As I conclude the series on “The Attitudes of Christ,” I want us to look at the determination of Christ to accomplish all the Father gave Him to do. I want to say right out of the chute that in order to accomplish the will of God for your life, you have to want to do it, to intend to do it, and to decide to do it no matter what. The will of God won’t be accomplished without intention and perseverance. Jesus had that kind of determination, that kind of resolute commitment to the will of God.
I love an Old Testament Scripture found in Isaiah 50:7. Isaiah 50 contains a lot of prophecy about all that Jesus would face during Holy Week and while on the Cross, and it also contains Jesus’ attitude about all of that. Speaking of Jesus, it says “I have set my face like a flint…” Isaiah 50:7
Let’s talk about this interesting figure of speech, “I have set my face like a flint.” Flint is a very hard rock. The Bible speaks of flint when it talks about the firmness of a horse’s hoof in Isaiah 5:28. It uses it to refer to the toughness of an impossible task in Deuteronomy 8:15, and it is connected with someone who is unwavering in their determination and devotion in Ezekiel 3:8-9.
What that phrase means as it relates to Jesus and His mission is that Jesus made a firm decision regarding the completion of God’s plan. Failure was not an option. Complete conformance to the Father’s will was His only goal. He was determined to fulfill God’s plan. Nothing could stop Him. Nothing could deter Him. Nothing could dissuade Him. Nothing could distract Him. He was gunning for the Cross during every moment of His earthly life. In other words, Jesus lived with His game face always on, and it flowed from the commitment of His heart.
This verse in Isaiah 50 predated Jesus’ journey to the Cross by 800 years, and Luke picked up on it again in chapter 9:51 when he said, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”-Luke 9:51
Jesus unflinchingly faced everything Holy Week held. It was quite a pendulum swing. He experienced one of the highest highs of His life on Palm Sunday. He rode into Jerusalem on Sunday, being praised like a King would be celebrated after returning from a war victory, only to be impaled on a Cross just five days later. He purposed in His heart there would be no backing out. He had set his face like a flint on Jerusalem and all that awaited Him there.
And Monday presented many challenges. Mondays always do, right? What happened on Monday? Let’s read about it from Mark’s Gospel.
Mark 11:15-17 15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”Jesus exerted great authority and a kind of righteous anger in this story, one recorded by all four Gospel writers. In John‘s account, Jesus made a whip out of cords and used it in the chasing of the money-changers out of the temple. He went from using a whip in judgment to the goings on in the temple, to being whipped by those who rejected His authority just four days later.
If you examine Jesus’ ministry closely, you’ll see that He was often overturning tables…not physical ones, but overturning that which was wrong, burdensome and hypocritical. He countered the incomplete and twisted teaching of the Scribes in Matthew 5:21-28. He confronted the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. He became a friend of tax collectors and sinners in Luke 15:1-2, something that tarnished His reputation with the religious elites, and He violated religious customs (Matthew 15:2; John 4:7-9) just to name a few.
On Monday of Holy Week, the determined Jesus, the Messiah who had set His face like flint, wasn’t backing down. He was tired of seeing people being taken advantage of by corrupt and broken religious systems. It wasn’t simply that business was being conducted in the temple as animals were being sold for sacrifice, but people were being exploited, robbed, especially foreigners and the poor, as they were charged outrageous prices for animals and the exchanging of foreign currency. Taking advantage of foreigners and the poor was a direct violation of so many Old Testament commands.
By making it a corrupt business, the temple had lost its sacred purpose. It was to have been a house of prayer and worship, but greedy men had turned it into something else. The misuse of the temple and the injustice that was taking place had to be dealt with, and Jesus had to be the One to take it on.
It’s not easy to challenge the status quo, to call people out when abuse and misuse is happening. I’m sure that wasn’t on Jesus’ bucket list of things to do before He died. Anyone here just love conflict? I’m sure He didn’t look forward to causing a scene and rebuking those who had established their evil practices in the temple, but He did it because He had set His face like flint. A temple, a place meant to be set apart for the worship of God could not give space to evil, corruption, greed, and abuse.
