|
Saints, I pray that you each had a very Merry Christmas and a safe and joy-filled New Year’s celebration. I wish you each many blessings, joy in Christ, and much prosperity in 2026!
It is a familiar routine this time of year to reflect on the challenges and remember the many blessings that 2025 brought. Have many of you done the same exercise? You may also have spent time thinking about changes you would like to see in your life in the new year – things that you would like to be resolute about changing, perhaps even making resolutions.
Typically, the New Year brings about pondering the last year and aspiring to do better. These resolutions encompass goals related to diet and eating better, exercising more, and improving overall health, as well as enhancing the quality of sleep, setting budgetary goals, organizing and decluttering, and spending more time with family and friends, among others. Sometimes, faith-life goals also make the list, as do attending church more consistently, starting or attending a Bible study, and spending time in God’s Word on a daily basis. Often, these are referred to as New Year's Resolutions, goals set with the intention of being resolute in achieving them. Sound familiar?
In today’s scripture reading from Luke 9:37-56, we get a glimpse from Jesus of what it means to be resolute. This part of Luke describes the other end of the journey from what we so closely observed during Christmas in Luke 2, the birth of Christ. Here, in Jesus' ministry on earth, He prepares for death on a cross. I think it’s always worthy of reflection on Jesus’ example, from cradle to crucifixion, while He was here on earth.
In this scene in Luke, Jesus comes down from a mountain to a large crowd when a man begs Him to heal his demon-possessed son. The desperate man reveals that he had begged Jesus' disciples to heal the boy, but they did not. Jesus’ response may surprise some as He responds, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ( Luke 9:41). The response seems unusually harsh for Jesus.
Commentaries address this in several ways: first, by placing in context the backdrop from where Jesus had just arrived, the Mount of Transfiguration, where He spoke to Moses and Elijah about His upcoming departure to the cross, a heavy topic indeed. Others comment on His frustration with unbelief and disbelief from a perverse and corrupt crowd, including His closest followers, faith-questioning and fearful disciples who didn’t get the job done (healing the demon-possessed boy) in His absence. Last, a parallel from past frustrated leaders (Moses and Elijah) who also bumped against a generation of corrupt and faithless people. Jesus also drops a hint that this behavior and faithlessness will have a hard stop: a day will come when all will face judgment upon His return.
After the melee which ended in a miracle, Jesus, like any patient leader, gathered His disciples and gave them instruction, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” (Luke 9:44) The confounded disciples controlled by fear didn’t step up and ask for clarification, instead began wondering who was the greatest among them. Jesus then uses a nearby child to open their eyes by saying, “whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.” (Luke 9:48).
What happens next is the heart of today’s devotion. Jesus resolutely “set His face” to Jerusalem, the place where He is to be both crucified and resurrected. He and the disciples went to the next village, and Jesus received further confirmation of unbelief and His unpopularity. The village would not welcome the Son of Man. The disciples, now brimming with courage, asked Jesus if they could “send down fire from heaven to destroy the scandalous scorning Samaritans” (Luke 9:54). Laser-focused, Jesus rebuked the idea, and they sought a more sociable village to stay.
Our daily faith walk must have a way of organizing our attention, energy, and emotions in life to reflect Jesus' resolve to combat a world that constantly threatens to destabilize our faith. The disciples wanted Jesus to continue to teach them, combat hostile crowds and villages, and perform miracles. Jesus drew near to His Father’s plan and resolutely “set His face” to Jerusalem to fulfill His Father’s wishes.
Perhaps the most critical destabilizing factor to acknowledge is our sinful human nature; sin is resolute in our nature, yes, by means of the original sin into which we were born. Our churches teach that since the fall of Adam, all who are naturally born are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with the inclination to sin, called concupiscence, a lust to sin (Augsburg Confession, Article II). While Jesus is perfect and sinless, we are not, and we need salvation.
Although New Year’s resolutions are great, and there are some things we can do to buttress against sin; like repenting, asking for forgiveness, being in God’s protecting Word, be in daily prayer, worshiping together, being in community and encouraging each other, and celebrating the Means of God’s Grace (Holy Communion and Baptism), our goals, however great they may be, don’t save us. Only God’s grace does that.
Saints, as we ponder the many blessings in our lives and establish a few resolutions for the year ahead, let’s be as resolute as Christ was, as He knew and was confident in His mission in the plans His Father had for Him. He resolutely “set His face” to the cross to die for us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Amen!
God’s richest blessings on your New Year and resolutions.
| 
