Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again. Mark 10:32-34
This is the first mention of Jerusalem as Jesus’ destination. Because of the elevation of Jerusalem (about 2,250 ft. above sea level), travelers always spoke of going up to the city, regardless of where in Israel they started. Now the disciples were amazed and fearful at Jesus’ resolute determination to go to Jerusalem: Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). This was a dramatic turning point in Christ’s minstry. Now His disciples can see that He is more comtemplative at this point, getting alone more often in prayer to His Father. It’s also obvious to them of this heaviness of heart, and so it frightened them. So Jesus then gathered them and began to tell them, saying “As we make our way up to Jerusalem, the Son of Man will be betrayed. They became afraid because they realized something was about to happen that they did not understand. This the third and last prediction of His death and resurrection that Jesus made to the 12 disciples, worth noting is that it is also the most detailed of the 3 predictions, specifically mentioning that He would be mocked, scourged, and spat upon. And notice He says that the scribes and the priests are going to condemn Him to death, but deliver Him to the Gentiles to do the job. It was the Roman soldiers who put a purple robe on Jesus and mocked Him, saying “Hail, King of the Jews.” It was the Roman soldiers who also laid the thirty-nine stripes on Him, to scourge Him. Recorded for us also was that it was these same Roman soldiers who also spat upon Him. Now if anyone were to ever doubt the Word of God, about our world and its existence, or how the stars and planets came to be? So detailed is God’s Word of prophecy about the existence of man, that we can believe with certainty that every word Jesus spoke about His betrayal and being condemned to death was accurate and true. If it were not, we wouldn’t ever see it written for us in the Scriptures.
And the third day He will rise again—Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we would still be in our sins, condemned to die from its judgment by God. The empty tomb speaks volumes to us as Christians today. Christ’s resurrection is one of the central truths of the Christian faith, and the only plausible explanation for the empty tomb. Paul the apostle gives us great insight when he wrote to the Corinthians, Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep (meaning: have died) in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19) Wow! This is telling us, because of the sacrifices made in this life in light of the hope of the life to come, if there were no eternal life to come, we would be better “to eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19) Which is to have the highest of opinions of yourself. Rather than to fear God, and His judgment of sin in this world.
Beloved friend, Jesus predictions are true. Every one of God’s Word predicting His death and resurrection have come true. The Good News of the Gospel is that hope of eternal life in Christ, who gave Himself up for our sins, and hung on a cross as a condemned sinner, even though He was without sin. But that’s not all, on the third day, He resurrected from the dead, and conquered death for us. Satan has no power to keep us, as his greatest effort is death for the sinner, But demonstrates His own love for us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). God’s love for His own is unwavering because it is not based on how lovable we are, but on the constancy of His own character; God’s supreme act of love came when were most undersirable and because of this, our hope for eternal life is real. Let us be found worthy of this calling, let our actions match that of our declarations and serve the living Christ with fervor and unwavering faith, that will bring glory and honor to Him, Praise God!
May the Lord bless your walk with Him today!
Great post and good information