That When It Is Come to Pass, Ye May Believe

 

From that time, Jesus repeatedly taught His disciples beforehand that He must suffer many things, be killed, and be raised up on the third day. However, as we can see in the word above, Peter could not accept this, and the other disciples of Jesus were the same.

 

Matthew 17:22-23 “22And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be delivered up into the hands of men; 23and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised up. And they were exceeding sorry.”

 

In fact, what they could not accept was something they did not understand or perceive, because the saying was hidden from them.

 

Mark 9:30-32 “30And they went forth from thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. 31For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he shall rise again. 32But they understood not the saying, and were afraid to ask him.”

 

Luke 18:31-34 “31And he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of man. 32For he shall be delivered up unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon: 33and they shall scourge and kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. 34And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, and they perceived not the things that were said.”

 

Nevertheless, Jesus repeatedly taught His disciples about His suffering, death, and resurrection.

 

John 12:22-33 “22Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: Andrew cometh, and Philip, and they tell Jesus. 23And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. 25He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal... 32And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. 33But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die.”

 

Luke 22:14-15 “14And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the apostles with him. 15And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.”

 

This teaching continued even after Jesus had risen from the dead.

 

Luke 24:5-9 “5and as they were affrighted and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7saying that the Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8And they remembered his words, 9and returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.”

 

Thus, He again taught the women who had come to the tomb of Jesus early on the first day of the week after the Sabbath. He also appeared to the two disciples who were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem, and explained these things to them in detail once again.

 

Luke 24:25-27 “25And he said unto them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory? 27And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

 

As Jesus rebuked the two disciples in this word, saying, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken,” people are foolish and slow to believe the word of God. Therefore, Jesus repeatedly spoke beforehand to His disciples many times. And this applies not only to the disciples of Jesus then, but also to us today.

 

John 14:28-29 “28Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I. 29And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe.”

 

Indeed, according to this word of Jesus, later, “when it came to pass,” the disciples of Jesus remembered the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken, and believed.

 

John 2:19-22 “19Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days? 21But he spake of the temple of his body. 22When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spake this; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.”

 

Thus, Jesus spoke repeatedly to His disciples many times before the events came to pass in order to give them faith to believe the Scripture and the word of Jesus. Therefore, we today must also understand this and surely believe that Jesus loved us, suffered for us, was killed on the cross, and rose again on the third day.

 

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.”

 

Amen. Therefore, we who now believe the word of Jesus must all become “witnesses of Jesus,” proclaiming the name of Jesus to all nations, just as Jesus opened the Scriptures to His disciples and gave them understanding.

 

Luke 24:44-48 “44And he said unto them, These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me. 45Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures; 46and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; 47and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48Ye are witnesses of these things.”

 

Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

 

If we therefore become “witnesses of Jesus” according to the word of Jesus, then, just as Jesus taught His disciples beforehand, we can believe that because all things are fulfilled according to the word of God, the following promises of Jesus will also surely be fulfilled for us: His promise that He will be with us always, even unto the end of the world, and His promise that He will come again for us and make us be with Him always.

 

Matthew 28:19-20 “19Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (=the name of Jesus): 20teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

 

Amen.