34 The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"
Give the crowds their due – they were pulling their knowledge from the prophet Daniel yet unfortunately they disregarded a major point of Scripture as they held steadfast to the wrong idea of a non-suffering, glorious, eternal Messiah. They totally dismissed the suffering servant part and that the cross must precede the crown. How like human nature to deal with the pleasant and palatable and not the difficult and dreaded – fleeing from the shadows when indeed it is the shadows which give the depth and full meaning to the picture. The Jews could not and would not understand that the Messiah was to suffer as well as reign – to die as a Sacrifice as well as to appear in glory. They could not and would not reconcile the two in the One person of Jesus. We must be careful not to pick only the palatable parts of Scripture while disregarding the rest. Having half knowledge of Scripture – suppressing some texts while misapplying others – account for a large number of mistakes in lives as well as religion.
"The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others.
Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian." A.W. Tozer
The Scripture the Jews were focusing on in our verses for today are from the prophet Daniel:
13 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Dan 7:13-14 (NIV)
What they seemed to dismiss were the verses the prophesized by the prophet Isaiah:
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, 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. 12 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 53:3-12 (NIV)
Interestingly, Jesus had been clear with His disciples regarding His mission. Scripture states He spoke plainly about this. They did not like what they heard either – Peter taking our Lord aside and rebuking Him – not one of Peter’s more glorious moments to be sure! Matthew, Mark and Luke all give this account:
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Matt 16:21-22 (NIV)
Jesus was unenamored with Peter’s impetuous words to be sure. Like our Jews in the verses today and like most of us, Peter was missing God’s big picture clinging rather to the plans and desires of his own heart. Peter wanted the kingdom established now. He was not in the mood to entertain the idea of his King not physically reigning. Satan is a student of human nature to be sure and he knows who will best “get to” God’s servants. Here he uses Peter’s mouth in an effort to somehow thwart our Lord’s mission and tempt Him to set up His kingdom now rather than to suffer for the sins of mankind. Our sinless Savior being fully God as well as fully man was, of course, not duped. He gives the following reply to Peter:
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. Matt 16:23-25 (NIV)