#72 Lu. 9:21-22 THE COMING SUFFERINGS OF JESUS

Introduction:

    Let me tell you something.  I had rather have the privilege of preaching
this sermon than anything else in this whole world.  The possibility that
somebody unsaved and on the road to hell may come to know Jesus Christ in
this service and be saved is a thrill to my heart.  Also the possibility
that someone who is saved may be drawn closer to God is a thrill to my
heart.
    In our previous text Jesus presented His disciples with two questions.
He asked them first whom the general public say that He is.  The primary
answer was that the people say that He is John the Baptist.  There were
some, however, who say that He is Elijah.  Still others say that He is one
of the other Old Testament prophets come back to life again.  Jesus then
asked His own disciples whom they say that He is.  The apostle Peter spoke
for them all.  He said, "Thou art the Christ of God."  Our text today takes
up at that point.

I.  The disciples instructed not to tell that Jesus is the Christ

    V. 21, "And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man
that thing."  This seems at first a rather strange command.  It would seem
to us that Jesus would say to those disciples, "The great masses of people
have a misconception of me.  They have failed to understand that I am the
Christ.  It will now be your mission to cause them to change their mind.  It
will be your task to inform them just who I really am.  Get out and tell
everybody that you see that I am the Christ of God."  But instead Jesus
said, "Don't tell a soul that I am the Christ.  Don't breath a word
to anybody.  I am, indeed, the Christ, but for the time being I want that to
be our secret.  Don't you dare to talk about this with anybody outside of
our own little group."
    I want to point one thing to you right here.  If the people had really
wanted to be saved they could know how to be saved.  Jesus was not trying to
keep people in the dark about Him being the Savior of men.  He was not
trying to keep people from being saved.  To the contrary; He had come to
seek and to save the lost.  If men wanted to be saved, they could repent of
their sin and trust in the promised Christ of God without knowing that Jesus
is that Christ.  That is what the apostles had done.  They had heard John
the Baptist preach that the Christ was about to come and that they should
repent of their sin and they did so.  They repented of their sin and they
trusted in the Christ who as about to come.  Then John the Baptist had
pronounced openly for all to know that Jesus is the Christ.  He said of
Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."
    The problem was that most people in Israel did not want a Christ who
would save them from their sin.  Rather they wanted a Christ who would save
their nation from the Roman government.  If anyone among the great masses of
people wanted to be saved from their sin, they could trust the Christ to
save them from their sin.  Then God would help them to understand what John
was talking about when he said that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world.  God would help them to put two and two together and
to understand that Jesus is the Christ of God----that He is the Savior and
that God the Father had sent Him.
    That is what happened to the apostles.  They trusted in the Christ
before they ever had any idea that Jesus is the Christ.  Then they heard
John the Baptist say that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin
of the world.  Then God the Heavenly Father, through the working of he Holy
Spirit, helped them understand that Jesus is the Christ.  He helped them to
understand that Jesus is the One who had saved them from their sin.  In
Matthew's writing when Simon Peter spoke up and said, "Thou art the Christ"
Jesus responded and said, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father."  John the Baptist identified
Jesus as the Christ, but it was God the Heavenly Father who helped Simon
Peter to know that what John said was so.  God the Father is the one who
revealed to Peter that Jesus really is the Christ.
    Now if anybody---anybody out among the masses of people had trusted the
promised Christ to take away their sins and thus to save them from their
sin, they, too, could come to understand what John was talking about.  They
could now understand that John was really identifying Jesus as the Christ.
God the Father would reveal it to them in the inward man as He had revealed
it to Simon Peter.
    Yet it was not necessary to first trust in the promised Christ and be
saved before he could know that Jesus is the Christ.  If anyone out among
the masses of Israel had wanted to be saved from their sin, there was plenty
of evidence from the Old Testament Scriptures to identify Jesus as the
Christ.  They could see that the Scriptures had prophesied what the Christ
would be doing and they could see that Jesus was doing those things.  The
truth of the matter is that Jesus was so clearly identified by the
Scriptures as the Christ that even if nobody ever told them that Jesus is
the Christ, they should have been able to easily see that He is.
    In fact about the only way they could fail to see that He is the Christ
is for them to deliberately close their own eyes to the truth. And that is
what had happened to the great masses of people.  They were not interested
in a Christ who would save them from their sin.  They were interested only
in a Christ who would save them from the Roman government.

