17 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, 18 “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, 19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”
We come to the third and last prediction of Jesus’ death and resurrection (16:21-28; 17:22-23).
20:17
Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them,
Jesus heading south from the northeast side of the Jordan to Jerusalem told the twelve disciples that He would finish His earthly ministry there (20:17-19). He took the disciples aside privately to tell them some menacing news.
The idea of “going up” to Jerusalem is from any geographical location (north, south, east, west). Jesus and the twelve were actually heading south. This was the final journey to Jerusalem.
20:18
“Behold [climactic announcement], we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes [Jewish authorities]; and they will condemn Him to death,
This passage takes on an ominous tone. Jesus would be betrayed by Jewish authorities. Rejection by religious leadership of Israel is a central theme in Matthew. It is clear that Jesus took this course willingly. Jesus did not want this to be a surprise to the twelve.
Lu 18:31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.
Luke 25:25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”
20:19
and deliver Him to the Gentiles [Romans here] to mock and to scourge [with whip] and to crucify.
Jewish leaders handed Jesus over for crucifixion because it was not legal for them to execute the death penalty (Jn 18:31). This is the first time Jesus referred to His death as crucifixion. Crucifixion was capital punishment. God by capital punishment on the cross provided sacrifice for man’s sin. Jesus was the ultimate Passover Lamb.
And the third day He will rise again.”
Death was not the end for Jesus. Jesus always spoke of His death with the resurrection. Resurrection is entrance into eternal life.
PRINCIPLE:
It is important to understand that God’s plan of redemption was from eternity.
APPLICATION:
The betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus was no miscalculation. Jesus voluntarily and deliberately went to the cross. God decreed His death from eternity. God understood from eternity that it would be necessary to provide a sacrifice for man’s sin.
John 10: 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
1 Peter 1:10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
