Matthew 20:17-19 (NIV) Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Jesus knew that when He was arrested, it would completely freak out His disciples. And when He was crucified, killed, and buried, it would drive them into hiding and into despair. So several times on the journey south He tried to explain to them clearly what would happen so that that knowledge would blunt the force of the trauma a bit. And then, after He rose, He would remind them of what He had predicted, and they would see how precisely it had all been fulfilled, and their faith in Him would be strengthened.
Jesus foretold three distinct phases of what would happen:
- He would be betrayed, ostensibly by one of His own followers, handed over to the chief priest and teachers of the law, who would then condemn Him to death.
- The chief priests and teachers of the law would hand Him over to the gentiles, the Romans, who would mock Him, flog Him, and crucify Him.
- On the third day He would be raised to life.
We who look back on these events after nearly 2,100 years can easily see how they were all fulfilled. But to the disciples peering forward into the dark of the future, it was nearly impossible to see how they could ever happen.
- Who among them could possibly betray Jesus to the Jewish leaders? And even if one of them did, what charge could Jesus possibly be convicted of that would be worthy of death? At that time, very few things rose to that level, and they knew that Jesus wasn’t guilty of any of them. Despite the conflicts Jesus had with these leaders, the disciples still respected them, and couldn’t imagine them ever giving a false conviction.
- If Jesus was convicted, why would the Jewish leaders hand Him over to hated Romans? And what charge could they possibly level against Him that would cause the justice-minded Romans to sentence Him to death by crucifixion?
- And, of course, the most improbable: If Jesus really was crucified and killed, how could He rise again on the third day? Who would raise Him up?
It was these logical challenges that kept Jesus’ words form finding a place in their minds. Despite His absolute clarity, it was only after His resurrection that they would see the truth of His words.
Father, it is so hard, even today, for us to see forward; it is much easier for us to look back and see the truth of what You foretold. Help us to simply take You at Your word, knowing that, even if we can’t connect all of the dots in our own minds, You are always 100% accurate in everything You tell us. Amen.