Jesus encountered another challenge following the cursing of a fig tree. Matthew 21:18-19 18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
The destruction of the fig tree was really a symbolic judgment on Israel. You see, the tree had leaves, but no figs. That wasn’t the way a fig tree was designed to bloom. If there were leaves, there were supposed to be figs. It appeared one way, but was really another way. Jesus’ condemnation of a fig tree was a warning of coming judgment upon an unfruitful Israel. It showed God’s disapproval of people who are “all leaves and no fruit.”
I think the whole parable went over the disciples’ heads, but they had some questions about how Jesus could curse the fig tree and make it wither, so He used it as an opportunity to teach them about prayer. But the religious leaders who heard about the destruction of the fig tree came at Jesus. They started questioning His authority. They grilled Him about why He had caused a ruckus in the temple and why He had cursed the fig tree.
Jesus answered their questions with questions for them. He basically refused to have a conversation with them regarding their accusations. He told some parables in their hearing that didn’t sit well with the religious leaders. You must have been able to cut the tension with a knife.
The religious leaders knew they were the target of Jesus’ parables. They were the bad characters in His stories. It was obvious. Jesus was laser-focused on telling it like it was, even though it riled the religious leaders up even more to scheme and plot to have Him killed. He did it because He had set His face like a flint on the Cross.
Wednesday was the day Judas made a deal with the devil. That’s the way I see it anyway. Matthew 26:14-16- 14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Knowing that the religious leaders weren’t happy to have been one of Jesus’ targets, Judas went to them to see how he could benefit from their disdain for Jesus. He wasn’t sought out. He wasn’t tempted to betray Jesus. No one dangled a carrot in front of him or put pressure on him to give Jesus up. No, he saw an opportunity, and greedy Judas took it. From that moment, it was game on. Don’t think for a second that Jesus didn’t know what was going on. He had gone from lauded, honored, and praised on Palm Sunday, to betrayed by one of His own.
It was only Wednesday. He had taken on the religious establishment, the disobedience and fruitlessness of the nation of Israel, the self-righteous religious leaders, and now, one of His own would stab him in the back by agreeing to betray Him, but because He had set His face like a flint, He would let things play out. He wouldn’t abort the mission. He knew the Scripture. It had been prophesied hundreds of years before His birth that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.
Listen, when you have determined to do the will of God, no matter what, you understand it won’t be easy. You accept that people will oppose you. You recognize that even close relationships may be at stake. And on Maundy Thursday, during the Passover, Jesus humbled Himself and washed the disciples’ feet. It was an act of pure love and service, and Judas was included. Jesus showed love to Judas though that very night, Judas would hand Him over to be arrested.
There’s the whole thing, then, about asking Peter, James, and John to keep watch with Him, to pray with Him, for Him, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus would be in agony in prayer, asking God if there was any other way salvation could be accomplished, and Jesus “friends,” fell asleep. What a personal letdown Jesus would have felt. He needed His friends. He had told them how He was feeling. He had told them He was struggling. He had said He was sorrowful to the point of death. The dread of all that was ahead was overwhelming Him. He had literally borne His soul to His friends, and they fell asleep on Him.
All at once He heard the sound of soldiers’ feet. Judas came to Him with the customary kiss. Jesus would be under arrest soon. Peter tried to take matters into his own hands. He pulled out a sword and cut off one of the ears of the high priest’s servant as if to defend Jesus or to somehow stop the arrest from happening. (I’m not sure Peter even knew how to wield a sword! He clearly wasn’t a good marksman!) And because Jesus face was set like a flint on moving toward the Cross, He told Peter to put His sword away, and He willingly went with the guards because He had set His face like flint, and He was going to finish what He had started.
Jesus was going to be in for the longest night of His life. He literally faced six different courts that night. He was brought before Annas, #1, Caiaphas, #2 and the Sanhedrin (John 18:29-24; Matthew 26:57), #3. In those three settings, He was charged with blasphemy, with claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah.
