"Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem"

                

Monday musical meditations on God's good news

An opening prayer:

    Children of the heavenly Father,

    Safely in his bosom gather;

    Nestling bird or star in heaven

    Such a refuge ne’er was given.

    God his own doth tend and nourish;

    In his holy courts they flourish;

    From all evil things he spares them;

    In his mighty arms he bears them.

    Neither life nor death shall ever

    From the Lord his children sever;

    Unto them his grace he showeth,

    And their sorrows all he knoweth.

    Though he giveth or he taketh,

    God his children ne’er forsaketh;

    His the loving purpose solely

    To preserve them pure and holy.

    Lo, their very hairs he numbers,

    And no daily care encumbers

    Them that share his ev’ry blessing

    And his help in woes distressing.

    Praise the Lord in joyful numbers:

    Your Protector never slumbers.

    At the will of your Defender

    Ev’ry foeman must surrender. Amen.

Luke 9:51–62

• As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then he and his disciples went to another village.
• ⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
• ⁵⁸  Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
• ⁵⁹  He said to another man, “Follow me.”
• But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
• 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
• ⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
• ⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

         helpful notes on Luke 9:51–56 

         helpful notes on Luke 9:57-62 

Good news questions

• Jesus is so demanding. Who does he think he is?
• Yet Jesus is so patient. He will not call down God's judgment on the Samaritans for now.
• Are you willing to follow him wherever he goes?

For others pray

• That God spreads the good news of the kingdom of the Son he loves in Chad

J.S. Bach's beautiful music for today

• BWV 12 (YouTube, "Weeping, Crying, Worrying, Losing Heart")
• Why so many tears and fears? "We must through much hardship enter the kingdom of God."
• Does Jesus tell us to expect ease as we follow him? Hardly.
• "Cross and crown are joined together."
• But "after the rain, blessing blossoms."