A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Glory

In Luke 9:51, Jesus “sets his face to go to Jerusalem.” He had been there many times before, but this would be his final trip there. The disciples, along with everyone else who believed in some way in Jesus, expected this would be a trip ending in vindication and victory. Their expectation was glory, but Jesus knew that before any glory could come, there would be death. The same crowds that cried “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday would vent their disappointment when they cried “Crucify him” just a few days later on Good Friday. Jesus knew that the only way to glory was through the cross. In this series, we will join Jesus and the disciples on what is known as Luke’s Journey Narrative and hear Jesus' counterintuitive call to freedom: “Pick up your cross and follow me.” The path to true freedom is through the cross, not around it. The glory road will screw us up and cause us to avoid the cross because death looks and feels like failure. And yet, it is the only means through which we come to resurrection and new life.