Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church

 Lectionary: 456

When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,and he sent messengers ahead of him.

As I understand, the original Greek of this verse, faithfully rendered by the King James Version, says that Jesus "set his face to go to Jerusalem." The expression recalls Isaiah's prophecy,

The Lord GOD is my help,

therefore I am not disgraced;

Therefore I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. (Is 50:7) 

And the phrase was echoed by Ezekiel: 

...the house of Israel will refuse to listen to you, since they refuse to listen to me. For the whole house of Israel is stubborn of brow and hard of heart.
Look! I make your face as hard as theirs, and your brow as stubborn as theirs.
Like diamond, harder than flint, I make your brow. Do not be afraid of them, or be terrified by their looks, for they are a rebellious house. (Ez 3:7-9)

In American parlance, we might say, "the Lord steeled himself" as he set out for Jerusalem, Calvary, and certain death. 

At this point, we're only midway into the Gospel of Saint Luke, but the Evangelist must remind the Church that we have set out to go with Jesus, and that we will meet opposition. This will not be an easy journey; we're pilgrims, not tourists. We go as penitents hoping and expecting to be changed by the challenges. We will learn discipline as our thoughts, words, deeds, habits, practices, moods, and attitudes are assessed. 

We have always known that the Lord surveys our thoughts; he has commanded, "Thou shall not covet..." If we secretly covet other people's goods and privileges, the Lord knows. He assesses and guides our inner life in the way of holiness, even as he directs our words and actions. 

Coveting is for those who go nowhere; travelers cannot be amassing stuff as they move. In fact, the further they go, the more they shed and the faster they travel for having less to carry. Some attitudes, grudges, and regrets are just too much; and so we drop them. And then wonder why we carried them so far. 

Nor can we walk with fear. We too set our faces and steel our hearts for the encounters with opposition. If we experience fear, we remember how the Lord was overcome with fear on the night before he died. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground; but as he prayed his spirit revived and he rose to face the enemy. His face was set like flint, and remained so even when they struck him on the face.

...one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” 
Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”  (John 18:21-22)

As we remember the Lord's setting his face for Jerusalem, we remember that God's face shines upon us, 

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! (Numbers 6:24-26)