Matthew 20:17-19 Mark 10:32-34 Luke 18:31-34
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17 As
Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside
by themselves, and on the way He said to them, 18 “Behold,
we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the
chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and
will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and
on the third day He will be raised up.”
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32 They
were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of
them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He
took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to
Him, 33 saying, “Behold, we
are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief
priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him
over to the Gentiles. 34 “They will mock Him and spit on
Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He
will rise again.”
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31 Then
He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to
Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the
Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 “For
He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and
spit upon, 33 and after they have scourged
Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” 34 But
the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this
statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that
were said.
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We often hear what we want to hear and believe what we want
to believe. Jesus could not have made
His plight any clearer than He did, yet the disciples do not comprehend. The information He was giving them went
against everything they had believed about Messiah. They thought Messiah would come and reign;
not be tortured. This message of death
and resurrection did not fit with their basic belief system, so they seem to
simply ignore it and continue believing what they want to believe about
Him. We must be careful to believe the
Word of God and not be sucked into believing only the parts we like.
JESUS PREPARES HIS DISCIPLES: Jesus takes the disciples
aside on their way to Jerusalem and wants them to be prepared for what He knows
will happen in the days ahead. He lets
them know that the Scriptures will be fulfilled concerning the Messiah. The news He was about to share was not new
information. The prophets had already
said the same things. God knows all
about the future and exactly what will happen.
Just as He sought to prepare His disciples for their future; He has
revealed our future to us in His Word.
We must pay close attention to those truths.
JESUS PREDICTS HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION: Jesus makes it
very clear that they will go to Jerusalem and that He will suffer, die and
raise from the dead. He lets the
disciples know exactly what will happen.
There can be no doubt that this is God’s sovereign plan of
redemption. Nothing that is in store for
Jesus and His disciples is a surprise to Him.
Jesus came to earth on a mission to save man from sin and reconcile us
to fellowship with God. This was the
priority of Christ though it cost Him immense pain and suffering. This must also be our priority no matter the
cost.
THE DISCIPLES DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE: What seems
strange in the narrative is the affirmation that the disciples did not
understand what Jesus was telling them.
He clearly stated that He would die and rise again on the third day. All the words were understandable, but the
meaning of the statement all together was so contrary to what they believed
that they simply could not understand.
They believed Jesus was the Messiah.
They believed Jess was the Son of God.
They believed He would save them from Roman oppression. They believed He would usher in an age of
peace, prosperity and purity for the nation Israel. They believed He would reign over Israel and
the nations. They believed they would all
have some role to play in that administration.
They did not believe that Messiah would die and then need to be
resurrected. Even though the Scriptures
told them that is exactly what would happen, and Jesus told them that is what
would happen. It is easy for us to
believe the things we want to be true.
The truths that are offensive and difficult for us are much harder to
believe. It is easy to criticize the disciples
in this instance, but it is important for us to question the areas of our life
that we fail to believe or obey because the message is difficult for us.
APPLICATION: The Lord has revealed things about His second
coming to just as He revealed things about His first coming. It is important for us to consider the
prophecies and their implications. God’s
mission in this world is to be reconciled to man. Jesus suffered and died to fulfill this
mission. We are called to give our lives
for the purpose of fulfilling this mission.
Obey all the Lord calls us to do, even when it is difficult for us to do
so.
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