Luke 9 discusses two faces of Jesus Christ. Both faces are associated with the city of Jerusalem. In 9:29-32, the Lord is on the Mount of Transfiguration. On that mountain, it says that His face is transformed (v 29). The disciples saw His glory in His face (v 32). We could say that they saw His glorious face. 

Elijah and Moses appeared with the Lord on the mountain. They spoke with Him about “His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (9:31, NASB). 

The Lord had just told His disciples that He was going to suffer. He would be rejected by the religious leaders who were in Jerusalem (9:22). If the disciples wanted to follow Him, they would have to suffer as well (9:23-26).  

Even though the Lord’s face was glorious on the mountain, the mention of Jerusalem and His departure presented a paradox. That glorious face would experience suffering in the capital city. 

In Luke 9:51, a few verses after the Mount of Transfiguration, the Lord turns from Galilee and heads south. Luke says, “When the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (NKJV). This is the point in Luke where the Lord heads to Jerusalem to meet His fate. 

The mention of Christ’s being received up refers to the Ascension. He would ascend to the Father. On that day, He would experience great glory. 

But in 9:51, we do not see a glorious face. The phrase “set His face” is a Jewish way of saying that He was determined to do something. He was determined to go to Jerusalem and suffer. The face in 9:51 is a face of suffering. Even in the immediate context, He encounters suffering. The very first place where He goes on His way to Jerusalem is a village in Samaria. There, the Samaritans reject Him. They won’t even allow Him to stay in their town. He is forced to go elsewhere.  

Within the same chapter, then, we see our Lord with a face full of glory and with a face of suffering.  

Paul says that we see Christ in the Scriptures. As we look at Him, His Spirit can transform us into what we see (2 Cor 3:18). But which face do we see? 

We certainly see a Suffering Servant. In Matt 26:67, His enemies spat in His face and slapped Him. Some say that this also points to the fulfillment of Isa 50:6, where the prophet says that His beard was pulled from His face. 

The NT tells us that we should look at that face and walk in His shoes. We can be like Him and experience the hatred He experienced from the world (Phil 1:29; 3:10; Heb 13:13). To suffer with Him would mean sharing His face of suffering. 

But when we look at Him, we also see a face of glory (2 Cor 4:6; Rev 1:14; 2 Tim 2:12a; 2 Cor 3:18; Heb 1:3). We are told that He will come and rule over everything. All believers will be in His kingdom forever. But to the degree that we suffer with Him, we will share in that glorious reign. We might say that believers will share in His face of glory.   

May our faces reflect the two faces of Christ. In this life, may we be willing to suffer with the One who “set His face” to go to Jerusalem. If we do, how wonderful will it be to share in the glory the disciples saw on His face on that mountain?