Jerusalem was Jesus’ end game. Everything depended upon Jerusalem. 

Certainly, before the final week there would be moments of compassion for the sick, challenges for would-be followers. He would castigate the religious leaders for their failure to embody the Spirit of God, and He would teach crowds the nature of the Kingdom of God. Yet all this work was a precursor to the reason God had put Him on this earth and that could only be found in Jerusalem. So, every step He took was a step closer to the final task. It's clearly on His mind as He speaks about His impending death. You get a sense of the human Jesus’ frustration with this task because of the failure of the religious leaders, the failure of the Roman government, and even the failure of His own disciples to grasp the true nature of power.

The Sadducees, Pharisees and the temple priests we're so invested in the cultic practices that they neglected a central tenet – the Sabbath was made for humans, as Jesus said, not man made for Sabbath. For them power meant controlling people through the fear of God's laws which sadly was excluding more from the community, be they lepers, tax collectors, or those who didn’t rigidly observe the law.

The Roman government, centered in the emperor, saw military might conquest and expansion as the central purpose of power, for the glory of Rome and the glory of the empire – never mind what it meant for individuals. But even His disciples had it profoundly wrong. In this very same chapter, the disciples argued with each other about who is the greatest. Though I imagine in their hearts they wanted to do the right thing, they hadn't reflected on what that actually meant. The power that Jesus was giving them was not for their own glory, not even for their own good, but for the glory of God and the needs of the people.

At this point it became clear to Jesus that teaching, healing, reprimanding, praying was not going to be enough. And so, He set His face toward Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem would require courageous sacrifice, unwavering integrity, a crystal-clear purpose and a heart that would not, could not allow itself to be changed by the resistance it would meet both within the movement and without. It would be terribly hard. Especially considering what He had to give up.

The first 30 years of His life He was a carpenter; living a profession and a daily rhythm, perhaps, not terribly unlike your typical days. Carpentry is a wonderful vocation. It requires physical effort that keeps you strong, an artistic vision that allows you to see possibility in a piece of wood, and when the finished product finds its way in the hands of a buyer, it provides decades of utility that later becomes a treasured keepsake, that kitchen table passed down for generations. 

But the time for that simple life had passed. No longer would He spend His time with friends and family and no longer would He have His familiar pillow. Yes, even Jesus wanted His own pillow. Jesus had to leave behind that life that so many of us treasure. 

Perhaps then Jesus is simply venting His frustration. He wanted to make sure that anybody who wanted to follow Him understood; there was no point in leading them on. “Foxes have holes and birds have nests the son of man has no place to rest his head.” There is a clear sense of painful frustration that Jesus is feeling for having to leave that good life behind.

It wouldn’t only mean long weeks on the road. It wouldn't only mean confronting the authorities of Rome or the religious authorities. He would even have to alienate His own family and His hometown. They too would reject Him and so when the man not knowing what was in Jesus’ heart asked to go bury his father, Jesus’ retort, “Let the dead bury their own dead” is clearly born of the death of the previous life, for Jesus had set His face towards Jerusalem.

Courageous Sacrifice 

He had a choice: pay $10 or spend 14 days in jail. He knew that there were good people in Alabama who wanted to support him and for a time he had taken a gentler path. But that time was gone. And like Jesus, he too had set his face towards his purpose and so he gave up his pillow, he gave up his good night kiss, and soon, through a letter, he would alienate critical allies in his fight for civil rights for African Americans. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew it would be easier to pay the $10, but like Jesus, a mantle of leadership had been placed upon him.

And he would not only be fighting opponents of desegregation, arguably the easier fight, but he would be fighting those in his own group who wanted a more aggressive stance and Dr. King also had to call to account his white clergy colleagues in his letter from the Birmingham Jail, “We still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.”…and you ask us to wait. But King did not write that letter out of hatred or self-righteous indignation but respect even for them and out of belief in them. He would not resort to name calling or tirades, all that he said and did was done with the love of Jesus in his heart. 

Unwavering Integrity 

Though Jesus had an utter clarity of purpose, He would not compromise the integrity of the path for the importance of the goal. Jesus also would not give in to hatred and name calling. This is the great failure of many movements today, the demonization and the attempt to not only defeat opponents but to erase them. When the Samaritans rejected Jesus, His disciples asked,“Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them.” (misuse of power!) That is the approach in our world today, to reign the fire of opinion, power, and influence to destroy opposition.  

But Jesus refused and instead castigated His disciples for even suggesting such a thing. The disciples needed to clearly see that Jesus meant the words He taught them – do unto others, pray for your enemies, forgive as you have been forgiven. If He allowed even a little bit,a little measure of revenge or aggression toward the opposition, the disciples would see it as permission to go even further. More importantly, Jesus knew that even harder than trying to sleep without your pillow is trying to sleep without your integrity. If He treated His opponents as His opponents treated others He would fail before He even arrived at the cross.

For Jesus, His face set towards Jerusalem and the purpose was the healing of the world and nothing would stop Him. As hard as Jerusalem would be He knew in the end what His sacrifice would mean for His family, for His disciples, for His fellow Jews, for the gentiles, and even for His Roman enemies.

We have a challenge. To stand up for those in our time living in fear, feeling unwanted, and second class. But there is a way forward. And Jesus’ path and way of living in the world and dealing with difference while standing for the truth works. I have seen it.

As I have shared before, decades after that famous letter,  my family joined one of those churches who received it. And Dr. King’s plain spoken, Spirit-filled letter to the white pastor of that church struck home. And he sacrificed his own career to integrate that church. First Presbyterian in Birmingham, Alabama. The church split. But by the time we joined God had healed that church and it was one of the most beautifully diverse churches I have ever been a part of. Dr. King’s letter worked! Because it was written out of love.

Dr. King, like Jesus, sacrificed his pillow, and more because he too had his eyes set on Jerusalem. Where is your Jerusalem? Where is mine? I pray we all have the courage to set our face, if God calls our name, but there will be the temptation to pay the $10. So, remember our Lord’s example.

Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem. He gave up His pillow, He gave up His hometown,He gave up His family and He did it all to show us the way to give us the truth and to bring life. Amen.