SUBJ: Our Lord's declaration to the
twelve of those things that were to shortly come to pass connected with
the thought that we are to give the same attention to the detail as did
He.
AIM: That we may ever be reminded that
all that our Savior did was of necessity and that we look to it all as
essential to our salvation.
INTR: We do not live by bread alone
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God; we would put
the words of Christ as being included in that statement.
1.Luke
18 finds our Lord nearing the time of His greatest ordeal and it
contains much of great value to us: The admonition to pray with the
parable of the persistent widow (importunity), The pharisee and the
publican (humility), The little children (dependency), The rich ruler as
an example contrary to the above. He then instructs the twelve (our
text) and Luke ends with the healing of Bartimaeus.
2. As the time
was approaching two attitudes are noted: our Lord is anticipating death;
His disciples are expecting the Kingdom to appear and were talking their
place in it.
3. The details would not be fully understood until after
His resurrection and ascension - "These things understood not his
disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered
they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these
things unto him. (John 12:16)."
THESIS: We are often made to think of the freshness of the
mercies of God. We must not lose sight of the means of its application
to us - this we see accomplished in the sufferings of Christ.
I.
A Detailed Description Given (vv. 31-33)
1. An appeal is made to the
words of the prophets. We are reminded of their testimony to the
"sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow."
1) We are
here pointed to such passages as Isaiah 53 and
2) We are reminded of
His conversation on the road to Emmaus - "In all the scriptures the
things concerning Himself."
2. We compare here the account of Mark in
which seven things are stated: "...Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and
the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the
scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to
the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall
spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise
again. (Mark 10:33-34)."
1) The Son of man will be betrayed into the
hands of chief priests and scribes - to be subjected unto the
contemporary religionists of the day.
2) They will condemn Him to
death - religion of human devising is completely intolerant of the
righteousness of God and that was what was seen in Christ.
3) Will
hand Him over to the Gentiles - that the cruelest of human wickedness
would be exercised against Him
4) Who will mock Him and spit upon Him
- the utmost of contempt would be displayed.
5) They would scourge
Him - physical torture would reveal the depravity of man is a most
conspicuous manner.
6) They would kill Him - in the way prophesied
and with most cruel of intentions.
7) That in three days He would
rise again - victory over death would be declared before them.
3. We
would see that all these things were essential to the accomplishment of
the divine will and purpose, and it was all foretold. We would continue
to think on these things.
II. An Unseemly Reaction (v. 34)
1.
There was a total lack of understanding, and it seems no explanation was
sought after.
1) It was all hid from them - both of purpose and their
focus on their own concept of what was expected. James and John were
requesting special favor in the Kingdom they thought was imminent and of
the world.
2) They did not connect the things spoken with the
scriptures that we cited.
2. It appears that the divine purpose was
that these things they would witness would require a further revelation
which would come much later.
1) Their flight from the arrest; Peter's
denial and other things.
2) Their devastation at seeing Him
crucified.
3) Their unbelief at the resurrection.
4) Their
hesitation at the encounters along the way.
5) Their question at the
Ascension of Christ - "will you at this time restore the Kingdom?"
III. The Further Miracle Required
1. On the day of Pentecost
their blindness was removed, and the Gospel was made plain, and His
words were remembered.
2. It is evident that these men were believers
- "Thou art the Christ"
1) But the full revelation waited the
appropriate time when all thought of an eminent restoration were erased.
2) They would lose all their aspirations to greatest and humbly bow to
the Lordship of Christ.
3. Paul put it all into perspective for us:
"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the
god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus
the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:3-6)."
1) The heart is the ultimate
destination of identity with Christ.
2) Minds are blinded - human
conceptions and shallow interpretations are of no avail.
3) The
heart, newly made and responsive to the things of God, is the place
where the Glory of God is made manifest, and to all such it is beheld in
the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.
4. On Gospel presentation:
1)
The Gospel is a fact - therefore tell it simply (1 Cor. 2:4)
2) It is
a joyful fact - therefore tell it cheerily (Luke 2:10)
3) It is an
entrusted fact - tell it faithfully (1 Cor. 9:16)
4) It is a fact of
infinite moment - tell it earnestly (Luke 14:23)
5) It is a fact of
infinite love - tell it pathetically (Luke 19:41)
6) It is a fact of
difficult comprehension to many - tell it with illustrations (Matthew
13:44-47)
7) It is a fact about a person - preach Christ (Acts 8:35;
1 Corinthians 2:2)
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