Matthew 17:22-23 - The prediction of the Lord's betrayal, death and resurrection

 

Jesus and the three disciples, Peter, John and James had returned from the mount of Transfiguration. The Lord had also dealt with the case of the lunatic boy and healed him. He had also told His disciples the necessity to fast and pray and stay current in their faith with God. So now the disciples were assembled in Galilee and here He told them of His impending betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection. In His first prediction to them at Caesarea Philippi, in Matthew 16:21-23, Peter protested and had to be rebuked by Him. This time around they did not protest but were saddened by the information.

Jesus’ suffering and death of course was solemn news. It was constantly on His mind because it was the highpoint of His mission to usher in God’s Kingdom. So He spoke about it to His disciples. The disciples were too overloaded with other information of the Kingdom that they could not process this one. They were probably so set on the dream of a worldly kingdom that they failed to realize that what Christ talked about was in another dimension, equally real. The Lord knew that His death would certainly be a grievous trail to them. So whatever He was doing, He was preparing them to face it. He used the words ‘delivered into the hands of men’. He came to save men but now He had first to be betrayed into the hands of men.

However, notice that they were so distressed that they failed to hear the whole prediction. Christ did not only talk about His betrayal and death but also His resurrection. They were so distracted by the news of His death that they didn’t hear about the victory of His resurrection. Or perhaps, the resurrection might not have made much sense to them. This wonderful news could have been quite abstract to them. They could have been thinking that He was referring to some future remote event where He would come and deliver them. The reality of His resurrection only dawned on them much later.  

 

Yes, Christ suffered and died but He also rose again. The light of His resurrection had forever banished the darkness of despair. If only the disciples have understood that His death was a needful but temporary event, they would not have been overly saddened by it. Like the disciples we also need to see the importance of Christ’s suffering and death to set us free from the bondage of our sinful past. But we must learn to see the important part of Christ’s work, that is, His resurrection. We serve a risen Savior! And He still wants to walk and talk with us. Let’s find the time to relate and fellowship with Him.