And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
This verse marks a decisive turning point in Jesus' life and ministry. The phrase 'taken up to heaven' refers to the Ascension — Jesus knew his arrest, death on a cross, resurrection, and return to God were all ahead of him, and they would all happen in Jerusalem. The route to Jerusalem often passed through Samaria, a region whose people were deeply despised by most Jews of the time — a mutual, centuries-old cultural hostility. The word translated 'resolutely' reflects a Hebrew phrase meaning to set one's face like stone — an image of unshakeable, jaw-set determination. Jesus walked toward his own death on purpose, with full knowledge of what waited for him.
Jesus, you walked toward Jerusalem knowing exactly what was waiting there. I struggle to walk toward far smaller things with anything like that resolve. Give me some of what you carried — not reckless courage, but the quiet, steady kind that keeps moving because love requires it. Amen.
He knew. That is what makes this verse so heavy to sit with. Jesus knew what Jerusalem held — the midnight arrest, the mockery of a trial, the beatings, the cross. He was not walking into it naively or by accident. The text says he 'resolutely set out,' which is a polished English translation of something rawer: he set his face like flint and went anyway. There is no faith more honest or more costly than the kind that moves toward the hard thing with open eyes. He did not sprint on some wave of divine detachment. He set his face and walked. Most of us have a Jerusalem of our own — something we know needs to happen, a hard conversation we keep circling, a decision postponed because the cost is real and the outcome is uncertain. Jesus does not just model determination here; he models the willingness to let love override self-preservation. You do not have to feel brave to move toward your Jerusalem. You only have to set your face. One step, then another — that is how Jesus walked toward the hardest thing he would ever face, and it is very likely how you will walk toward yours.
What do you think 'resolutely setting your face' toward something actually feels like from the inside — what is it, and what is it importantly not the same thing as?
What is a 'Jerusalem' in your own life right now — something you know you need to move toward that you have been finding reasons to delay?
Jesus chose to travel through Samaria, toward people his own culture told him to avoid on the way — what does that choice add to your understanding of what it means to move with purpose and intention?
Is there someone in your life whose steady courage in the face of something genuinely hard has shaped how you think about facing your own difficult things — and what specifically did their example teach you?
What is one concrete step you could take this week toward the thing you have been putting off — not because you feel ready, but simply because it is time to set your face and go?
And he must needs go through Samaria.
John 4:4
And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
Luke 17:11
And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.
Luke 19:28
And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
Luke 9:57
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Mark 16:19
My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
Psalms 31:15
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:24
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.
Isaiah 50:7
Now when the time was approaching for Him to be taken up [to heaven], He was determined to go to Jerusalem [to fulfill His purpose].
AMP
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
ESV
When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;
NASB
Samaritan Opposition As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
NIV
Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,
NKJV
As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
NLT
When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem.
MSG