Jesus Death
The Gospel tells how Jesus’ enemies sought to stop him.
Finally they had him arrested and put to death. Many of the
people who had seen Jesus’ power and had believed his words
were confused when these things happened. They began to ask
themselves questions: How could such things happen to God’s
servant? How could he be put to death? In this lesson we
will look at two passages which show that Jesus’ arrest and
death did not come as a surprise to him. In fact, Jesus
considered these things to be part of God’s special plan.
Read Luke 9:18-22.
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples
were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"
19 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say
Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long
ago has come back to life." 20 "But what about you?" he
asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of
God." 21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to
anyone. 22 And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and
teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third
day be raised to life."
Please also read Luke 18:31-34.
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going
up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the
prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will
be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult
him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33 On the third day
he will rise again." 34 The disciples did not understand any
of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not
know what he was talking about.
Jesus Predicts His Death
In the first passage, Luke 9:18-22, we read that one day
Jesus decided to talk to his close followers about the
mission God had sent him to fulfill. First he asked what the
crowd was saying about him. The disciples answered that some
people thought he was John the Baptist (a powerful prophet
who came just before Jesus). Other people thought he might
be Elijah. (Elijah, one of the greatest of the prophets, had
lived about 800 years before Jesus, but some Jews believed
that Elijah would return in the last days.) Still others
thought he might be one of the other prophets returned from
the dead.
But then Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was.
These were the men who knew him best and had seen his works
most closely. One of them, Peter, replied, "You are the
Messiah." (The word "Messiah" is sometimes translated
"Christ".)
It is important to understand something about this name. The
prophets of long ago had spoken of a great king who would
come with God’s power and blessing. This expected king was
called the Messiah. Most people in Jesus’ day thought that
when the Messiah came he would be a powerful political
leader who would free the people from the domination of Rome
and give the nation peace and prosperity. No one would be
able to defeat him.
Peter was right. Jesus was the Messiah. But we read in verse
21 that Jesus warned his disciples not to tell this to
anyone. Why not? Because most people at that time had the
wrong idea. They thought the Messiah would immediately lead
armies to victory. Jesus knew that in reality God had given
him a different kind of mission. Before he reigned as king
there was something else that he had to do first.
Answer the following questions based on verses 20-22. Note
that "the Son of Man" in verse 22 is another title of Jesus,
the Messiah.
1. Did Jesus plan to immediately destroy all his enemies and
free his people from the Romans?
_____________________________________________________________
2. What did Jesus say was going to happen to him?
_____________________________________________________________
What The Prophets Said
The second passage we must look at is Luke 18:31-34. Here
again we see Jesus talking to his disciples, the twelve men
whom he called to be his close followers. Jesus spoke to
them about how God had given the prophets of long ago
glimpses of his plan for the Messiah, the Son of Man. Jesus
told his disciples that the events of his life were not just
a result of chance or human planning, but were a part of
God’s plan made long before and revealed to the prophets.
3. Where was Jesus going?
_____________________________________________________________
4. What did the prophets say would happen to Jesus there?
_____________________________________________________________
5. What would happen on the third day?
_____________________________________________________________
6. Did the twelve disciples understand what Jesus was
telling them?
_____________________________________________________________