Overcoming grief

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

OVERCOMING GRIEF

Matt 17:22-23

22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And the disciples were filled with grief.

NIV

It seems inconsistent with what they already know about Jesus being the Christ, the Messiah and to be filled with grief. Because they are Jews they should be aware of the words of the prophets which foretold of what Jesus would go through. There are so many it would almost take a book to recount them all, but let us just know they foretold of his crucifixion and his being raised from the dead. The Psalmist also wrote about his resurrection and being seated at the right hand of God. The disciples should have been aware of all of these words about the Messiah and now with the proof of his being the Messiah, the Christ with his transfiguration along with the visit from Moses and Elijah seen by Peter, James and John. So with all the knowledge they had how could they be filled with grief? Were they so involved with their present condition of their physical presence with Jesus they could not see the truth? It is somewhat strange with all the knowledge they had, including so many personal experiences, they could not understand the spiritual significance of what Jesus was telling them. Why would they be filled with grief because he would be raised from the dead to life? We would think they would be filled with joy that he would be raised to life after being killed. Maybe they just didn’t believe it. Maybe they thought that should not be. Maybe they were still thinking that he should be setting up his kingdom on earth overthrowing the Roman occupiers as well as the Jewish king. Maybe they were just overthinking the whole thing and could not see the simple truth of what Jesus was telling them. All these would seem reasons for them to be filled with grief. Mark and Luke record this same conversation and include they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him about it as well as it was hidden from them. This Just does not make much sense as they should have known about all of it. But again, it may well come down to them only seeing the physical and not seeing the spiritual, even after all they have experienced. This speaks to how we should be seeing as well. Sometimes we might get stuck too much in the physical aspects of life. When we do, we might lose sight of the spiritual aspects of our life. We can become too distracted by our physical position and condition in life to see the spiritual significance of our life. Sometimes we get too involved in the intellectual aspects of scripture and lose sight of the spiritual truths it holds for us. Sometimes we are so focused on how everything is about us and lose sight of how everything is about God. Although it is true that God is there for us, the truth is also that he created us for him. The disciples were thinking about themselves and their present situation rather than thinking about how they should be focused in pleasing Jesus. This is our life as well. Do we focus too much on what God can do for us rather than what we can do for God? Not that he needs us to do anything for him for he is All Mighty God and is able to all things. But the fact still remains he has called us to be his people. He created us to have fellowship with him. He wants us to be in contact with him, to walk side by side with him in the cool of the day. He wants to talk with us. He wants us to simply love him and be there for him. This is the truth of it all. Jesus came to die on the cross so that we could once again have fellowship with God. It was the sin of Adam which is ours also that keeps us from the fellowship. Jesus took our sin and therefore we can once again be there in the garden with God walking and talking with him. We do not have to overthink it. Although it is good to know the scriptures and apply the truths for Christian living, the truth is so simply. We do not have to be filled with grief, but with joy. Of course we know far more than the disciples did at the point in their lives when Jesus told them these things would happen. We know the end of the story. They did not, yet at some point the got it all and that is why we know the rest of the story. Truth always wins out. Joy always overcomes grief.