whose teaching the disciples must beware lest it test them (Luke 12:1).

· And possibly ‘deliver us from the evil one'. See Luke 10:17; Luke 11:14.

The Father's special concern and something of His nature is shown in Luke 10:21; Luke 11:11. The dedicated disciples and the seventy are appointed in order to hallow God's name and establish the Kingly Rule of God, (see Luke 9:57 to Luke 10:20), and there is rejoicing over deliverance from the Enemy (Luke 10:17). The Good Samaritan exemplifies the Kingly Rule of God coming to bring provision and salvation from a non-Temple source when the Temple has failed, including ‘daily food' and the willingness to forgive others. The provision of ‘bread' is described in different ways from Luke 10:25 to Luke 11:13, illustrating the giving of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is constantly ‘tested' (specifically mentioned in Luke 10:25; Luke 11:16). But He will not bring His own into testing, delivering them by the defeat of Satan (Luke 11:14), and by His teaching as the greatest of all teachers bringing light instead of darkness (Luke 11:27), while He will bring the Scribes and Pharisees into Judgment where they will be thoroughly tested (Luke 11:37), because they have refused the light.

So it will be noted that the Section follows this overall pattern, the spreading of the Kingly Rule of God; the provision of bread, which illustrates the coming of the Holy Spirit; the confrontation with and defeat of evil spirits by the Stronger than he; the presence of the Greatest of Teachers Who comes bringing light which divides men into those who seek the light and those who remain in darkness; ending with those who remain in darkness and are condemned. And all is exemplified in the Good Samaritan who comes bringing eternal life, life to the dead.

Jesus Sets His Face Towards Jerusalem.