Responding to the Suffering & Death of Jesus

Open: responses to the news that a famous leader has died.

Hitler - rejoicing and relief, shock, what happens now?

Queen Elizabeth - sorrow, distress at the end of an era, comfort in the succession: the Queen is dead; long live the King

Transition: Easter is focused on the Resurrection of Jesus. For a Resurrection to be able to take place, however, a death must occur first. We know that Jesus did in fact die. He was unjustly condemned by a Kangaroo court, scourge, and executed by Crucifixion. This was no surprise to Jesus, but it was quite a shock to His followers. Jesus tried to prepare them for the event – He told them it was going to happen, and then He repeated the same information twice more.

Response #1 - Reject it. (Peter’s approach)

Explanation: Our text in Luke is actually the third occasion in which Jesus informs His disciples of His impending suffering and death as they are making their way to Jerusalem. The Synoptics have parallel passages for each of the three instances in which Jesus discusses this issue. The event which took place immediately prior to the first time Jesus gives them this news is when He asks them the all-important question as to His identity. Matthew’s account (Matthew 16:13-18) contains the fullest telling of this supernatural revelation to Peter in which he is given the correct answer: Jesus is the Messiah.

After the 12 receive this news of His identity, Jesus informs them that their Messiah, the One the nation has been waiting on for over a 1,000 years, is going to be betrayed, beaten and killed. Not what they expected to hear. Peter’s response is to rebuke Jesus. In the moment, Peter is trying to move Jesus away from the path to the Cross - to avoid it and to take up power as King in what he (Peter) sees as a better way. Jesus responds with a very harsh rebuke to Peter.

Illustrate: shortcuts to glory that avoid the path of pain and effort [weak possibility is a person who buys lottery tickets]

Argument: It was not an accident or a quirk of history. The Cross was not something that could be avoided. The Cross of Christ is the predetermined method that God chose in Eternity Past to provide Redemption for humanity (Acts 2:22-24)

The Crucifixion does NOT make sense to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18). Many people do not understand why reconciliation with God cannot take place apart from the substitionary atonement that only Jesus provides.

In 2004, a theologian named Steve Chalke created controversy by dismissing the notion that the Cross is a substititionary penalty. “In a press release Steve Chalke has said that penal substitution is ‘a theory rooted in violence and retributive notions of justice’ and is incompatible ‘at least as currently taught and understood, with any authentically Christian understanding of the character of God.’ He is unrepentant about referring to the doctrine as a version of ‘cosmic child abuse’ because ‘it is a stark “unmasking” of the violent, pre-Christian thinking behind such a theology’.”

(https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2004/a-scandalous-attack-on-the-cross/; accessed on March 17, 2023)

Peter wasn’t thinking cosmic child abuse, but he was rejecting the need for Jesus to die on the behalf of others. He wanted no part of His master suffering - instead, Peter wanted Jesus on a Throne. The truth is Jesus will indeed take that Throne one day in the future, but His path to Glory was through the humiliation of the Cross. (Phil 2:5-11)

Application: It isn’t your place to judge whether the Cross makes sense. It is God’s plan, and since He is God and you aren’t, that ends the debate. Our part is to follow God’s revelation and be obedient. Do not allow pride or some false sense of worth lead you to reject the Cross as it relates to you in a personal manner.

Response #2 - Angle for position during the power vacuum

Explanation: Jesus repeats the news of His impending suffering and death to the 12 a second time (Matthew 17:22-23; Mark 9:30-32; Luke 9:43-45). In all three accounts, the very next thing the disciples do is begin a discussion about which one of them is the greatest of the group. Their Master has repeated a news item that at the very least should have brought conversations of sorrow or compassion - instead, the news resulted in a power struggle.

Illustrate: President Reagan being shot, reporter asking, “who’s in charge?” response by Sec. of State Al Haig: “I am in control here.”

Argument: In earthly enterprises the need exists for a recognized leader. When a leader dies or is unable to continue operations, he or she is replaced. That is the way of the world.

The Christian Church, however, is not like the world. Jesus asked them what they were discussing, and I imagine they must have put their heads down when they had to tell Him they were bickering about who was the best of the 12. (Mark 9:34) Jesus’ response was for them to be servant-leaders (Mark 9:35)

Our leader is King Jesus, and He will never be replaced. Jesus said this about Himself: “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending … which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)

Application: There are biblical and valid positions of leadership within individual Churches and they need to be filled by those who are called and equipped by the Lord Himself. They are not, however, to be filled by those who seek power and prestige for the sake of being in authority.

Response #3 - Be humbled. Recognize the price Jesus paid on behalf of others

Explanation: The correct response to the Cross of Jesus is to be humbled. This teaching, while not explicitly contained in our text, is the teaching of the NT as a whole. The idea that the King of Glory died to pay a sin debt He did not owe should stagger our minds. Not a single person every lived in such a way as to deserve such a costly sacrifice

Illustrate: We are in the midst of March Madness. The NCAA basketball tournament is in the 2nd round and the field of contenders is being narrowed. Only one team out of the 68 will win the crown. They earn the title by winning games.

Argument: The Bible clearly tells us that “there is none righteous, no not one” (Rom 3:10) and that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Because we are by nature sinners and we will never come up to God’s perfect standard, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Application: You are not worthy of such a sacrifice; I am not worthy of such a sacrifice. Our only response should be one of thanksgiving and praise. We should be in awe of the magnitude of love that God displayed at the Cross of Christ. We should never get over it, and we should never think we are better than anyone else.

Response #4 - Understand the significance - Ask God to reveal the truth and what it means for your life

Explanation: I want to draw your attention back to the last verse of our text in Luke 18. This is the third time the 12 have been told by Jesus about his impending suffering and death, but they “understood none of these things” (v. 34). Even in the garden, Peter has not come to terms with God’s plan for the suffering of the Messiah - this is seen when he takes up a sword in another attempt to derail what God has ordained.

Why did the 12 not understand? We see in the text that “this saying was hid from them.” (v. 34) The only explanation that makes sense was that God Himself is the One who hid this truth from them. The truth of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection was revealed to them later by the Holy Spirit.

Those who live in darkness have been blinded by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and it takes the conviction of Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel to bring light into the darkness.