WHAT SET JESUS’ HEART ON FIRE?

Knowing Jesus’ heart can be pivotal to acquiring a heart like His.

A FACE LIKE FLINT

Jesus, was Your heart set on fire when You set Your face like flint to go to Jerusalem?

Fully confident of God’s support against adversity, the coming suffering servant set his face like flint (Third Servant Song, Isaiah 50). Seven hundred years later, although dangerous, Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). The Pharisees and religious leaders had marked Jesus for death and were doing all they could to accomplish it. In contrast to this threat, Jesus was resolutely determined to go to Jerusalem—to die. The ultimate purpose for which Jesus came to earth was not to teach or even to heal, but to erase the divide separating humankind from God, a victory which could only be accomplished by going to Jerusalem.

The shadow of the cross loomed large over Jesus throughout His ministry. In the gospels, we find Jesus frequently referring to His own death. As He sat down to the Passover meal at the Last Supper, He said to the disciples, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God (Luke 22: 15-16).” With fervent desire, Jesus states. He was not simply walking through a part. He was fully engaged. Only such an engagement, a heart on fire, could press Him toward a certain violent death.

PETER’S REPLY

Jesus, was Your heart set on fire when Peter said, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’?

After the crowds deserted Him, Jesus asked the disciples if they too wanted to leave. Peter gave the unforgettable reply, ““Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68).” At a time when unbelief was wildly spreading through the crowds, what could Peter’s staunch assertion have meant to Jesus? Think of it, if Jesus’ closest disciples left now, where would that leave Him and His mission? This must have been a critical moment, setting His heart on fire.

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THE BELOVED

Jesus, was Your heart set on fire when You heard Your Father say, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’?

As Jesus emerged from the baptismal water at the river Jordan, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended, and rested on Him. Suddenly, a voice from heaven proclaimed, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:13).” For One who came to do His Father’s will, declaring at the end of His ministry that He had done and said all the Father asked of Him, this affirmation of loving approval must have truly set Jesus’ heart on fire.

FINISHED

Jesus, was Your heart set on fire when You cried out from the cross, “It is finished!’?

After the deception and sin of Adam and Eve, God proclaimed to the serpent:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and   her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.

            Genesis 3:15.

The plan put in place in the Garden of Eden was realized when Jesus was crucified. On the cross, near death, Jesus loudly cried out, “It is finished (John 19: 28-30).” We can only begin to imagine the fire that burned in Jesus’ heart as He announced the end of Satan’s authority over the earth. If there was ever a moment when Jesus’ heart was set on fire, this has to qualify.

THE TWELVE

Jesus, was your heart set on fire when You named your first twelve apostles?

He had to get it right. These would be the men He would teach and train to carry on His work after He left. Jesus prayed all night before naming His twelve apostles. His heart must have been burning as He called and named the twelve. They had been following Jesus, but now their commitment escalated to another level. Surely their hearts were also set on fire as Jesus called their names.

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INSIGNIFICANCE

Jesus, was Your heart set on fire, when You saw the widow put all she had, two mites, into the temple treasury?

It brings considerable hope to learn that Jesus noticed an insignificant widow putting an insignificant amount of money into the temple treasury. It tells us of the character of His heart. Time and again, we find Jesus involved with ordinary people. He was not impressed by social status; it was the heart which mattered. Cogently defending spending time with the lower rungs of society, He declared that it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick (Mark 2:17).

We could continue with many examples that speak of Jesus heart being set on fire, major consequential moments but, also as the widow’s mite, less conspicuous instances as well.  Personal interactions, such as the faith displayed by the Roman centurion, the humble appeal from the leper who implored Jesus to heal him if He was willing, or the adulterous woman forgiven and released from the callous Pharisees, must have also set His heart on fire. In a sense, we might speculate that Jesus’ heart was perpetually set on fire as He carried out His mission to bring the kingdom of God to earth. Accomplishing this assignment as a remote, impassive figure would not have worked for Jesus or those around Him. Unless passion swelled His heart, He could not have stayed the course. It was too difficult.

Author Max Lucado compellingly relates the nature of Jesus’ compassion. He writes, “When Matthew writes that Jesus had compassion on people, he’s not saying that Jesus felt casual pity for them. Matthew is saying that Jesus felt their hurt in his gut.”[1] In the context of our present discussion, we might say their troubles set His heart on fire. And, as Lucado continues, “He was so touched by their needs that he forgot his own needs.”

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[1] Lucado, M. (February 3, 2023). God has the eyes of a Father, Daily Devotional, https://maxlucado.com/listen/god-has-the-eyes-of-a-father/?mc_cid= c0891a663a&mceid=44a2f9d99f, accessed 2.3.23.

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THE PAINTING

The blazing canvases are intended to suggest the passionate, energetic, vital, intense, vigorous, feverish, ardent, zealous, extravagant, brilliant, unreserved, galvanic, fervent nature of a heart set on fire. What the painting doesn’t specify is what sets the heart on fire? It will, of course, depend on the heart. A heart can be set on fire to serve self-interest or that of others. The flaming forms occupying the twelve canvases are never still, always moving and reaching outward in the interest of self or others. It’s a choice.

Lord Jesus, just as Your heart burned, set our hearts on fire for the kingdom. So often, our hearts only flicker or they are completely extinguished when we need to be flaming and blazing.

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Would it help if we recounted the many different things that set Your heart on fire as You brought the Father’s heart to earth—unusual faith, truth exposed, needy lives, lives set free, pleasing the Father, surprising miracles, loyal followers, etc.—all of which relate to bringing God’s kingdom to earth.

Would it help if we honestly asked ourselves, what really sets our hearts on fire?

Would it help if we called on the Holy Spirit to change the desires of our heart, to want to hear, more than anything, our Father say, ‘This is my faithful servant in whom I am well pleased’?

Would it help if we felt the hurt of others, beyond casual pity? You did not shield Yourself from others’ pain, but let others’ distress set Your heart on fire, move You into action.

Would it help to recall past occasions when You showed up for us, knowing You will do so again and again?

Would it help if we recall Your intense dislike of lukewarm devotion, preferring even coldness to Laodicean passivity?

Would it help if we saw the possibilities in bringing Your authority into the everyday places where we live—to let our homes, jobs, schools, banks, restaurants, stores, movie theaters, sports arenas, doctor offices, hospitals, and businesses become places of Your presence? Wasn’t this how You lived? Because Your heart was on fire, everywhere You appeared became an occasion to bring God’s kingdom to earth.

Would it help if we expected our lives with You to be filled with surprise, rather than routine? Your life was anything but predictable. Why should ours be? Wouldn’t such expectation keep our hearts burning?

Lord, there are many ways to let You set our hearts on fire for You and Your kingdom, but the first step is allowing the Holy Spirit to unclutter our hearts from all the things that would crowd out a heart set on fire for You. This sounds like surrender—and it is, but it is not surrender to apathy or passivity; rather, it is surrender to passionate expectation filling every day.

Sydney Walker, February 11, 2023