The Plan Series

The Plan  

Luke 18:31-34

Introduction

Our journey through the Gospel of Luke is rapidly coming to a conclusion. We have observed the earthly life of Jesus from the beginning.

Luke’s letter to Theopholis began with the account of the priest Zechariah encountering Gabriel in the temple learning that his barren wife, Elizabeth, would have a baby in her old age.

It is not long before Luke leads us to Mary’s house as Gabriel tells her “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:30-33).

Soon thereafter, Shepherds will hear the announcement from angels in the fields, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people;  for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). 

Luke 9:51 “When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

When we get to Luke 18, Jesus is passing through Jericho. Jericho is about 17 miles from Jerusalem, all uphill from here. Jericho was wealthy, with residences of aristocratic priests and with winter palaces once held by Herod the Great. It was a time of pilgrimage and Jesus would be traveling along with many others. In our text he gathers his disciples aside and shares with them one last time what they are to expect in the future. (Read Text)

Luke 18:31-34 NIV 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. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

1. The Plan

“We are going up to Jerusalem…” Luke records previous revelations from Jesus about what is going to happen at Jerusalem, often emphasizing his suffering, rejection, and resurrection. (Luke 5:35, 9:22, 44, 17:24-25)

“Everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.” The prophecies of the Old Testament are shouting out! The disciples were fully aware of the Messianic passages.

Isaiah 53:1-9 - Let’s read this together

Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men;  a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

“He will be delivered over to the Gentiles.”  This is the first time for this expression - it refers to the Roman occupation that will carry out the execution. Though it is the Jewish leaders who call out for his death, the Romans will carry it out.

“They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him.”  This is Jesus’ final and most detailed prediction of the suffering that is ahead of him in Jerusalem. Matt Skinner: Jesus leaves the specific manner of his death unstated, but everything he mentions about his fate emphasizes the humiliation he will suffer. Crucifixion in the ancient world was more than inflicting agonizing physical pain. The Romans used it as a spectacle to parade the humiliation and rejection of its victims. He knows what is ahead for him, yet he continues anyway. Jesus is fully preparing the disciples for life after his physical departure from the earth.