II.  Why Jesus commanded to the disciples not to tell that He is Christ

    Another thing I want you to see right here is why Jesus told His
disciples not to tell anybody that He is the Christ.  For one thing, He did
not want the great masses of people to renew their effort to crown Him as
their king.  Perhaps you will remember that after He had fed the multitude
with five loaves and two fishes that great crowd of people tried to take Him
by force and crown Him as king.  They would have gladly accepted Him as a
Christ who would be their king and supply them with their every material
need and who would use His miraculous powers to rebel against the Roman
government.  Jesus put a stop to their efforts to crown Him on that
occasion.  However, it would not take much effort on the part of the
apostles to stir up the people and arouse in them anew their desire to crown
Jesus as their king.  I repeat.  They would have gladly accepted a Christ
who would drive out the Romans and cause their land to prosper.
    But Jesus had not come to drive out the Roman government.  He had not
come to sit upon the throne.  He had not come make the nation of Israel to
prosper from a material point of view.  Jesus had come suffer.  Jesus had
come to suffer at the hands of the people of His own nation.  He had come to
die on the cross.  John the Baptist had said that He is the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world and as the Lamb of God He must suffer and
bleed and die.
    There was another reason that Jesus did not at this time want the
disciples to tell the people that He is the Christ.  The Jewish leaders had
already become His bitter enemies.  The chief priests and Jewish elders who
served on the Sanhedrin Counsel had already decided that Jesus must be put
to death.  They had already counseled together seeking a way that they might
put Him to death without arousing the masses of common people to hostility.
The only reason they had not already attempted to take His life was the
great popularity of Jesus with the common people.  They were afraid to put
Jesus to death without first finding some way of discrediting Him in the
eyes of the common people.  There were already a few of the people who were
saying that Jesus is the Christ.  Now if the apostles were to go about
spreading the word that Jesus is the Christ there would be a renewed effort
on the part of the Jewish leaders to put Jesus to death.
    Please understand that Jesus was not afraid of the Jewish leaders. He
knew full well that the time would come for Him to yield to them and let
them put Him to death.  But the time had not yet come  It was near at hand,
but it had not yet come.  Therefore, He did not want His disciples doing
something that might cause a premature effort on their part to kill Him.  So
Jesus instructed His disciples not to tell anyone at this time that He is
the Christ.

III.  The disciples informed about the approaching death of Jesus

    Having given the disciples instructions not to tell that He is the
Christ, Jesus then proceeded to inform them about the suffering that lay
ahead for Him.  Like all other Jews, the disciples of Jesus expected the
Christ to establish His throne in Jerusalem and to drive out the Roman
armies.  Since they knew that Jesus is the Christ, they expected Jesus to
soon set up His throne and to drive the Romans out.  Jesus set about to try
to teach them that this was not about to happen.  He informed them instead
that He would suffer many things at the hands of the Jewish leaders.  The
Jewish leaders of that day would never accept Him as their king.  Instead
they were going to be the very ones who would bring about His suffering.
    V. 22, "Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected
of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain...."  It would
normally be expected that in order for Jesus to be crowned king in Israel
that the Jewish leaders must support Him.  They must be for Him.  But
instead, it was the leaders who were against Him.  It was the Jewish leaders
who would bring much suffering upon Him even prior to His death.  It is they
who would arrest Him and falsely accuse Him.  It was the Jewish leaders who
would carry Him to the Roman authorities where He would be beaten
unmercifully.  It was the Jewish leaders who would stand before Pilate and
incite the crowd to demand the crucifixion of Jesus.
    Jesus wanted His disciples to know that He was not going to Jerusalem to
be crowned as King.  He would be crowned alright, but He would not be
crowned as King.  He would have a crown of thorns placed upon His head in
mockery.  He would have those thorns beat down into His brow with a reed.
He was going to Jerusalem to suffer.  He was going there to die.  He was
going there to shed His blood that lost sinners could be saved.  Without the
shedding of blood there would be no remission of sins.  There was no other
blood in the world that could take away sins.  If anybody anywhere living in
any age would ever be saved Jesus would have to suffer.  He would have to
suffer the full penalty of man's sin in order to be their substitute.  He
would go to Jerusalem and He would suffer the full penalty of sins for
everybody who would ever live in the whole world so that everybody could be
saved.
    Jesus did not want His disciples to be caught off guard by His arrest
and His crucifixion.  He did not want them to be overwhelmed.  He wanted to
prepare them in advance for that dreadful event so that they would not be
completely dismayed.

