21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
In one of his more illustrious moments, Peter had just confessed that Jesus was indeed “The Christ of God” (verse 20). Since the “fullness of time” had not yet fully come for Jesus to be proclaimed publically as the Messiah, He strictly warns His disciples in our verse for today not to divulge this confession of truth. Then Jesus proceeds to inform them of the next stages of His ministry. You can only imagine what they must have been thinking. Certainly some of them surmised that this didn’t sound too good for the home team! They had left everything to follow Jesus – jobs, families, associations – believing the Messianic Kingdom was about to be ushered in. How this statement by our Lord must have shook them to the core! Jesus was to suffer, He was to be rejected by the respected religious leaders of the day, He was to be killed and subsequently raised back to life. This had to be confusing to them! I find it hard to believe that they could have grasped even a small portion of His words much less the enormity of the action itself and all that it entailed. Interestingly, Jesus’ word choice of “must” in verse 22 is translated from the Greek word “Dei” meaning necessary by the very nature of things; an unavoidable, urgent, compulsory necessity. It was a given and it was a go! I love what Luke tells us later in this same chapter:51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Luke 9:51 (NIV)
Jesus was firm, fixed and resolved about what lay ahead. So too should we. We are told in Hebrews chapter 12: 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Heb 12:1-3 (NIV)
Jesus “pioneered” and perfected our path of faith with joy. He is our ultimate example. Like Jesus, we are to look ahead to our future glory and not keep focusing on the cross that He calls us to bear. Remembering, as Matthew Henry stated: “This world is our passage, not our portion.” It is easy to get our eyes off of our Savior and on to our circumstances getting bogged down in the mire, so to speak, and being robbed of our joy. We are on the winning team and He bestows upon us the grace sufficient to meet each need He allows. Paul states in II Corinthians: 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:9-10 (NIV)
Divine power is best displayed against the background of our human weaknesses showing that the all-surpassing power could not be from us but from Him thus pointing others to Christ. The word rendered “suffer” is translated from the Greek word “Pascho” meaning, of course, to suffer but also it refers to suffering on behalf of someone else. How very precious of our Jesus! Lest we get too complacent here, we are also called to this same type of suffering. Paul tells us in Philippians: 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. Phil 1:29-30 (NIV)
I recently read an article about a horrific kidnapping and murder of a young 29 year old missionary in the Gaza Strip. The descriptions given detailing his life validate our discussion and serve as a wonderful example of a Christian empowered by the Spirit concerning bearing his cross: . A wonderful young man who exhibits the spirit of Christ.. Undeterred by all the threats upon his life. He did not allow these hardships to keep him from reaching Muslims with the love of Christ.. Courageous, loving, caring, and self-sacrificing.. Filled with a deep passion for the lost people of Gaza. “The servant of Christ must never be surprised if he has to drink of the same cup with his Lord.” J.C. Ryle