20260315 Luke 9:51-10:24 The Mission of Jesus
Luke 9:51 marks a shift in the narrative of Luke's Gospel with the phrase, “He set his face to go to Jerusalem.” In the three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, a similar shift occurs. The Gospel writers begin by presenting the person and works of Jesus, but once Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus turns the attention to his death in Jerusalem. After this shift, Luke's Gospel is different from Matthew and Mark. The transition from Galilee to Jerusalem takes one chapter in Mark and two chapters in Matthew, but 11 chapters in Luke. Luke 9:51-19:27 is called Luke’s Travel Narrative. It includes all the famous stories that do not occur in the other Gospels. They include the Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, Lazarus and the Rich Man, The Persistent Widow, and The Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the Temple. With this extra material, Luke turns Jesus' journey to Jerusalem into a discipleship manual. Luke's Travel Narrative teaches us about living as a fo...