A road less traveled

In his famous poem, Robert Frost concluded:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

That phrase came to mind as I thought about a text from Luke’s Gospel: chapter 9 verse 51. It was a decisive moment in the life of Jesus Christ, indeed a decisive moment in the history of humankind. The Bible tells us simply that he “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This, Bible scholars suggest, is a semitic colloquialism which means that Jesus was resolute, that his mind was steadfastly made up, that he would not be dissuaded from his purpose. He had embarked on a particular path that would lead him inexorably to Jerusalem, Gethsemane and Calvary. Of all the roads open to him, that certainly was one few would have chosen. But the fact that Jesus turned purposefully down that road has made all the difference!