He Set His Face toward Jerusalem

Luke marks a decisive turn: “when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” From here the Gospel takes on a long journey structure. Jerusalem becomes the destination where rejection, death, resurrection, ascension, and then the launching of witness will converge.

Where this fits in the story: prophets journey toward resistant Jerusalem; Israel’s feasts draw pilgrims to the holy city; exile-and-return hopes revolve around Zion. Jesus’ movement toward Jerusalem gathers these patterns while also exposing the city to judgment.