1. Divine love, Divine resolution
2. The scandal of grace
3. The cost of discipleship

Reflection Questions:

What is the theological significance of the phrase “he set his face to go to Jerusalem” in Luke 9:51, especially in relation to Old Testament prophetic language (e.g., Ezekiel 6:2)?

How does the deliberate and resolute movement of Jesus toward suffering contrast with contemporary Christian assumptions about divine blessing and success?

What theological and ethical commitments underlie Jesus’ refusal to retaliate against the Samaritans?

How does Jesus’ response to rejection inform a cruciform ethic of mission in contexts of hostility or indifference?

How does Jesus’ statement “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” function rhetorically in response to enthusiastic but shallow commitment?

How do material security, geographic rootedness, and social stability factor into your vision of the “good life”?

How might Jesus’ words here call that vision into question?

Why is Jesus’ response to the man who wishes to bury his father so abrupt and seemingly dismissive? What interpretive options help make sense of this exchange? How does Jesus’ prioritization of the kingdom over burial customs reframe the moral weight of religious and cultural obligations?

How do you discern when a good and noble responsibility (e.g., caregiving, cultural tradition, vocational pursuit) becomes an obstacle to faithful discipleship?

How might the motif of the “living dead” in Jesus’ saying -“Let the dead bury their own dead” — function as a critique of spiritual complacency?

What does Jesus’ image of “putting hand to the plow and not looking back” reveal about the nature of discipleship and its demands on attention, direction, and purpose? In your own experience, what “looking back” tendencies compete with your capacity for forward-focused faithfulness?

In what ways does this entire passage call you to participate in the cruciform life-not merely as imitation, but as union with Christ’s death and resurrection (cf. Gal. 2:20; Phil. 3:10)