17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Read Matthew 20:17-19 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
As Jesus and His disciples were headed to Jerusalem for the final time, Jesus pulls them aside and shares with them what will happen. Jesus shares that He will be handed over to the religious leaders, He will be sentenced to death, and He will be mocked, flogged, and ultimately crucified. But Jesus finishes by saying, “On the third day he will be raised to life!” (v. 19b)
I find this entire passage amazing, because nothing about that weekend was a surprise to Jesus. This is because either God had divinely revealed all this information to Jesus, or Jesus was a better student of Messianic prophecies than the religious leaders were at that time and He had pieced the entire timetable of this mission to earth.
It is amazing for me to think that Jesus knew everything – including that He would be betrayed (and likely already knowing it was Judas Iscariot) before Judas even had the idea for betraying Jesus. It is also amazing to know that Jesus knew about His future resurrection as well.
Some of those living today believe Jesus’ life was cut short against His will and His ideal plan. This couldn’t be any further from the truth. Jesus lived the only life in history where Plan A was the only plan that was needed. Everyone else has messed up Plan A, and most of us have messed up plenty of other plans as well.
Jesus’ life was the most predicted and prophesied life ever in history, and Jesus faithfully walked the path that the Godhead had planned for Him to walk. This life included an incredible birth, and escape to Egypt, a normal childhood, a start to ministry at the age of 30, and the cross three and a half years later. Jesus’ life also included the resurrection, which was unprecedented. While other people in history had returned to life, none of these people’s return to life was predicted beforehand. Jesus has been the only Person in history to accurately predict his or her own death and resurrection.
We can trust Jesus because He lived the perfect life and He knows what God’s future holds for each of us!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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