Daily Devotional | Our Daily Bread | Christ Plainly Told Them | 7/20/2024 | Hilari Henriques

Daily Devotional | Our Daily Bread | Christ Plainly Told Them | 7/20/2024 | Hilari Henriques Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. Matthew 20:18 and 19 "Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him; and the third day he shall rise again." He spoke these words to his disciples as he was taking his last journey toward Jerusalem. Luke speaks of this conversation, and gives it in more detail. He says: "Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on; and they shall scourge him, and put him to death; and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." The disciples of Christ could not believe that Christ should be treated with such contempt, that men should scourge him, and put him to death. They expected that he would set up a temporal kingdom, that he would sit upon David's throne, and reign as a temporal prince in Jerusalem, bringing all nations into subjection to his will. Although Christ plainly told them what would be his fate, they were not prepared to change their ideas. They were unwilling to believe the disagreeable truths that he opened to them, were unwilling to give up the thought that Christ would be a conqueror. They would not harbor the idea that he would be rejected and treated as a slave by his enemies. Not believing the words of Christ, they did not comprehend the words of the prophets, and thought them out of harmony with the words of Christ. We marvel that they could not comprehend these things; for as we stand this side of the cross, we see clearly how the predictions of prophets were fulfilled to the letter. Because they did not believe the words that Christ spoke to them (and he always spoke truth and never deceived them), they were unprepared for the trying scenes through which they were called to pass. {ST, July 9, 1896 par. 3}