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227 August 14th
The Passion of the Christ
The word “passion” means to suffer. The sufferings of Jesus, the passion of the Christ, refer to His arrest, suffering, and His death on the cross. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus predicts His Passion three times to His disciples. Scholars refer to these as “passion predictions.”
· First Passion Prediction – Luke 9:21-23 – “But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, (22) saying, ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day. (23) And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’ “
· Second Passion Prediction – Luke 9:43-45 – “And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. (44) ‘Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.’ (45) But they (the disciples) did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.”
· Third Passion Prediction – Luke 18:31-34 – “Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. (32) For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, (33) and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.’ (34) But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.”
I wonder why Jesus warned them three times. Why wasn’t one warning enough? Was His first Passion prediction ludicrous to the disciples? They believed He was the Priest/King they had been waiting for. They believed He was the Messiah, and if He were the Messiah surely He would not be impounded, imprisoned, punished or persecuted. Surely He would not die.
Was His second Passion prediction given to get their attention about the seriousness of future events? Was He implying, “Hey, guys, I’m not kidding! I’m going to be crucified for the sins of the world.”
As it turns out, two warnings were not sufficient in God’s economy. A third Passion prediction was given. Often when I think of “three announcements” I think of the third as a superlative. In Isaiah 6, it says that God is holy, not once, but three times. It is as though the writer is telling his audience, “The God we worship is not just “holy.” He is not just, “holy, holy.” The truth is the God we worship is the epitome of holiness. He is perfect and perfectly righteous. Our God is, “holy, holy, holy.” A characteristic given three times is the “superlative” degree of that characteristic.
If we apply this thought to the Passion of Jesus, He wasn’t just going to suffer a little bit. He was not simply going to have to endure much punishment and suffering and then die. Jesus giving three Passion predictions is telling us that He is going to suffer and endure a degree of punishment that no other person who has ever lived has had to endure. He is telling us that He is going to suffer, suffer, and in the superlative sense, He is going to SUFFER, SUFFER, SUFFER.
He suffered; humiliation, brutality, and indignation. He suffered physical pain beyond description. He suffered the emotional pain of rejection and abandonment. He suffered the spiritual pain of being cut-off from His Father in heaven. He suffered the ultimate pain of having all of the sin of the world (past, present, and future) placed on His person. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Please don’t minimize what the Son of God endured on your behalf.
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