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LUKE - Christ, the Savior of the World
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to Luke
PART 4 - JESUS' MINISTRY DURING HIS JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (Luke 9:51 - 19:27)
31. Christ Confirms His Death and Resurrection (Luke 18:31-34)
LUKE 18:31-34
31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” 34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.
Jesus met separately with his twelve disciples. He took them aside from the multitude, and imparted to them for the third time important news about the mystery of his being. The Son of Man was prepared to die. He was not willing to destroy his enemies with the sword, as earthly politicians do, or to seize power with the help of angels, but instead prepared himself to die for sinners to reconcile them to God, and went toward the cross with determination. As he was preparing to sacrifice himself by his death, his disciples were concerned about their future rewards and positions in the kingdom. They thought of earthly matters. But Christ thought of heavenly matters, and tried, in vain, to draw his disciples to this level of thought. They did not understand how the power of God could look weak, and how he who prevailed over disease, death and Satan should surrender without defense, and agree to be slain, silently, as a sheep in the hands of its shearers, without opening his mouth.
Christ declared to them the truth of his suffering, death and resurrection with clarity, that they might be able to stand firm if their faith came under attack. He did not rely only on his own predictions, but established them first on the texts of the Old Testament, which spoke of his suffering and death in advance. For hundreds of years the Holy Spirit had been directing toward this decisive hour of human history, that is the hour of the world’s redemption, and the true prophets had taken the cross of Christ as a center of their prophecies (Isaiah 50:6; Isaiah 53; Zechariah 11:12; 12:10; 13:7; Psalms 22; et al.)
The King who was ready to die prepared his ignorant disciples for the most difficult hour in his life and in theirs. He did not say to them, “Behold, I go up in the midst of the wild mountains to high Jerusalem”, but said, “Behold, we go up, for you will participate with me in contempt, persecution, and weeping, as you fall into the shaking sieve of Satan, for he intends to destroy you, my future apostles.
Christ called the greatest distress coming on him “his being delivered to the Gentiles”, for such delivery to an unbelieving authority was considered a great shame to believing Jews, as if God forsook him who had surrendered, and did not protect him any longer. His separation from his Father on the cross is from the beginning the mystery of the true cross, about which Jesus was sad, knowing that his Father would hide his face from him, and become separated from his beloved Son, to pour out all his wrath on the Lamb of God, and condemn him instead of the sinners.
The other sufferings already mentioned are an explanation of this divine forsaking. They count as a list of temptations to make Jesus hate those who oppressed him, and so cause him to sin; thus losing his objective of dying sacrificially for us as the unique Lamb of God. But he continued in eternal love blessing those who oppressed him, and praying with all his heart. He cried out his first words on the cross, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
The destruction of the Holy One of God was also the aim of Satan, so the man Jesus was delivered to him. Satan’s agents tortured Jesus’ body with whips, which consisted of leather thongs loaded with small pieces of iron tied at intervals, for tearing flesh from bones. In the end they crucified him, that his muscles might be torn under the weight of his body, and result in his death. His torn body became motionless, and his heart stopped; but his Spirit continued alive, for he had committed it into his Father’s hands.
Christ remained sinless, even on the cross suffering temptations of Satanic force. He overcame the wiles of Satan and all his power. Yet he who remained sinless shall not die, for the wages of sin is death. Christ rose from the dead. He discarded death, and his soul prevailed over sin, Satan and death, thus he pacified God’s anger, and reconciled men with the Holy One. Jesus’ resurrection is the symbol of his triumph, and the picture of our hope. Let us not forget that Jesus had foretold his death before his resurrection, confirming that the life of God could not die in him.
Nevertheless, the disciples did not understand the mysteries of Jesus’ character and purpose. They not only became blind to the meaning of his suffering, death, and resurrection; but also considered such events impossible, and thought that he had given a baseless prediction. The Holy Spirit was not poured out yet into their hearts, neither was the redemptive plan of God revealed to them. Thus they were blind, though they had followed their Lord for a long time. Are you also still blind, or do you worship the Lamb of God?
PRAYER: O Holy Lord, we thank you for coming as man to suffer and die instead of us. We thank you for bearing contempt, scourging, spitting, strokes and death that we may share in your resurrection and everlasting life. Please open our friends’ eyes that they may find eternal life in your cross.
QUESTION 113: How did Jesus prepare his disciples for his sufferings, death and resurrection?