The Shadow of the Cross

Other Texts

Mk.16:19 “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”

2Kgs.12:17 “At that time Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem,”

Isa.50:7 “But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.”

Jer.42:15 “then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there,”

Lk.10:1 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.”

Matt.10:5 “These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,”

John 4:9 “The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)”

Lk.10:33 “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.”

John 4:20 “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.””

Rev.13:13 “It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,”

The most unique structural feature of Luke’s Gospel is the extended journey to Jerusalem, or travel narrative, from 9:51 to 19:27. Luke takes ten chapters to treat a period which in Mark occupies a single chapter.

Luke 13:33 “Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’”

Luke 17:11 “On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.”

Mark L. Strauss

Luke’s gospel especially emphasizes the movement toward Jerusalem (e.g., 9:51; 13:33; 17:11), while Acts describes a movement away from Jerusalem. “from this point forward, everything in Luke takes place under the sgadow of the cross.”

D. A. Carson; Douglas J. Moo

5 sections in Luke: Lk.1-2, Infancy; 3-4, John the Baptist; 4:14-9:50, Ministry in Galilee; 9:51-19:44, Journey to Jerusalem; 19:45-24:53, Passion Week.

Starting with 9:51, Luke devoted ten chapters of his narrative to a travelogue of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. Much of the material in this section is unique to Luke. This is the heart of Luke’s gospel, and it features a theme Luke stressed throughout: Jesus’ relentless progression toward the cross. This was the very purpose for which Christ had come to earth (cf. 9:22, 23; 17:25; 18:31–33; 24:25, 26, 46), and He would not be deterred. The saving of sinners was His whole mission (19:10).

John F. MacArthur

3 Periods of Jesus’ Ministry (Luke). Galilean ministry, Journey to Jerusalem thru Samaria ministry, and Jerusalem ministry.

Jesus journay and determination to start this journey is a reflection of how every person has to decide if and when he/she will start their own journey toward their purpose for being in this world.

The Travel Narrative reveals . the demise of the Jewish people in their rejection of Jesus, time and time again.

The fig tree represents Israel, and the point is that opportunity for Israel is fading quickly—they are on ‘extended time.’ Luke lets us see just how seemingly hopeless Israel is, for there are thirty-eight sections in Luke 9:51–19:28 and in twenty-two of them Jesus faces rejection or resistance or hostility of Jewish people to Him. The covenant people need to repent. The trouble is not Galileans’ blood nor falling towers but their own blindness to their own need—and the time for repentance is running out.

Dale Ralph Davis