Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Matthew 17:22-23 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful.
THE PROMISE OF THE RESURRECTION
Let's go back in time and consider Jesus' promise of the resurrection from the perspective of His disciples. . . .
We were walking with Jesus along a dusty road in Galilee. He was speaking to us and teaching us as He regularly did. Everything was going well. (Although we were always busy when we were with Jesus, our lives generally tended to be less troublesome in Galilee since we were away from the constant observance of the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem.)
But on this day, Jesus said something that shocked us. He told us in very clear and plain language that He was going to be betrayed and killed, but that after three days He would be raised up. We couldn't believe it! This wasn't the first time that Jesus had spoken of this (Matthew 16:21) and it wouldn't be the last (Matthew 20:17-19), but at the time we weren't sure what to make of it.
When we heard these words, we couldn't get past the fact that He said He was going to die. It tore us up inside as we thought about the death of our Friend, our Teacher, our Lord! But because we were so preoccupied with the thought of His death we missed the precious promise of His resurrection. The night that Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane He has once again reminded us of that promise. He said: "I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy" (John 16:20).
Yes, Jesus came to die for us. But just as important as His death was the fact that He also came to rise again -- to assure us of His victory over death and hell. He promised that He would rise again, and His promise continues to bring me joy every day because I know that my Redeemer lives!
