Luke 18:31-34
A mother was concerned about her kindergarten son,
Timmy, walking to school. He didn’t want his mother
to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling
that he had some independence, but yet know that he
was safe.
Her neighbor learned about the mother’s dilemma and
offered to follow the young boy to school in the
mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably
wouldn’t notice her.
“I’m up early with my toddler anyway; it will be a
good way for us to get some exercise as well,”
said the neighbor. The relieved mother agreed.
The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl
set out following behind Timmy as he walked to
school with another neighbor boy he knew. She did
this for the whole week.
As the boys walked and chatted, kicking stones and
twigs, Timmy’s little friend noticed the same lady was
following them as she seemed to do every day all
week. Finally, he said to Timmy, “Have you noticed that lady
following us to school all week? Do you know her”?
Timmy nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, I know who she is.”
The friend said, “Well, who is she”?
“That’s just Shirley Goodnest,” Timmy replied. “And
her daughter Marcy.” Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is
she following us”?
“Well,” Timmy explained. “Every night, my mom
makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers,
because she worries about me so much. And in the
Psalm, it says, ‘Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall
follow me all the days of my life,’ so I guess I’ll just
have to get used to it!”
Easter is just two weeks from today. Next week we
will talk about Jesus’ Triumphal entry and on Easter of
course we will talk about the resurrection. Today we
are going to talk about the prophecies that were
fulfilled about Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record Jesus predicting
his death and resurrection three times. John alludes
to it in a couple of places too.
We are going to focus on Luke’s account of Jesus
foretelling of His death for the third time. It is found
in Luke 18:31-34.
Let’s pray and ask God to speak to us from His word
and for Him to reveal Himself to us this morning so
we can truly understand what He wants us to.
Luke 18:31-34
Jesus tells them that everything that has been written
about Him by the prophets will happen. For
everything that Jesus mentions in the text we are
going to look back in the OT to see where it was
prophesied.
In two short verses, Jesus lists 7 prophecies that were
about to be fulfilled by the upcoming events.
7 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus
1. Jesus said He would be:
Handed over to the Gentiles – Psalm 2:2
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the
rulers take counsel together, against the LORD
and against his Anointed, saying,” This verse
predicts that rulers would turn against the Lord’s
anointed. We know that Jesus was about to go to
Jerusalem to appear before Pilate and then to the
Roman soldiers for His crucifixion.
2. Mocked – Psalm 22:6-7 “But I am a worm and
not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by
the people. All who see me mock me; they make
mouths at me; they wag their heads;” While
Jesus was on the cross people would challenge
Him to come down off the cross if he was truly
God. They didn’t understand that He was being
obedient to the Father in order to accomplish His
plan of salvation.
3. Mistreated – Isaiah 50:6a “I gave my back to
those who strike, and my cheeks to those who
pull out the beard;” The NT doesn’t explicitly say
that Jesus’ beard was plucked out, but it does tell
us how He endured being blindfolded, struck with
fists, stripped naked and fitted with a crown of
thorns. Definitely not the kind of treatment the
savior of the world deserved, but it was certainly
predicted by the prophets. God knew everything
that Christ would have to suffer.
4. Spit on – Isaiah 50:6b “I hid not my face from
disgrace and spitting.” Jesus silently endured the
spitting and derision that he suffered on the
cross. His prayer to the Father was for Him to
forgive them because they didn’t know what they
were doing.
5. Scourged – Isaiah 52:14 “As many were
astonished at you – his appearance was so
marred, beyond human semblance, and his form
beyond that of the children of mankind -” Jesus
suffered lashes with a whip with three or more
leather strands tipped with bone or metal which
ripped His flesh from His body. Isaiah predicted
that His body would be marred beyond human
recognition.
6. Killed – Psalm 22:16 “For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me; they have
pierced my hands and feet.” This verse refers to
the kind of death Jesus would die – crucifixion.
Jesus was nailed to a cross. Nails through his
hands and feet to hold Him to the cross until He
would die of asphyxiation. Also Isaiah 53:7 “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 silent, so he opened not his mouth.”
Jesus actually died on the cross at Calvary. He
didn’t pass out, the disciples were not
hallucinating, and there was no mistaken identity.
Jesus gave up His life so that we could have
eternal life!
7. Resurrected on the 3rd day – Psalm 86:13
“For great is your steadfast love toward me; you
have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
also Psalm 16:10 “For you will not abandon my
soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see
corruption.” Jesus even refers to the three days to
the time Jonah spent in the belly of the fish to the
time He would be in the grave. Comes from
Matthew 12:40.
All seven of these are found in the OT and all 7 of
them happened to Jesus just like He predicted.
Notice verse 34, they understood none of the things
Jesus said to them. And this was the third time He
had predicted His death and these prophecies.
It’s good that we aren’t as hard-headed as the
disciples, right?
APPLICATION
So what is God teaching us from our text this
morning?
Sometimes we don’t fully understand God’s plan until
He has revealed it to us in His perfect time.
Our response should be to:
Prayerfully Seek to Understand God’s Plan
When we aren’t sure what He is doing, we should
spend time in prayer asking Him for clarity and peace.
We must trust God and that what He is doing is for
our good and for His glory.
Also, Jesus told His disciples that they would have to
suffer for following Him.
As Christ followers, we too should be willing to suffer
for the sake of Christ.
Passionately Follow Christ Even unto Suffering
He never promised following Him would be easy.
In fact, He said “If anyone would come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross daily and
follow me.” Luke 9:23
We must be willing to count the cost and to suffer for
the one who suffered for us.