Those three trials before the Jewish authorities, those religious trials, showed the degree to which the Jewish leaders hated Jesus because as they conducted them, they set aside many of their own laws. No trial was to be held during a feast time. It was the Passover. Each member of the court was to vote individually to convict or acquit, but Jesus was convicted by acclamation. If the death penalty was given, a night must pass before the sentence was carried out, however, only a few hours passed before Jesus was placed on the Cross. No trial was to be held at night, but this 3-part trial was held before dawn. The accused was to be given counsel or representation, but Jesus had none. The accused was not to be asked self-incriminating questions, but Jesus was asked if He was the Christ. None of it transpired according to the Law.
After that, He was drug off to stand before Pilate, the Roman Governor (John 18:28). There were new charges against Him in addition to the blasphemy charge the religious leaders leveled against Him. He was charged with inciting people to riot, forbidding the people to pay their taxes, and claiming to be King. Pilate found no reason to kill Jesus, so He had Him beaten and sent Him to face Herod (Luke 23:7). Herod didn’t want the political liability that could result from Him being the one to sentence Jesus to death, so he returned Him to Pilate (Luke 23:11-12), who finally sentenced Him to death.
Pilate tried to appease the hatred of the Jewish leaders by having Jesus scourged. A Roman scourge was a horrific whipping that was designed to remove pieces of flesh from the back of the one being punished. That wasn’t good enough. Pilate tried one last time to let Jesus go by offering a prisoner, Barabbas, to be crucified and to allow Jesus to go free. This time it wasn’t the religious elites who were gunning for Jesus, and it wasn’t the Romans who were pushing for His execution. It was the crowd. The crowd called for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus. Since when did judicial decisions get placed into the hands of a crowd?
What a mockery of justice, and Jesus took it all. He didn’t fight back. He didn’t cry, “Foul.” He didn’t demand a lawyer. He didn’t try to defend Himself. Why? Because He had sent His face like flint on the will of His Heavenly Father.Isaiah 53, written hundreds of years before Jesus’ death said this so eloquently:
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
And then there was the betray of Peter who, when questioned, denied even knowing Jesus. In a moment of panic, when he chose self-preservation over discipleship, he wouldn’t even acknowledge knowing Jesus. One who had promised to go all the way with Jesus, even to the point of death, threw Jesus completely under the bus.
There is no way Jesus could have endured the betrayals, the disappointments, the beatings, the mocking, the spitting, the hatred, the physical violence, the emotional abuse, the impalement to the Cross, and the placing of the sins of humanity on Him, no way He could have endured any of it, if He had not set His face like flint on obediently following God’s plan. His mind had been made up before those moments came because He was determined to succeed.
Believers, if you are going to stay on track in your walk with and witness for Jesus and accomplish what He has for you, you are going to have to adopt His attitude and set your face like flint on the will of God for your life.
None of us will be asked to bear the load Jesus bore, but His perfect obedience under the worst of circumstances should inspire us to be fully committed to God’s will no matter what we have to go through to accomplish it. “It is finished,” Jesus cried from the cross. Those last three words were not words of surrender, but words of victory. He had been determined to succeed, and succeed, He did.
Hebrews 12:1-3-Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Consider Him. Think about all Jesus willingly went through! When God asks you to simply invite someone to church, to exercise faith and patience during a time of testing, to be faithful and steadfast in prayer, to begin a relationship with an unbeliever, to take on a new ministry assignment, to minister to an enemy, to help a neighbor, to endure teasing or even bullying for the sake of the Gospel, or whatever “extra” difficulty you might face if you are seeking to be faithful to God’s will, consider Him. Think about the opposition from His own. Think about the disobedience of the nation that had been selected to be a light to the entire world and how many turned on the One sent to fulfill God’s promise for salvation. Think about the way the religious leaders never gave Jesus a chance, and think about the way the Romans dismissed any claim made about who Jesus was. Think about the betrayal of His friends. Think about the shame of being crucified, of being labeled guilty, when He was totally innocent.
Jesus set His face like a flint, and He was unwavering and unstoppable as a result. Salvation became possible because Jesus was determined to finish the work God gave Him. Had He stopped short, we would still be lost. Jesus died for the will of God. Could we live for it? Are you a deterred or determined disciple of Christ? Will you adopt Jesus’ attitude and go all in for the will of God?
Recent Comments