Matthew 20:17-19 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “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 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!”
In the above scene Jesus again tells the disciples of his imminent death, experiences at the end of life that no man could endure easily. His own people, the Jews, would betray him to the hated Romans for execution. Before his death, He would be whipped; a whole company of soldiers would gather around him to strip him naked, mock him as king of the Jews, place a painful crown of thorns on his head, spit on him, and beat him with a staff. He would be forced to carry his cross to his execution, much like digging your own grave before you are killed. Jesus emphatically told the disciples that He faced the cross. He would fulfill the will of the Father to have him crucified for the sins of the world. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son to die on a cross. (John 3:16) Of course this will of the Father God was not the will of the disciples for Jesus. When Jesus had earlier informed the disciples of his death, Peter responds with a word of rebuke to Jesus. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Matthew 16:22-23) Jesus’ harsh response to Peter’s words of encouragement and allegiance to him must have confused Peter, for he was telling Jesus, we and the people who are your admirers and followers will never let this awful thing happen to you. But instead of being praised for such positive and helpful words, Jesus calls him Satan, the source of evil. Jesus could call a man no harsher words than Satan. But anything other than the will of the Father God is evil, for God is the source of all good things, and in this case the offering up of his Son, Jesus, on a cruel cross. Yet from a human perspective, this death would not be good. In the eyes of a loving Father, Christ’s death personified God’s goodness. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:10-12) In this act of mercy and goodness at the hands of the Lord, God’s salvation came to all people. The chains of evil that bound all mankind to judgment would be broken by the sacrifice of the Lamb. No longer would man have to pay the price for his sins, as in the days when lambs were slaughtered by the priests morning and evening every day for the sins of the people, but God would pay the price in full by giving his Son to die on a cross, once and for all time. Because of such a love-deed, God rejoices over his redeemed people. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17) Yes, God rejoices, but the disciples see no good in this act of sacrifice. They go away from the cross mourning, in deep sadness, not gladness.
We know the disciples could not appreciate Jesus’ prophesy of his coming death. James and John diverted the whole conversation of Jesus’ death to what place of status they will receive in heaven. Their mother asked Jesus to “grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” (Matthew 20:21) They were not concerned about the horrific details of Jesus’ death but about their own interests—a good example in scripture of sheep who go their own way, the basic sin of self-interest. They were concerned about themselves if Jesus passed away. Jesus had told the disciples a number of times that He would be crucified. Judas listened in on these prophesies of Christ’s death. He heard the words, but must not have believed that they would be carried out as Jesus described them. For when he betrayed Jesus, he was not aware of the consequences of his betrayal. Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” (Matthew 27:3-4) Judas betrayed Jesus for money, probably understanding that his hope for a better life by following Jesus was not going to be fulfilled. Jesus had not gathered around him men who were violent, a militia that would take over the government by force. Jesus seemed impervious to such an idea. They were living in an olive grove at night, camping out, fearful of the Jewish elite. How could this group of men ever attain anything good in this world of power and authority? Jesus seemed to be the wrong kind of leader, for He talked about love, forgiving one another. Jesus even identified with the least of these. How could a man who teaches loving your enemies throw off the yoke of the Roman masters? For Judas, following Jesus was a dead end with nothing much to be gained. His choice to love the world and everything in it was detrimental to him when he forfeited the kingdom of God. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mark 8:36-37)
We must ask ourselves this question, Is the cross in my life? Jesus said explicitly, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up THEIR CROSS and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. (Mark 8:34-35) How deep the cross was in the disciples’ lives was revealed later. They all fled when Jesus was arrested, saving their own lives for another day. Just as Judas, they had heard the words of Jesus, but did not know the cost to their lives when they chose to follow him. On the day of the mob arresting Jesus, the dynamite of life blew up in their faces. Their hopes of greatness by following Jesus came to a catastrophic end. They fled, not knowing what the future held for them. Even Peter, who was brave enough to follow Jesus to the high priest’s courtyard, chose this life over dying for Jesus and the kingdom of heaven. They all had seen Jesus’ marvelous works; they all had heard his great teachings about loving others and God. They heard his cry for the people to repent. Jesus spoke as God himself would speak, but they abandoned him when He was in the hands of his tormentors. As Pilate said when he mocked Jesus as a king: When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” (John 19:5) The disciples fled because they saw Jesus as a man of the flesh, not as God. Their faith blew up when they saw Jesus in the hands of other men. How could the Son of God be abused by mere men? How could He be divine if he was incapable of protecting himself? This is exactly what the leaders of the Jewish society wanted the people to think of Jesus. As Pilate said, He was nothing else but A MAN. Consequently, the chief priests and the elders could readily say, “Crucify! Crucify!” A man could be crucified, but not the Son of God. This was obvious in the crowd’s thinking, and it was obvious to the disciples. But as Judas forgot and maybe the disciples forgot, Jesus had a closing comment in his prophetic words about his death: On the third day he will be raised to life! Jesus, the gift of God for humans to have eternal life, would be raised to life. The resurrection reveals that God has brought eternal life to human beings. His love for his creation was fully realized at the cross. But the question remains for us, Is the cross in my life? Are we willing to follow Jesus to the end of our lives or are we deciding on how to win the most out of this life? Some of us choose Jesus to have an abundant life here on earth. Is that choice to have a better, more satisfying life here or do we seek eternal life, the abundance of life IN AND THROUGH CHRIST JESUS. Do we follow Jesus for bread and fish? Or do we follow Jesus to honor him as Lord and Savior? After the resurrection the disciples followed Jesus to the cross by dedicating their lives to him no matter what the cost. In times of stress and calamity in our lives, are we there in the courtyard saying, “Yes, I am a disciple of Christ.” In Acts 5 the disciples were flogged and ordered never to speak in Jesus’ name again. This is a different group of disciples: they were glad to suffer for the name of Jesus. As with Paul, are we willing to carry the cross as he did when experiencing the stresses of life. Paul encourages us in Philippians 3 to be full of joy, to rejoice, and to place everything into Jesus’ hands. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live IN CHRIST JESUS. The disciples really did not understand what Jesus was saying when He prophesied about his death, but the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit made it all clear. Christian friends, today we live because of the cross; the gift of God is eternal life. Amen!
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