Matthew 21:28-23:39; Mark 12:1-44; Luke 20:9-21:4
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people” (Matthew 26:1-5).
The Passover began Thursday afternoon with the slaughter of the lambs. Evidently Jesus spoke these words on the Mount of Olives late Tuesday evening, which by Jewish reckoning, would be the start of Wednesday. With the Passover so near, Jesus now revealed that the Son of Man would be crucified. The Jewish religious leaders were not only plotting to arrest Jesus; they also wanted to get rid of him altogether.
In the gospel of Matthew, there are three other predictions of Jesus’ death (16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19). In his book, Cross of Christ, John Stott mentions that at least 11 times Jesus alluded to his death before it actually happened. Six of those references to Jesus’ death were made during the last week of his life, as the crisis drew near (Stott, page 28).
There is nothing special about saying that death will occur. We can all confidently say that we’ll die someday. It’s quite obvious that Jesus knew the specifics about his impending death, that it would be a horrible time of suffering. Yet he also knew that there was a purpose behind all that would happen.
In this passage, Jesus combined the two primary Old Testament passages referring to the Messiah, the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 and the reigning Son of Man of Daniel 7.
Isaiah says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us as turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all….For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished” (Isaiah 53:6, 8).
God sent his son to bring salvation to the human race. Jesus came to “seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Our Lord gave himself as a ransom to set us free from a life of sin and death (Mark 10:45).
Jesus knew he would die because of the hostility of the religious establishment. He also knew that he would die because of what was written about the Messiah in the Scriptures. After his resurrection, Jesus spoke to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and said, “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27; 44-47).
When Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man,” some people think he’s just talking about his human nature. Instead, our Lord is saying that he’s the exalted figure mentioned in Daniel 7:13-14: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
Daniel is referring to an exalted messianic person who has access to the throne of God and is given supreme authority, dominion, and power. He is one who is forever worshipped, and his kingdom is without end.
When Jesus says the Son of Man will be “handed over to be crucified,” he’s reminding his disciples of the triumphant, messianic figure in Daniel 7 and the messianic servant in Isaiah 53, who suffers and dies to take away the sin of the world. Jesus was very specific in predicting the timing of his death and the details surrounding it. He was trying to prepare his disciples for what was to come, and to reassure them that there would be a happy ending.
In Mark 10:32-34, Jesus spoke of his death and his resurrection: “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.’”
Jesus dying on the cross was not an accident. It was all part of God’s plan to rescue the world from sin and death. He suffered in our place, taking the penalty that we deserve. However, that’s not the end of the story. Jesus rose again and he’s alive today, offering eternal life to all who would believe.
Prayer
Thank you, Jesus, for coming into this world and showing us how to live. Help us to embrace you as you truly are and to avoid buying into the distorted views of this world. You are our supreme example and we choose to follow you today.
Question
Even today, what is it about the name of Jesus that provokes such a strong reaction from skeptics?