LUKE 18:31-34

Luke 18:31-34

Most of you know I got hearing aids a few years ago, followed by this cochlear implant. It all started about 12 years ago. My sweet wife noticed I was not hearing much of what she said. She suggested I go see a doctor. After Mary Markovich did the hearing test, Andy Lehr came into the room and said, well you do have some hearing loss. It’s not bad enough for hearing aids yet, but you do have trouble hearing higher pitched voices – like women and children. I thought on the way home – that’s good news, because if I got home and said, my hearing is fine, it would not be good. But good news, sweetheart, the doctor said I can’t hear you well. So, I eventually got the hearing aids. Guys, don’t drag your feet – it will honor your wife and be good for your marriage.

You see, the truth is, men particularly are often rightly charged with selective hearing. What should we have for dinner? We hear that. Do you want to go to Hobby Lobby with me? I’m sorry, what did you say? I did some research, and found in the field of audio science, selective hearing is an important asset, for example, to stress-relief. The selective hearing process is the ability of the brain to tune into sounds it wants to hear and tune out what it doesn’t want to hear, all at the same time. You do it all the time – with something as simple as sitting in a restaurant, you tune out the surrounding sounds to listen to the conversation at your table. So, for example, when you say to your teenager, clean your room and we’ll go to T. J. Maxx, you shouldn’t be surprised if you find her putting on her shoes – all she heard was something about T. J. Maxx.

I would suggest the disciples practiced selective hearing throughout Jesus’ ministry, but especially during the last few chapters in our study of the Gospel of Luke – during this six-month journey to Jerusalem in chapters 9 to 19 – perhaps for stress relief. They tuned out what they didn’t want to hear, or what they didn’t expect to hear. After all, Jesus has been speaking regularly of His coming suffering – His passion. He’s on His way to Jerusalem to be killed. To give His life as a ransom for His people.

So, He’s preparing His disciples for His inevitable departure. This trip to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with them would be His last. In fact, He would be the Passover Lamb, who would willingly lay down His life for the sheep. Well, it started in Luke 9 up in Caesarea Philippi, when, after Peter’s famous confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus said, you’re right, Peter. And now we’re going to Jerusalem where the Son of Man will suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes, and be killed, but I will rise again after three days. But they never seemed to hear that. All they hear is going to Jerusalem – time to set up the kingdom – with You on the throne and we by Your side. This is going to be great. They were right, it was going to be great – they just had no idea how.

They didn’t get it, so He then went on to tell them anyone who wishes to come after Me must also deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. Puzzling words. I can seem them exchanging glances – what’s He talking about? I signed up for the kingdom, not this cross-bearing stuff. They didn’t get it.

They went from there to the Mount of Transfiguration, where He was changed/transfigured before them – well, Peter, James and John – and His face and clothes became white and gleaming. This was amazing – they were overwhelmed with a glimpse of His glory. After coming off the mountain and healing the demon-possessed boy, we read they were amazed at the greatness of God. Don’t miss that – that’s what they expected. But then, while everyone was marveling, He told them again about His coming betrayal – that He would be delivered into the hands of men.

And we read they didn’t understand – in fact, it was concealed from them. This talk about the Messiah, the Son of Man suffering didn’t compute. So, they dismissed it – selective hearing – and did the next best thing. On this journey from Philippi to Jerusalem, where Jesus will be crucified, we find in the very next story – they argued about which one of them was greatest.

You see, after almost every passion prediction – there were several – there is usually some significant failure on the part on the disciples. First, Peter boasts he’ll prevent Jesus from going the cross. Then in the second prediction, while Jesus is talking about giving up His life, the disciples are promoting theirs. Which one of us is greatest – which one does He like best? So, Jesus begins reminding them, His kingdom is different from any kingdom on the planet. The structure is different; the values are different. The goals are different; the rewards are different. It’s a different kind of kingdom.

At this point, He gave them an object lesson – you know, maybe words are too much for you guys, so I’ll give you a picture. He took a child and set him by His side. He said, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.” Oh, okay Jesus, now we get it. And then, later on this same journey, the disciples are rebuking parents for bringing their little children to Jesus so He could pray for and bless them. Selective hearing. They just didn’t get it – or were slow on the uptake.

And now, in our text today, once again, He tells them of His coming passion. And once again, they’re worried about greatness. You see, after this passion prediction – the other parallel accounts tell us the mother of James and John approached Jesus and asked, grant that my boys will be seated beside you – one on your left, the other on your right, in the kingdom. Keep in mind Jesus has just finished His most extensive passion prediction – meaning, He’s thinking of a cross, they’re thinking of a crown.

So again, He tells them about greatness in His kingdom. It’s not about regal splendor and stately majesty and tyrannical power and tangible wealth and sumptuous feasts and gilded jewels and fawning servants. It’s not about pomp and circumstance and robes and crowns and thrones and scepters and being carried around on a royal litter and being fanned by shirtless slaves and eating peeled grapes. It’s not about being served, it’s about serving. It’s not about greatness, it’s about humility. That’s my King, and that’s His kingdom.

Now, I suppose you might be tired hearing this by now. I get it. But I also suppose we may not be too different from the disciples. If we’re honest, many of us would voice the question of the disciples in chapter 9 – who’s the greatest, that is, how am I doing? Or maybe Peter’s question from last week – what’s in it for us? An undue self-focus has always been our problem. And so now, still in chapter 18, we need to be reminded again of why Jesus came. Our text this morning is Luke 18:31-34. He talks about the coming high point of history. Let’s read it together.

