Barton's Bible Study Notes

The Verse

This message is about just one verse, Luke 9:51, and, in reality, about one phrase in that verse. It states this. The NASV 1995 version, which I prefer:

The NIV reads,

And the NKJV states,

There is often debate as to which translation is the “best.” For the most part, I believe it is a matter of personal preference. As long as you are reading a translation, I’m good with that. Ideally, not realistically, it would be good for everyone to know Koine Greek. But as Greek scholars will tell you, that only shifts the debate as to which Greek text to use, the Textus Receptus (which is the Greek text behind the KJV and the NKJV) or the Critical Text (which is the Greek text behind the NIV and most modern translations). But since both are essentially the same here, there is no debate as to what Luke, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote.

“He was determined to go to Jerusalem”; or
“Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” or
“He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,”

The NKJV is perhaps the closest to the Greek text, not that it is necessarily the best translation as far as readability and understandable modern English goes.

So what then does it mean, “He steadfastly set His face” or “made firm or strong His face” to go to Jerusalem? Well, here is where the story comes in

The Story

Long, long ago, in this same galaxy in which we now live, I was much younger. In my college and seminary years, I worked with an organization called "Young Life." It is still around today and has changed somewhat. Back then, 50 years ago or such, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas, we worked with unchurched young persons, teens to share the gospel and to teach them God's word. One of the things we did was sponsor camps, a winter camp during Christmas break to Colorado to go skiing and other such winter sports. Not too many ski slopes in the Dallas/Fort Worth area - no mountains! In the summer we would take a group for summer camp, again to one of Young Life's ranches in Colorado. In the summertime, we had lots of outdoor activities: swimming, sports, hiking, horseback riding and such.

This particular summer, I was a counselor for several weeks at Frontier Ranch, one of Young Life’s summer camps. Now, one strategy we had was to plan more vigorous activities early on because we found the campers would be more likely to sit, talk and listen if they were not so full of energy. So the second or third day, we had a mountain climbing event. Now, this was voluntary, we did not require anyone to climb a mountain, and of course, many could not for one reason or another climb. But as a counselor, our task or goal was to motivate as many as we could, especially those in our particular cabins, to participate.

Well, the cabin I had was from Texas or the South, I knew a few, but not all of them were from the Young Life Club with which I worked. When I mentioned the opportunity to climb a mountain, the response was, "why?" which is exactly the response I would have had I been a camper. You see, I already had climbed a Colorado mountain, not the rock climbing where you go straight up (I do not do straight up!), but walking up a steep slope for hours in the very thin air. It's hard, exhausting work. I had done that before and had concluded once was enough. I had crossed it off my bucket list. I did not want to do this again. But, I was not doing it because I wanted to, I was going to do this as part of the ministry to these kids.

Well, they had no desire to do it either. They wanted to stay in the camp by the swimming pool and watch the girls. Now, can you believe that!

So I had to figure out a way to motivate them to climb a mountain. As I mentioned, they were from Texas, or another southern state, while most of the other campers were from New Jersey, New York or some other northern state. I decided to use the old challenge approach, appealing to regional pride. So I said, “Are Y'all going to let a bunch of Yankees beat you to the top of that mountain?”

It worked. But, as often is the case, sometimes what we say has unintended results or results beyond what we anticipated. So it was this time. That night these guys in my cabin informed me, with pride, that they had gone out and challenged all the other cabins to a race to the top of the mountain. First cabin, with all the people in that cabin, to the top wins!" Now, let me tell you, I didn't want to race to the top of that mountain. I did not even want to climb it at all! In truth, (I did not tell my cabin this but) I had figured to go part way up, rest and go back down and wait for everyone else to get back in three or four hours. Well, so much for that plan! But these guys were all excited and talked up a storm, goading the other cabins.

A couple of buses took us the next morning to the mountain. We were starting at about 6,000 or 7,000 feet and had several more thousands to go upward. All kinds of campers disembarked from the buses, guys, girls, some small and thin, some average, others really buff, some that looked like they had enjoyed way too many desserts; there was even one girl with a bandaged ankle and a crutch. Not everybody was going to get to the top, nor did we expect that they would. You could stop whenever you felt like it and go back to the buses. The trail was well marked, so that no one would get lost.

We started, and after an hour, my campers had left me behind. Now, I was getting tired. I was starting a mile higher than the elevation in the Dallas Fort Worth area. I would walk ten steps then rest. Pick another point ahead, get there and rest again. By this time everyone was strung out, slower people behind, the stronger ahead. I was not passing very many; a few passed me. However one image to this day is etched in my mind, one camper, a girl with a bandaged ankle using a crutch passed me! That does not really do much to build your self-esteem.

Close to the top, I was exhausted. I had had it. It was close enough. I would rest and start back down, Let the other cabins win. I did not care. But a few guys from my cabin saw me and came back down and pulled me the rest of the way up. And guess who was there? The girl with the bandaged ankle using a crutch!

