17And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18"See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."
Today's passage is pretty self-explanatory, but what really struck me was in the title of the passage. The word "again" somehow caught my eye. The fact that Jesus spoke again about his impending death made me wonder why he had to say this again.
I may be over-thinking this but Jesus was a person with feelings and fears. Plus, he knew that he was going to die, let alone all the pain and suffering he was going to have to endure because of it. And the people, he was sent to save, are the ones who will condemn and mock him. These aren't pleasant thoughts to have and to announce.
Going back to the word "again," I wondered if Jesus had to predict and reveal his death because nobody really believed him or didn't want to listen to him. And was Jesus afraid or sad over knowing that he was going to die very soon.
But I did notice at the very end of this short passage that Jesus gave hope because he told them that he would rise again after the third day. Even though he said it in only brief sentence, its meaning holds so much power and hope because it reveals who Jesus really is. Maybe I can say this because I already know the what was to come and the disciples and the people in Jesus's time didn't.
I see that even though Jesus gave grave news again, he still gave his disciples hope and reveal a glimpse of who he really is. Sadly, they probably didn't really understand it nor believe it at the time.
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the disciples were looking forward to entering jerusalem, because they were so sure that Jesus would be crowned the rightful king of the jews and seize political power from the romans. well, i guess we can't say that our Lord didn't try to set them straight about how utterly wrong they were. He patiently explains EVERYTHING that will happen EXACTLY as it will unfold in the coming few days. no doubt the disciples listened carefully, but i'm almost sure that as soon as Jesus had finished talking, that they probably went right back to nursing their hopes for a great political overthrow.
isn't that just like us? we listen attentively to everything Jesus says. it's not like we don't understand clearly the meaning of His words. but almost immediately afterward we disregard what we have heard in favor of our own hopes and intentions. if the word of God is a mirror to ourselves, then i'm thinking we look a lot like these disciples.
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