The Future

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

THE FUTURE

Luke 18:31-34

31 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. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33 On the third day he will rise again."  34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

NIV

Certainly all that Jesus told his disciples was the truth, the facts that we know now as history, but to them it was considered the future. To Jesus it was actually the now, as he is God and with God there is only the now, yet in the flesh Jesus had a past, present and future and here he was telling them about the future which they were going to experience. Our lesson is not in this truth as we already know it happened and have accepted this truth. But there is something here which is somewhat concerning. We are told the disciples did not know what he was talking about because the truth of his words were hidden from them. If the truth was hidden from them, then why did Jesus speak those words in the first place? Did they not understand that he was the Son of Man? Did they not understand everything that was written by the prophets about the Son of Man? Why was this truth hidden from them, but not from us? Of course we know because it is history which is recorded for us, but they did not have that recorded history, only the recorded words about the future. We also have some recorded words about the future written for us by John when he had his revelation. Is that truth also hidden from us? Some would say they know it’s meaning, they understand all of John’s revelation, but do they really? Has the real truth, the real meaning of his words been hidden from us? Are we truly intended to know the future? Although Jesus told them the future, the meaning was hidden from them. Although we are told our future, at least as a human race, is the real truth of it all hidden from us? Man is not intended to know his future. We need to live each day for each day. Jesus has told us not to be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself, each day has enough trouble of its own. We are also told as recorded by James that we should not go to this city of that deciding to stay there a year, carry on business and make money, for we do  not know what we happen tomorrow. We are not intended to plan out our enough future life as the truth of it is hidden from us. We should not know our future because if we focus on the future we will miss the present. This may have been why the truth was hidden from them. If they understood all that was going to happen to Jesus, they would have lost sight of the present times with him, and tried to convince him to not do it, to not go to Jerusalem. They still did not understand this was the only way they would see eternal life. They would have wanted to change the future. This is why we should not be so focused on our future. Yes, we have one, and at some point our future will be with Christ in Paradise. But our daily lives here on earth should be lived each day as we do not even know what will happen tomorrow. In all reality, both in heaven and on earth, tomorrow never actually gets here. It is only today. His disciples would have missed today, if they knew their future. We too might miss today if we are so focused on our future.