The Point

This intrigued me, so back at the bus, I asked another counselor about her. I was told she had sprained her ankle either before camp started or on the first day of camp. But this counselor also told me, this particular young lady had decided she was going to climb a mountain even before camp started. Her counselor said, “And that was it; she was climbing that mountain. End of story!” She had made up her mind that she was going to do it, regardless of what had happened or would happen come rain or shine, storm or not. No one or nothing was going to stop her. It was not a spur of the moment decision she had made. It was not because someone like me had made a dumb emotional appeal and stirred her emotions. It was not because she felt like doing it at that particular point. But, as a Koine Greek speaker, such as Luke, would have put it, “She had set her face to climb the mountain.” That is what the Scripture means when it states, “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”

Jesus was approaching the time He knew he would be arrested, tortured, and executed by crucifixion and, all that while, carrying all our sin. He was going to Jerusalem to do this. It was not a spur of the moment emotional thing. He had known this was coming from the beginning. It was not because He was emotionally pumped up to do it. It was not because He felt like doing it. We know from the prayer He offered in the garden that He did not want to do this. But He knew it was God's will, and He set His face, He determined, He resolutely set out to do this. This was His mountain, and He was going to climb it.

The Application

We all, each of us, have a mountain before us, whether you are out there or speaking from up here — student, teacher, administration, guest, speaker. We have a mountain to climb. That mountain of a task, you must understand, is the mountain of living a life pleasing to our LORD. You may be on that mountain right now, or you may have just stepped aboard the bus headed toward it. That bus is the person of Jesus Christ our LORD. He alone can take you there. There is no other way to get there. Now you might have boarded the bus as a spur of the moment thing. You might have decided to do so because someone gave a very emotional appeal to get on board. You might be on that bus because, well you do not ever remember not being on it. But if you are on the bus, if Jesus Christ the Lord is your savior, then there is a mountain before you to climb. Whether you climb or not and how well you climb it is something you must choose.

To make that climb, and make it successfully, you must, just as our Lord did, set your face for the task ahead. And that act encompasses your thinking, your will, and your emotions. It is the totality of our inner self, that essence we call ourselves. In our western culture and thinking, we most often separate the different aspects of our inner being. We treat them as if they are separate things, disconnected from each other. You have heard that man has three parts to his nature, the mind, that part that thinks and is rational, the emotions, that part that emotes, that feels, and the will, that part of us that decides and initiates the action. But, that is not how the Scriptures describe it.

They describe it differently. Sometimes the Word of God speaks of our; sometimes it talks of our mind, sometimes it is called the soul. But it is one inclusive idea. You think, you feel, you will to act. They are all linked, entwined together, but it is you, your inner person; you are the one doing these, and you control them. The great Old Testament verse for the Jewish people is the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4-5. It is similar in importance to the one central verse most Christians base their faith around today, John 3:16. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is the John 3:16 of the Old Testament. It states: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart (Hebrew word usually translated heart) and with all your soul (Hebrew word usually translated soul or life) and with all your might. (Hebrew word usually translated might, idea being, with as much as you have!)”

Interestingly, when New Testament writers quote this, they often state, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength" Four things instead of just the three!

Why the difference? Did they forget what Deuteronomy 6:4-5 said and just slightly misquote it? That certainly would not have been the case! Any Jewish person living at that time could quote this verse from memory. Did they forget, that would be like asking if Billy Graham could have forgotten John 3:16. It was their verse.

Were they quoting from the Septuagint, which was the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament? Possibly, some versions have this. But why do they have it? It is the same question. Well, it is because the Hebrew word heart is often used to refer not just to the physical heart, or seat of the emotions as we picture it, but that inner being of man that includes not just our feelings, but our thinking and will as well. There is no separate word in Biblical Hebrew for the mind. Greek however does have a separate word. So, some of the translators of the Hebrew Old Testament, when they were putting the Hebrew text into Greek, and the New Testament writers as well, when they quote this verse in Greek, wanting to convey accurately what the Hebrew text means, which is to love the LORD your God, with all your being, your thinking, your emotions, your will, with everything that you have, they add the Greek “with your mind”. It is included in the Hebrew word for heart.

The Hebrew equivalent of the Greek to set or strengthen one’s face is to set or strengthen one’s heart, meaning one’s innermost being, including the mind, the emotions and the will.

But you say, I can control my thinking (although being an educator, I seriously question that!) but feelings, you say, “Well, they are not something you can control, are they?”

Sure, you can! Most people do not do it well; they simply do not try. They let their emotions control them instead. But yes, you can do it. Think about this: if we are commanded to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength, how could we possibly even attempt that if we do not control our emotions.

If you are going to climb a physical mountain, you will soon learn that before long you will not feel like climbing anymore. You want to stop, go back down. If you are attempting to live the life pleasing to our LORD, you will find at times, more than you think, you will want to stop and do something else.

To succeed, you must set or establish, make strong your thinking, your will and your emotions to the task ahead. Have you made that inner commitment, that decision to live a life pleasing and honoring to our Lord? Be forewarned; it is a mountain. It's not an easy climb. The path is narrow and steep. Yes, sometimes it is more gentle than other times, and sometimes it leads to alpine meadows, level, gentle, easy to hike, but, more often than not, it is not. It's steeper. There are obstacles and pitfalls all along the way; there are dangers and distractions. You will be tempted to think, "This is good enough! I'll just stop here." You will be tempted to say to yourself, "What did I do? Why in the world did I ever decide to take this path?" You will be tempted to mentally see those still sitting by the pool, taking it easy, enjoying the scenery and think to yourself, "I think I've had enough of this, I'll go back and hang with them. It's a lot more fun!"

You will not do well if you have not made that commitment. Many in that summer camp started up that mountain full of energy and excitement; many dropped out along the way. A few made it all the way up, in particular, I still see a young lady with a cast on her foot walking with the aid of a crutch standing there looking out at the view that you cannot see anywhere else except at the summit. She made the climb because she set her face to do this.

You have a mountain to climb. Have you set your face for the climb? Do it today.