Matthew 17.22-23 Mark 9.30-32 Luke 9.43-45
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30 From
there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He
did not want anyone to know about it. 31 For
He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be
delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been
killed, He will rise three days later.” 32 But
they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid
to ask Him.
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43 And
they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was
marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, 44 “Let
these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered
into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand this
statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it;
and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
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Sometimes we can be surprised by events or circumstances
because we have no way of knowing that they are going to happen. There are other times we are surprised
because we fail to see the warning signs that indicate what is about to
happen. Neither of these explains why
the disciples were surprised by the crucifixion. Jesus has made it repeatedly and abundantly
clear that this is what was going to happen.
The problem was that the implications this information were so
overwhelming that they simply could not bring themselves to accept it as truth.
CLEAR INTENTIONS: Jesus has made the statement that He would
suffer, die and rise from the dead on multiple occasions. This time He makes it even more clear that He
will be killed by men and that He would rise again on the third day. This was the mission the Father had sent the
Son to accomplish. Jesus never wavered
from this purpose. It was what was
announced at the beginning of His ministry.
It was repeated all throughout His ministry. It was accomplished exactly as was
foretold. Nobody should have been
surprised. He continues to make His
intentions very clear to all of us about His mission for us. His death and resurrection has already been accomplished
and now it our job to announce the Gospel to all the nations of the world. Whether we are committed to this mission or
not; there can be no mistake that God has been very clear about His intentions.
CONFUSING IMPLICATIONS: The disciples were simply not ready
to receive the message of the Messiah being killed are the rising from the
dead. The implications of Messiah’s
death were so contrary to all they were expecting that they just could not
bring themselves to believe it or accept it.
They were afraid to ask for clarification so they just continued in
confusion. They were expecting a King
with a kingdom. The thought Rome would
be overthrown and Israel would be liberated from its enemies. The thought that Messiah would be killed just
didn’t fit with these expectations. We
must be careful with our own expectations about the mission. Too many followers of Christ think that they
will experience comfort, peace and prosperity now, when God has called us to a
life of persecution and suffering for the advancement of the mission.
APPLICATION: Understand what God has revealed in His Word as
the mission for us today of taking the Gospel to all the nations. Recognized that the peace and prosperity that
are promised to believers are promises for eternity and will not be the normal
experience as we commit to the mission.
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