Freedom is Good News Part 36

In the previous article I mentioned that my favorite season of the year is spring.  I also must not fail to mention that it can be the busiest time of the year; with mowing the lawn, planting and weeding the gardens, spring cleaning and just plain getting ready for outdoor activities.

But what about spiritual activities?  For our Savior, the time in that spring when He was about to give His life for us sinners became extremely busy.  We don’t often consider His time frame that led up to His week of passion.  As I see it, His journey begins in the region of Caesarea Philippi, an area some 120 miles north of Jerusalem.  We see this in Matthew 16:13.  This is where Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  I believe we know the story – some said John the Baptist, some said Elijah, still others said Jeremiah or perhaps one of the prophets.  Once Jesus got all the rumors and common scuttlebutt out of the way, He got to the crux of the matter:  “But what about you?  Who do you say that I am?”  The disciples, who have now spent almost three and a half years with Him, had to answer differently.  Peter bravely said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  And we sit here with 20/20 hindsight and say, “no kidding Peter”.  But this was a bold statement for Peter to make and Jesus knew that he had stepped out in faith to say it.  Jesus told Peter that this was revealed to him by the heavenly Father.  But the line we are looking for in all of this is found in verse 21, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”  (Again, this was spoken 120 miles north of Jerusalem.)

Long story short, they make their way south to Galilee; about a fifty mile journey.  They are now 70 miles north of Jerusalem.  Chapter 17:22 tells us, “When they came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, the Son of Man is going to be handed over into the hands of men.  They will kill Him and on the third day He will be raised to life.”  This is the second pronouncement of His suffering.  Now they resume their journey to Jerusalem and on the way (chapter 20:17) Jesus takes the 12 aside and says, “We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes.  They will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.  On the third day He will be raised to life.” 

The fourth and final pronouncement of His sufferings comes while they are in Jerusalem.  Again He takes aside His disciples and says, “As you know, the Passover is after two days and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”  These 4 pronouncements are made over the course of a long journey, a walk of over 120 miles.  He knew His destination and He knew His Father’s will.  During this journey He was mindful of you and me.  We are given freedom from the bondage to sin because of His sacrifice.

But we’ll talk more on this in the future – God willing.