“… and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief. Matthew 17:23 NABRE
Matthew has a second prediction of Jesus’ passion. Jesus tells His disciples the Son of Man will be handed over to men, and they will kill him. Jesus had spoken to them previously about being killed and raised on the third day (Matthew 16:21). There can be no doubt Jesus is aware of how His ministry will conclude, men who are concerned about Jesus will lead a campaign to have Him killed and Jesus also knows this will not end in His death but will lead to His resurrection, the first to be resurrected offering a path to eternal life for all who believe. Often the gospel messages lead us to come to faith. We see Jesus has tremendous faith, knowing the path laid before him and continuing to live day to day teaching, healing and trying to make people aware of God. Life is hard, adding an awareness of what will happen in the future, in Jesus case a future that leads His friends to be overwhelmed with grief, can only make it more difficult to focus each day on the moment. Jesus has insight but He is also human, we know He cries, He gets upset, this path to passion has to weigh heavy upon Him. Yet, His example is to constantly, and relentlessly do the will of God.
Our life will lead to death, though we don’t know when or how as Jesus does. Yet, knowing we will die we don’t seem to live in a way that we will make our death mean something in the universe. How much of our day to day activity is about surviving; food, housing, clothing, enjoyment, compared to what we do for the creation of the kingdom of God. As Christian’s our strength and value is in working together, joining together allows us to show the power of Christ in the world.
Are you working to build Christian community? What will be your legacy?
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