ESOCS Devotional 12 April 2024 – Jesus Must Go To Jerusalem
MEMORY VERSE: “From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.”Matthew 16:21
TEXT: MATTHEW 16:21-END
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
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“From that time, Jesus began.” These are the same words that Matthew used in 4:17 to mark the transition following Jesus temptation. There, Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Now, He begins to show His disciples that He must suffer and die.
Peter had just identified Jesus as Messiah, and Jesus blessed him for his confession of faith. However, Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone because they did not yet understand what messiahship meant. They still thought of the Messiah as a warrior-king like David. In verse 21, Jesus outlines for them what to expect of the Messiah, and it is the exact opposite of their expectations.
Jesus must go to Jerusalem to complete His God-given mission. He had come to save the world, and Jerusalem was essential to His work. Not going to Jerusalem would jeopardize everything that He had come to do. As the site where earlier prophets met their doom, the holy city will once again become an unholy city. Jesus must “suffer many things.” Isaiah 53:4-6 introduced the idea of a Suffering Servant (Psalms 22 and 69). So, the idea should not be completely foreign to the disciples, but it seemed to be.
Jesus will suffer “from the elders, chief priests, and scribes”. These three groups made up the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of the Jews. It was not the worst of men who will kill Jesus, but the best. They had no legal authority to impose a death sentence but would decide on behalf of the nation that Jesus must die. Then, they would persuade the people to support the sentence and the Romans to carry it out.
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“… and be killed”. How could a dead man save anyone? How could a messiah save other people if he could not save himself? Why would God send anyone to do something so ungodlike as dying? If death was, somehow, necessary, why would the messiah die the ignominious death of a cross instead of the glorious death of a battlefield?
“and the third day be raised up”. Jesus’ prediction of His own death was so shocking that, like a great magnet, it draws all our attention. It seems unlikely that the disciples were still listening when Jesus predicted His resurrection. The way was to Jerusalem, the place of preparation. As you go out today, never leave the thought of preparation for the Soon Coming King.
- Reflect on the second coming of Jesus and see if you are prepared for it.
- Lord, help me to walk in your ways to be ready for your second coming.
Further Reading: 1 Samuel 14:1-15; Jeremiah 6:9-15; Galatians 4:12-20
ESOCS Devotional 12 April 2024
