The Known Future

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE KNOWN FUTURE

Matt 20:17-19

17 Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18 "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" 

NIV

This cannot be any plainer than what Jesus said to the twelve he took aside. Yes, there is going to be suffering at the hands of the Gentiles. Yes, there is death that will happen to his body as it is hanging on the cross. That is the most gruesome form of death the Romans devised. It takes time for a person to suffocate having their hands stretched out and all their weight pulling downward. To make matters worse and draw the pain and suffering out, they placed a small foot stand so the criminal could lift his body up slightly taking the pressure off his lungs, but eventually, he becomes too tired, and soon he cannot catch his breath anymore and loses conscienceness and then dies for lack of oxygen. Sometimes, as in the case of when Jesus and the two were hanging, the Romans broke the legs of the two so death would come quicker, but Jesus had already given up his spirit, so his bones were not broken, to fulfill the prophecy. His disciples would have been aware of all this, having most likely witnessed other crucifixions during their lifetime under Roman occupation. There is going to be some response to what Jesus told his disciples about what is going to happen to him, but we will leave that for another time. Right now, what is interesting is that Jesus did not withhold the truth from them, and that should give us assurance no truth has been withheld from us. God does not withhold the truth, for he desires us to know all that is going to happen to us, just as he told his disciples what was going to happen to him, especially the part about on the third day he will be raised to life. There is no doubt that we are going to experience death. The difference is that we do not know when, as Jesus did, and we do not know how, as Jesus did. But the fact remains there is a time coming when we will lay this body to rest. We will take our last breath at some time in our future, but that will be a grand and glorious day because we will be raised to life. Maybe we might have to suffer, but surely not as Jesus did. We most likely will not be mocked and flocked, but it is possible that death could not come easy, as we could suffer from some disease or long-drawn-out illness before death frees us from this perishable and corruptible body. Still, the fact remains, death has no hold or grip on us, it cannot restrain us from the power of God to raise us up to life and life eternal. Therefore, Just as Jesus informed his disciples as to the coming events of his life on earth, we too have been informed as to the coming events of our coming death and life on earth. We know our future because God has not withheld it from us.