ANNOUNCEMENTS OF DEATH
ANNOUNCEMENTS OF DEATH
are still unprepared for tliis r cMii (lares to rebuke Jesiis
Jn 3". The dis plain tnitli, ami forsucli .l.-iinii.lrnry iMt ir, ■). The sharp rebuke of Pt'trr l.y .Ic-ii^ i\. I sliiiws iiow strong a hold the piir|Hi--('' 1o .li' li:iJ ni; His \eiy nature. Peter had nil I i r ink of Satan' in the Tempta- tion. I II' 1 I- i.rord the dulness of the dis- ciples, I > 111- tlie late invention of these sayin;^s ,,1 1 1 iKun .1 1.. .Tesns. The principle of self -giving is a basal one for Jesus and for all His followers (Lk 9^--^). The disciples could not yet, any more than Nicodemus, grasp the moral necessitiy of the death of Jesus. They recoiled at the bare fact.
{b) On the Mount of Transfiguration a week later, somewhere on the sjmrs of Hermon, Peter, James, and Jolin get a fresh word from Jesus about His death (Mk 9'). It is not necessary to suppose that they understood or even heard the conversation of Jesus witli Moses and Elijah about ' his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem' (Lk 9"). Most likely they did not, if Peter's remarks are a criterion (Lk 9'-'-). There is a fitness l)oth from the manner of the deaths of Moses and Elijah, and from their respective positions in law and prophecy, that tlu^sc two should talk with Jesus about His atoning ami predicted sacrificial death. This exalted scene lifts the curtain a little for us, so that we catch some glimpse of the consciousness of Jesus concerning His death, as He held high converse with Moses and Elijah. But the remark of Jesus (Mt 17') was a caution to the three disciples to keep to them- selves what they had seen till His resurrection, when they would need it. But the lesson of strength was lost on them for the present. Even the cliosen three questioned helplessly Avith each other about the rising from the dead (Mk 9'"). They could not understand a dying Messiah now or later till the riseu Christ had matle it clear.
(t) In Galilee Jesus renewed His earnest words about the certainty of His death (Mk S^\ Mt 17-'-'-, Lk 9"^). He concealed His presence in Galilee as far as possible (Mk O""), but He was very insistent in urging, ' Let these words sink into your ears : for the Son of Man shall be delivered up into the hands of men ' (Lk 9**). But it was to no purpose, for they understood it not (Mk 9^-). St. Luke (9''^), in fact, says that it was concealed from them, thus raising a problem of God's purjiose and their responsibility. They were sorry (Mt 17"^), but afraid to ask Jesus (Lk 9^^). Hence Jesus has not yet succeeded in making the disciples understand His purpose to die for men. So then He will have no human .sympathy, and will have to tread the path to Calvary alone.
(d) At the feast of Tabernacles, or a few days afterwards, just six months before the end, in tile ini(l-i iti I III' liostile atmosphere of Jeru.salem, Jesus I i(i|ili r i r \Au: voluntary character of His death lui 111. -hi-.iiiJnlO'S). He does this to distinguish littuutu Himself and the Pharisees, wlu. hnvi- 1..-,.,, vehemently attacking Him. Thry .-nc ir.Mwrs wolves, and hirelings, while .li-^ii-- i^ ihr <;.h,iI Shepherd. He is not merely cmiuIiI m i Ih m.irl
Strom of historic forces, nor is Ilr 1 h. \ h ' im ^t 1
and circumstance, for He has vulinii n il\ |.iii 1 1 m self into the vortex of sin (Jn In I ^ I '!.'
has given tlie Son the power or li'jlii i- 1 n- li\
downaiiilliitakiMii.TTisliri..-i,t;;iiii. Ii vn. 1 ' . mn niandniriit ■ fii.iii llic I'litlier, l-nt m.l I" iIm' i-x elusion III til,. Mi|iu,l:,ry lialnln.f III- ,lr;,lh ; |„ I as the ni-ii-s~ily III lii^ ile.'il li \\.-isan iiiwiinl iiiri.- sity of love, not an outward ciiminilsion of law. It is in the realm of spirit that we find the true value of the death of Jesus for our sins (He 9'-'), and the moral grandeur of it is seen in the fact I
that He made a voluntary ofi'ering of His life for those who hated Him (Ro 5').
(c) As the time draws nearer, Jesus even mani- fests eagerness to meet His death (Lk 1'2^"'-). It is only some three months till the end. However we take Ti, whether as interrogative or exclamation, we see clearly the mingled eagerness and dread with which Jesus contemplated His death. It is a fire that will burn, but also attracts. He had come just for this purpose, to make this fire. It will be a relief when it is kindled. It is a baptism of death that presses as a Divine com- pulsion ujion Him, like the 'must' of the earlier time (Jn 3", Mk 8"). Here we feel the inward glow of the heart of Christ as it bursts out for a moment like a flame from the crater, unable to be longer restrained. So Jesus had a double point of view about His death, one of joy and one of shrink- ing, but He did not go now one way and now the other. He will pursue His way steadily, and as the time draws nigh, His view of His death will amount to rapture (Jn 17'' ^^). But Jesus was never more conscious and sane than when He spoke thus about His death. It was, in fact. His inner self speaking out. He thus gave us not only a new \ iew of His own death, but a new view of death itself.