Game face

Albert Bogle April 11, 2026 2 1

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Isaiah 50: 4-11 (NIV-UK)

4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
    to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
    I have not been rebellious,
    I have not turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
    my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
    from mocking and spitting.
7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
    and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near.
    Who then will bring charges against me?
    Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
    Let him confront me!
9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.
    Who will condemn me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
    the moths will eat them up.

10 Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys the word of his servant?
Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.
11 But now, all you who light fires
    and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
go, walk in the light of your fires
    and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:
    you will lie down in torment.

As we come to the end of this week’s journey on the Emmaus road, there is still much more to come, much more to learn and even more endurance required on this journey. So this reading from Isaiah is placed here to help us see that when Jesus opened up the scriptures to these two men, (or perhaps it was a man and a woman), he was revealing to them that he knew all that had happened to Jesus the Messiah, because he himself was Messiah, fulfilling the very prophecies of Isaiah.

If I can turn your mind back to Thursday, you will recall how Jesus dealt with the rejection of the crowd. He set his face like a flint. He would not flinch, and now to us his 21st century followers, he invites us to follow his example, when we face struggle, rejection and suffering, we must also set our face like a flint and not flinch — for there is an eternal glory waiting for us all.

This idea is further developed when Paul writes in Hebrews chapter 12: 3 “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart”. He also writes earlier in that same chapter,’ let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”

Prayer:

Lord Jesus

Sculptor, and perfecter of my faith

Chisel into my flint stoned face

A cross shaped gaze — the Joy that comes through suffering

Fashion me now in the likeness of the new creation

Shape my body stance as one engaged with resurrection

Carve out my expression of eternal Joy

Like a disciplined athlete

Shape every sinew so that I strain to win the prize

Give me a glimpse of your glory

The glory still to come

Let my flint-stoned gaze

Speak of my inner resolve

To fix my eyes on you

And in doing so may I hear the roar of heaven

As I cross the line

A real person

In a new creation

In Christ Jesus

My Lord and my God