IV.  The disciples informed about the resurrection of Jesus

    Jesus did not stop by telling them only of His death.  He went on
immediately to tell them about His resurrection.  (V.  22), "...and be
raised the third day."  They would not have long after His death to wait.
After the third day, He would be raised from the dead.  Death for Him would
not end it all.  Death does not end it all for anybody.  There is life
beyond the grave for everybody.  Jesus would not only have life beyond the
grave, but He would physically arise from the grave.  He would bodily come
back to life in this world.  He would walk among His disciples once again.
They should know in advance that He would be put to death, but they should
also know in advance that He would rise again.
    If, by any chance Jesus would not rise again, there would still be no
salvation for anybody.  Without His death there would be no salvation, but
likewise without His resurrection there would be no salvation for anybody.
A dead man can save nobody. Only a living man can save.  Jesus would come
forth from the grave as a Living Savior, He would be able to save.  As a
living Savior, He can see those who are in need of being saved.  As a living
Savior, He can hear those who call upon Him and ask Him to save.  As a
living Savior, He can cleanse them from every sin.  He can send the Holy
Spirit to produce the new birth.  He can protect them by His mighty power.
He can make sure that they never never never go into the fires of hell.  He
can make sure that they will go to heaven.
    Let me tell you something this morning.  If God had wanted Jesus to go
to Jerusalem to proclaim Himself as King in Israel, there is no power in
this world that could have stopped Him.  And from the human point of view,
that would have been the thing to do.  It would have certainly been more
desirable to go to a throne than to go to the cross.  If any one of us had
been in His place, we would have already chosen the throne rather than the
cross.  I am confident that I would have; wouldn't you?  But thank God that
Jesus loved us enough to choose to go to the cross and to suffer in our
stead so that we might be saved.  I am glad also that He did not stay in the
grave.  I am glad that Jesus arose from the grave and that He lives today.

Conclusion:

    Listen!  How would you like for every sin that you have ever committed
to be taken away so that you may stand before God in judgment as though you
had never committed those sins?  How would you like for all the sins that
you ever will commit to be washed away so that you may stand before God in
judgment as though you had never committed any sin of any kind in all your
life?  How would you like to go to heaven in spite of the fact that you
fully deserve to go to hell?  That is exactly what Jesus is offering to do
for you.  But it is a time-limited offer.  You will not have this offer
forever.  If you are going to take advantage of His offer, you must do so
while there is time.
    Won't you lift your heart to Jesus in prayer right now and ask Jesus to
have mercy on your soul?  Won't you put your destiny in His hands?  I did.
Back when I was sixteen years old I bowed my head and I asked Jesus to save
my soul and to keep me out of hell.  Won't you do the same thing today?  I
hate to be so frank with you but you either must trust in Him or you must go
to hell.  It's one or the other.  Which will you choose?  Will you choose
Jesus or will you choose Hell fire?
    Listen, Christians!  How would you like to serve the One who some day
will sit upon the throne and rule the whole world?  He will, in fact, rule
the whole universe.  How would you like to go to work for Him right now and
spend the rest of your life working for Him?