Jesus Again Predicts His Death

Matthew 20:17-19

700-680 BC Isaiah, often referred to as the greatest of Israel’s prophets predicted the type of treatment Jesus would receive from the Roman soldiers. 

Isaiah 50:6 “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.”

In Matthew 20:17-19 Jesus predicted his death for the second time. “The Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.”

What a horrendous visual, and to think Jesus walked the earth for years with this in his heart. Knowing the people he came to save would treat him with such cruelty. The last part of Jesus' prediction though, is the best part;

"ON THE THIRD DAY HE WILL BE RAISED TO LIFE!" Alleluia!

In the many quotes we use to encourage one another today the spirit of Jesus suffering is present:

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. (Friedrich Nietzsche)

In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. (Albert Einstein)

God uses suffering as a whetstone, to make men sharp with. (Henry Beecher)

God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them. (John Aughey)

The darkest night is often the bridge to the brightest tomorrow. (Jonathan Lockwood Huie)

As we struggle through our sometimes challenging and difficult existence, may we remember to go to the foot of the cross, where our life and hope truly began.