“Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples ASIDE ON THE ROAD and SAID TO THEM, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will BE BETRAYED to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will CONDEMN HIM TO DEATH, and DELIVER HIM TO THE GENTILES to mock and to scourge and TO CRUCIFY. And the third day HE WILL RISE AGAIN.” (Matt. 20:17-19) This was the THIRD TIME Jesus taught about His being put to death and rising again.
So TOMMY, now surely the disciples will BE THERE on the third day when Jesus is RAISED from the dead.
“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they (Mary Magdalene and the other Mary), and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found “…the stone rolled away from the tomb.” (Luke 24:1-2) When they did not find the body of Jesus, “…they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest and their words seemed to them like IDLE TALES, AND THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THEM.” (Luke 24:9-11) Jesus very plainly taught them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables.” (Mark 4:11) Jesus gave the secret, the mystery, of the kingdom of God to his disciples. He spoke to them plainly about it. The secret, the mystery, of the kingdom of God is that the Christ must suffer, die, and be resurrected three days. Why did Jesus tell His disciples this one thing – His suffering, death, and resurrection – so plainly? I believe because it is so opposing, so opposite, to the way we naturally think, they just COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! Thankfully, we believe it and know it’s true TODAY!!!
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham