17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” Matthew 20:17-19

This is the third time Jesus predicted His death. The Twelve were probably starting to get the picture. He was going away and it would be a painful death.

They knew He would die, but did they fully understand the resurrection?

It’s a difficult concept because it had never been done before, except perhaps for Lazarus.

But this was bigger because the man who raised Lazarus from the dead would be the one dying and rising to life. He was the One they were following. He was who they had left everything for.

They had to take a while to process it even though events and teachings in their mind was coming together. Sure they consulted Jesus while they walked, but they were probably talking among themselves about His teachings. We know that was true because of the verses that follow when they got family involved.

Jesus’ teachings about death and the resurrection was heady stuff. It clearly was not “after the fact” events but in real time, which is significantly different than how we view the teaching. Of course they were slow to understand it. They had no context or frame of reference. The long awaited Messiah was among them and He was teaching like none of their leaders had taught before.

The man who actually wrote the words the religious leaders used was teaching them.

It must have been overwhelming and fascinating at the same time.

Today, as you thing on these things, rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Rejoice that you have a new life in Christ.
Rejoice that you are no longer a slave to sin.
Rejoice that one day we will be with Jesus in heaven.