The Gospels also say that Jesus told his disciples to take up the cross and come after him see Mark Jesus anticipates violent death. In view of this grim fate can his disciples follow him? What is interesting here is that, in a sense, Jesus himself fails to do what he taught his disciples. When the time came to take up his cross, he could not do it; someone else carried his cross see Mark The tension between the saying and what later actually happens strongly argues for the authenticity of the saying, for post-Easter fiction would have Jesus say something fully consistent with the events of the passion.
There are also Jewish models of the suffering of the righteous, resulting in benefit for the people of Israel. One thinks of the mysterious priest Taxo and his seven sons, whose martyrdom precedes the appearance of the kingdom of God and the demise of Satan see Testament of Moses In view of the evidence of the Gospels, which is clarified in important ways by the religious context in which Jesus lived and ministered, it is quite probable that Jesus at some point spoke of his violent death and tried to explain its significance.
Did Jesus anticipate his resurrection? It is probable that he did. Once he began speaking of his death, Jesus very likely began speaking of his vindication through resurrection. Had he not anticipated it would have been very strange, for pious Jews very much believed in the resurrection of the dead. There are three factors that must be taken into account:.
First, Jesus, like many Jews of his day, believed in the resurrection of the last days see Dan. Jesus defends the resurrection in his reply to the Sadducees see Mark The Three Major Passion Predictions in Mark Three times in Mark 8—10 Jesus predicts his death, the disciples fail to understand or to respond appropriately, and he then teaches them about discipleship.
Jesus will suffer, be rejected, killed, and will rise after three days Peter rebukes Jesus — Jesus commands them to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him — These stories act to pull the audience in so that we can feel the momentum building as the story begins to roll more directly towards the cross.
It is found in Matthew ESV and reads:. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day. Jesus and His disciples have left Galilee and hit the road toward Jerusalem. Here, Jesus let them in on the where and roughly the when. The time for these events would be near when they reached their destination, Jerusalem, to which they were already on their way.
To add fuel to the fire, Jesus also revealed other details. In part, this demonstration of His foreknowledge says mounds about His divinity, and Matthew is certainly illustrating that for his audience. Not only would Jesus be betrayed and killed, but it would be ugly, and there would be beating, blood, and a crucifixion.
No half-hearted belief would do. When we reach this third passage at Redemption Church, as we make our way through Matthew, we will be beginning to observe Lent together.
It is a time of preparation, and we will be encouraging us all to walk through that season with some intentionality; knowing that at the end of the road there is a bloody cross and our Saviour, who rose from the grave and is God with us.
It is my hope that as we spend a few weeks between Christmas and Lent, these few passages will help draw our gaze intently toward the cross and the resurrection of Jesus.
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