“I’ll Be Back!”
“And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.’” Matthew 20:17–19.
“I’ll be back!” is probably being heard in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice. The promise Jesus gives His disciples here is amazing. The greatest miracle of all and the biggest show of God’s strength and might was shown through the redemptive work on the cross. As amazing as this promise is and as often as it is spoken of as a Christian, we often neglect to see this for the exciting thing it is. Too often, we focus on the difficulty in the beginning and do not continue reading. We give up in life before the resurrecting life is spoken of. We lack faith that God will transform and renew us from the sin and struggles of life, but we should not be disheartened. The Good News of Jesus’ resurrection never changes; we just have to finish the story to see it.
In Matthew chapter 20, we read for the third time that Jesus would promise the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) would be killed and brought back to life. Jesus makes this statement on the way to Jerusalem. Now, I do not know if you are like me, but if my best friend, teacher, and the Lord of my life told me that the next place we were headed, he would be condemned to death, mocked, flogged, and crucified, I do not think I would be continuing my path to Jerusalem. If you can imagine the cartoon “Road Runner” in Looney Tunes, I would say, “Meep, Meep,” and zoom as far away from the danger as possible.
The disciples had to be incredibly concerned and frightened at this moment. You may be saying in your head, “But He rose again. He told them He would.” It is a lot easier for us to say that now, knowing the power of God that raised Jesus from the grave, but to them, this was a miracle that topped all the miracles Jesus had performed. They would have to lose Jesus first to see the miracle. Oftentimes, we live our lives this way, forgetting the miracle of the cross for the issues and trials that plague us in our everyday lives. We lose sight of God just like the disciples did in Matthew chapter 20. Their perspective was focused on the trial in the beginning, not the triumph in the end. They had seen Jesus fulfill prophecy and keep all of His promises, yet this one seemed too big of a task.
There are times in our lives when we have to focus on the work of the cross because the sin in our life or the distractions the devil places in our way are overbearing, but the wonderful part of a promise from God is He always comes through. Jesus did die on the cross and suffer the sin of the world, yet He came back to life and offered us life with Him. So, when life gets difficult and the things of this world are all that your mind can think of, remind yourself that not only did Jesus say, “I’ll be back,” but He showed up in the biggest way possible. We can keep that promise for life.