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The Book of Luke, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem - Lesson 201
Luke 18:31-43, Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
In the passage immediately preceding this announcement of Christ Peter, had said, “We have left all to follow you”.
But Jesus Christ had assured them that any sacrifice that Peter and the other disciples had made would be returned many times over, in this age and in the age to come, eternal life.
So we are able to see the contrast between what the disciples have sacrificed with that which the Lord Jesus Christ faces as he now calls them to go to Jerusalem.
This announcement of Jesus Christ pertaining to his crucifixion puts their sacrifice and any sacrifice of the followers of Christ, including any sacrifice that you or I make, into perspective.
In light of what Christ did for the world and in order to bring the kingdom in, there is no sacrifice that can measure up to His sacrifice.
No sacrifice of a believer can bring in the kingdom but only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is sufficient to do that, for it is only His sacrifice on which the kingdom of God is based.
Only that which the Lord Jesus would do, the sacrifice of His own precious blood, to atone for the sins of the world will allow the kingdom to come.
But this truth was unknown to the disciples for we are told that they understood none of these things.
We are told in fact that this understanding was hidden from them and they did not even know of the things which were spoken.
This is not the first time that this message was given by Christ to the disciples for the Gospels are full of direct and indirect statements relative to the death of Christ by the hands of the Gentiles.
Jesus had told them in Luke 9:22, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. He told them in Luke 9:43-45 44Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. 45But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.
And again in Luke 17:24-25 he told of his coming suffering: For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
This is the pattern the disciples were to come to know, first suffering and then glory.
So this announcement of Christ that it is the time for going to Jerusalem makes it clear that the ministry through Galilee and the area of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River, is coming to an end.
Matters are becoming more serious, opposition by the authorities is becoming more open and in view of this the Lord Jesus Christ takes time to explain what coming events will be.
Mark in his gospel tells us, that as Jesus led the way up to Jerusalem and before he gave the disciples this pronouncement, that the disciples were afraid.
From this I thing we could infer that they would rather stay in more comfortable surroundings and therefore they wished to turn back.
They had seen and felt the opposition of the religious authorities that had come out of Jerusalem and just the fact of going to Jerusalem brought fear to their hearts.
There was obviously a fear of the unknown but also a real fear of physical harm to their Lord and Master and to them.
There was a shadow beginning to fall across their paths and fears were building up that things were not going according to their plans.
It is not hard to imagine the hearts of the disciples for in studying this gospel it is easy to see that dire events are ahead for the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is obvious to us in the study of the Gospel of Luke that those events that have already taken place up to this point guarantee that this man Jesus is to be killed by the Pharisees. The Pharisee’s sole reason for being has been challenged by the consistent preaching of truth by Jesus Christ.
I believe that in any age this same result would come, for man in any age has the same heart and that heart will always rebel against truth.
It will rebel against truth to the point of putting to death the ultimate truth teller, truth personified, the Lord Jesus Christ who said, “I am the truth”.
We see in the life of Christ what truth faces on this earth of sin, for this earth of sin is naturally opposed to truth.
Luke begins this passage by telling us that Jesus gathered unto himself the twelve disciples.
His important pronouncement was meant only for this select group.
He prefaced this instruction by using the word, “Behold.”
This is a strong word used to spur strict attention on the part of the disciples.
Mothers and fathers do not usually use the word behold but they use something spellbinding upon their child when they too want complete attention.
You may hold your child by his shoulders and say “look me in the eye” when you want complete attention.
Jesus said to these same disciples in Luke 9:45, Let these sayings sink down into your ears: when he wanted complete attention.
My mother used to say it this way, “Get the wax out of your ears and listen to me!”
But the word “behold” always prefaces instruction that is extremely important and warns of weighty things.
He tells them in essence that this is the beginning of the end of the road.
This trip to Jerusalem is a special trip, it is a last trip, for all things that are written by the prophets concerning me shall be accomplished, Jesus said.
Jesus had already told the disciples of many things that were to take place in his future.
And here he tells future events again along with very specific details such as the fact that he will be handed over to the Gentiles, he will be mocked, he will be spit upon and scourged and then killed.
And again he tells them the same thing that he told them after Peter confessed him as the Christ in Luke 9, that he would rise again in three days.
It is interesting to note that Jesus never told of the cross without telling of the resurrection.
How convicting that should be to us when we dwell on the negatives of life and keep silent about the glories that God has in store for us in Jesus Christ.
Now we have seen over the course of our study in Luke that this message had been given to the disciples progressively.
Jesus Christ had indicated clearly to the disciples of his rejection, his mistreatment, his death and his resurrection that was forthcoming.
There seems to be no clearer message in the Gospels and that is how it should be, for this very instruction is the blessed gospel message that is given for us to broadcast in our day.
But the amazing thing is that even with such specific details, the disciples had no idea what Jesus was talking about. For in verse 34 we are given; And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
They lacked understanding for the meaning was hidden from them as God deliberately withheld it.
They were not ready for it.
And as we see from later scripture they would only understand Jesus’ rejection, crucifixion, and death after His resurrection.
God withheld understanding from the disciples for good reason.
You as a father or mother withhold understanding from your children until they are ready for it.
All instruction is time related is it not?
There is a body of knowledge for the older children that is totally different than that of the little children.
Parents withhold instruction and collateral understanding in order to protect their children until they can cope with knowledge.
The disciples were at a particular point in their development.
They had expectations about Christ which did not match what Christ was telling them.
They were looking for the glories not the suffering!
What Jesus said was not what they wanted to hear for it went against all logic and reason.
He was the Messiah!
Who ever heard of the Messiah dying and not being victorious.
Hadn’t Peter tried to straighten Jesus out the first time He clearly spoke of His coming death, and Peter strongly rebuked the Lord for speaking of such strange things.
Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
But the disciples gave no rebuke this time for they had remembered that Peter had been called “Satan” because of his rebuke but even so they still had not accepted this doomsday forecast.
At this point in the disciples lives it is easy to see that they understood very little of what Jesus was saying, nor did they grasp what He had come to do.
It was not until after Jesus Christ had fulfilled His work on the cross, not until after He was raised from the dead, not until He Himself had taught them (cf. Luke 24:27), not until the coming of the Holy Spirit, that the disciples were able to put all of what had happened together.
And is this not also true in your own spiritual life?
How long did it take for you to understand?
And in so many ways we still do not understand.
Jesus knew that they did not understand but he wanted them to remember what he had said when the time came that they would understand.
It is like saying to your child when the President passes you in a motorcade.
Look, Son, the President of the United States.
I remember well in the 1950’s seeing President Eisenhower pass in a motorcade as he was going about the country seeking re-election. That was a highlight.
So the typical father says “Look son and remember this day”.
You may emphasize it over and over knowing that your son or your daughter does not understand at that time but that someday they will understand and you want them to remember this highlight of their life.
You know it is an important day but the child does not have the capacity to know of its importance.
Basically in our passage for today the Lord has told the disciples the gospel message that Paul will later write of in:
I Cor. 15:3,4, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
The difference between Paul’s message and Christ’s message is that Christ tells the story before it happened while Paul tells the story after it happened. God always tells the story before if happens but man can only tell it after it happens.
So it is easy to see in Christ’ telling this message to his disciples a sense of gravity that they remember well this decisive turn in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Jesus knew they were not ready to understand the message and He did not tell it to them to ease their hearts and minds.
His purpose was to draw their attention to the specific events of His death ahead of time, so that after its fulfillment they might understand that this was inspired prophecy.
And this would be another validation of Christ’s deity. |