Luke 18:31-34

Luke 18:31-34

And after taking the twelve, He said to them, “Behold!  We are going up to Jerusalem, and all that has been written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be completed.  For He will be handed over to the Gentiles.  And He will be mocked, He will be treated spitefully, and He will be spat upon.  After being beaten with a scourge, they will kill Him.  And by the third day He will rise.”  And they understood none of these things.  And this word was being hidden from them.  And they were not knowing what was being said.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus tells the disciples that they are going up to Jerusalem.  Of course, this is nice for Jesus to fill them in.  It is also natural for them to hear, because many good Jewish people would come to Jerusalem during the Passover celebration.  What Jesus is modeling for us is that there are certain predictable patterns that Jesus does want to model.  When making disciples, some of our actions and some of our teachings should be predictable.

What predictable rhythms do you have in your life?  How have you seen and imitated predictable patterns in the lives of others around you?

Second Thought:

Imagine being a disciple of Jesus and hearing all of these horrible things being said about the future.  Now, just for a second, imagine being Jesus and knowing all of these horrible things are being said by you about your own future!  This is the power and love of God.  Jesus knows what is coming.  Yet He still goes ahead with the plan.  He even tries to get His disciples to understand so that when it happens they will have the blow softened.

How do stories like this help us understand the grace of God?  How can stories like this help us to fathom the true depth of God’s love?

Third Thought:

The ending of this passage has been spoken about time and time again.  So often we hear about the fact that the disciples didn’t understand because they couldn’t possibly fathom what God was planning on doing with Jesus on the cross. We sometimes get so comfortable in that understanding that we forget to realize the ramifications.  Yes, we can’t easily understand what God was doing upon the cross.  But the reality is that we can’t often fathom what God is going to do.  Yet we constantly beat ourselves up because we fail to anticipate God’s action.  The reality is that the grace we so readily give to the disciples should often come to us as well.  We struggle to see what God is bringing before us, even when He tries to make it clear to us.  But the truth is that Jesus couldn’t have made His death any more clear than telling them exactly what was going to happen.  But they didn’t get it either.  Sometimes God does something so unfathomable that we cannot be prepared for it.

When have you not been able to see what God was doing around you?  Do you get upset with yourself in those moments, especially if it seems so clear after the fact?  How can you learn to give yourself more grace when it is needed?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 18:35-39