Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20100224.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part LXV: Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His Detailed, Biblical Predictions Of The Cross
(Luke 18:31-34)
  1. Introduction
    1. If Jesus Christ is the true God's true Savior of the world, we should expect Him to have known that His mistreatment and death was not an accident, but that it fit God's plan and Biblical predictions.
    2. Luke 18:31-34 reveals Christ had remarkable foresight of the details of His suffering and death, and how it all fit the plan and Biblical prophecies of God, revealing He is the Father's true Savior of the world:
  2. Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His Detailed, Biblical Predictions Of The Cross.
    1. The words of Jesus in Luke 18:31-34 uniquely contrast to the Jewish view of Messiah's experiences:
      1. Israel believed that when the Messiah arrived, he would install the Messianic Kingdom that would reign over the world, not that He would be put to death on a cross, Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1337.
      2. However, Jesus often alluded to the fact that He was God's Messiah as He did in Luke 9:18-22.
      3. Thus, for Christ to predict He would be mistreated and put to death only to rise again from the dead, describing the process in detail as in Luke 18:31-34, was a huge break from Jewish belief in that era!
    2. Aware of this difference in belief, Jesus isolated His disciples from other Jews who would not accept His view to inform them unchallenged of the real events that would occur to Him as the Messiah, L k. 18:31a.
    3. Though Jesus' account of the plan of God for Him differed so dramatically from that of typical Jewish belief in His era, His account was not without merit: Jesus relayed that He with the twelve would go up to the city of Jerusalem, and there all the things that had been predicted by Israel's Old Testament prophets concerning the Messiah, the "Son of man," would be accomplished, Luke 18:31b.
    4. If we view Jesus' Luke 18:31-33 added description of those future events, we note how well they fit Old Testament prophecies, further validating Jesus' credentials as God's true Messiah (as follows):
      1. First, Jesus taught that His death would occur in the proximity of the city of Jerusalem (Luke 18:31b), a fact that is implied in the prophecy of Daniel 9:25-26 (as follows):
        1. Daniel 9:25 predicted that the command of Artaxerxes Longimanus (445 B. C.) to restore and build Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity would be followed by Messiah's arrival, Ibid., Ryrie, ftn.
        2. Then, Daniel 9:26 indicates the Messiah would tragically be "cut off" and "have nothing" (NIV), an event to be followed by another tragic event, the destruction of the city of Jerusalem!
        3. By implication, then, the Messiah would be "cut off" in the area of Jerusalem just as Jesus predicted.
      2. Second, in Luke 18:32a, Jesus predicted He would be delivered to the Gentiles, that His people would turn Him over to the Romans who ruled them, and Psalm 2:1-3 in light of Acts 4:25-28 indicate both Gentiles and the people of Israel would oppose God's king all within God's permissive will and plan!
      3. Christ's prediction that He would be mistreated and slain in Luke 18:32b-33a fits descriptions of the mistreatment of Messiah in Isaiah 53:2-5 and of His death in Isaiah 53:10a that states He would become an offering for sin, for the Hebrew word for "offering" referred to the trespass offering of Leviticus 6-7 that required the death of the sacrificial animal, Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Isaiah 53:10-12.
      4. Also, the fact that Messiah would die is implied in Isaiah 53:9 that predicts His burial after His death.
      5. Jesus predicted He would rise again from the dead on the third day (Luke 18:33b), and the resurrection of the Messiah is foretold in Isaiah 53:10b: God would "prolong His days," and the only way that can occur for a trespass offering that had been slain was for the offered sacrifice to be raised from the dead!
    5. One may ask why Jesus gave such detailed predictions when His disciples were not ready to comprehend them. In reply, we note that after the events occurred, the disciples would recall His predictions and know His death was not an accident, but that it fit God's plan, confirming the credibility of Jesus, John 14:29!
Lesson: Through His private, detailed predictions of His death and resurrection in total alignment with Old Testament prophecy, Jesus revealed He was the Father's true Savior Who came to do His will!

Application: (1) May we believe in Jesus as God's Son and our Savior to have eternal life, John 3:16. (2) If we note that God's work in our present lives readily fits into His past Biblical insight given to us, He wants us to see how truthful He is that we might trust in Him and His Word all the more!