Selective hearing. It’s not what they expected, it’s not what they wanted, but it was what they and we desperately needed. Many suggest this is now the third prediction of what awaited Jesus in Jerusalem. Actually, while it may be called the third major passion prediction, there are a number of allusions in Luke to His coming death as well:

It started when Jesus was a newborn – 8 days old. Joseph and Mary took Him to the Temple to be presented to the Lord, and Simeon took the Child in his arms and said to Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul…” (Luke 2:34-35) She had to wonder what that meant, but we know, don’t we?

Luke 5:34-35 – When asked why His disciples didn’t fast, 34 And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? 35 But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” What is this bridegroom taken away thing?

Luke 12:50 – 50 “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!” Jesus had already been baptized by John the Baptist at this point – He was speaking of something quite different.

Luke 17:24-25 – 24 “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

More, I already mentioned Luke 9 and His conversation with the disciples in Caesarea Philippi, 22 “…saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” Verse 44, “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.”

It’s a detailed account, almost like reading a newspaper. Of course, I suppose you could say Luke just added these words to Jesus after the fact – after it happened – many have suggested such. There’s no way, they say, Jesus could have known such detail. Or, you could just accept the fact Jesus was God and knew tomorrow as well as today. At the very least, He knew the OT prophecies of the suffering servant applied to Him. All this means, He knew the precise sufferings that awaited Him. And Luke 9 says, He set His face toward Jerusalem. He went anyway. He went voluntarily to suffering, calling it serving – to give His life as a ransom for us.

Well, I suppose I should give you the outline of the text. They’re going to Jerusalem:

I. Jerusalem to Fulfill Scripture (31)
II. Jerusalem to Bring Suffering (32-33)
III. Jerusalem to Bring Confusion (34) – Remember, strike the shepherd, and they will all flee, and they did.

Jesus pulled the disciples aside after the conversation with the rich young ruler. Don’t miss that – I mentioned last week when Jesus demanded that His disciples, we be willing to give up everything for Him. Here, we see Jesus doing just that – giving up everything for us. How can we do anything less for our Lord?

He took the Twelve aside and told them, we’re going up to Jerusalem. In the next story, we find they are in Jericho, about 15 or so miles away from Jerusalem. But, Jericho is about 1000 feet below sea level; Jerusalem is about 2500 above sea level – it’s a steep climb of 3500 feet from Jericho to Jerusalem – they were indeed going up.

Notice, while we will find the disciples completely confused about what Jesus said awaited Him in Jerusalem – it was a fulfillment of Scripture. That is, the entire OT story pointed to this event. You see, Jesus told the Pharisees one day, you search the Scripture thinking that in them you find eternal life – it is these that testify of Me. Later, in Luke 24, which we’ll get to eventually, He was walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They were bummed, like everyone else – Jesus had been crucified, and now there was a report He had been raised from the dead. There seemed to be this sense of incredulity, unbelief. So Jesus, whose identity was hidden from them, said:

25 …“O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

I can’t wait to get to heaven to hear that speech – assuming, of course, it’s recorded in the annals of spiritual history to be heard. It will be amazing. All the Scriptures – the OT – pointed to what they, and frankly everyone else, missed. Where did the OT say what awaited Jesus in Jerusalem? Let me give you a few familiar ones – Psalm 22, Isaiah 52-53, Zechariah 12. Matthew, whose primary audience was the Jews, mentions all over the place how Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures in His birth, life, death, and resurrection. Paul would later write,

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…

We don’t have time this morning to review all that, but understand everything – from God clothing Adam and Eve with animal skins to the offering of Cain and Abel to the Passover Lamb to the entire sacrificial system pointed to Jesus. They were all types, pointing to the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Read Hebrews 8-10 to see the fulfillment – and how the fulfillment was needed, because the blood of animals would never permanently atone for sin. They were simply types pointing to Someone infinitely greater, whose blood would wash our sins away forever. And how would this atonement be made? Through the suffering of the perfect Son of Man in Jerusalem. He was perfect – He didn’t deserve death – but He died in our much-less-than-perfect place.

Each time Jesus gave a passion description, He added more detail – and this was the clearest of all. At first, back in chapter 9, we learn He would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders – the chief priests, the scribes, the elders – in short, the Jewish ruling body called the Sanhedrin, that He would be killed, and raised again the third day. Here, we learn a little more – that He would actually be handed over (we know by the Sanhedrin) to the Gentiles – their Roman overlords. Now don’t miss that. They expected the Messiah to show up and do away with their Roman rulers – they didn’t expect the Gentiles, the Romans, to do away with Him. This was shocking news. He would be handed over to the Gentiles – yes, namely to Pilate and Herod.

That’s what Acts 4 says, 27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.” It was all according to divine plan. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This didn’t take God or His Son by surprise. It was the plan. It was why He came.

Well, what would the Gentiles, and the Jewish leadership, do? I’m not going into detail as we are now days, perhaps a couple weeks away, in real time, from the crucifixion – the passion of our Christ. But look at the list:

He will be mocked. He was mocked by the Sanhedrin, by Herod, by Pilate’s soldiers as they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, kneeling before Him, “Hail, King of the Jews.” He was mocked by those who passed Him by while He hung on the cross, “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” “He saved others, He cannot save Himself.”

Jesus says He will be shamefully mistreated – a word in the predictions used only by Luke. But, He was slapped, blindfolded and beaten with fists (“Prophesy, who hit You?”), a crown of thorns placed on His head, and then beaten on the thorned-crowned head with a reed as a mock scepter.

He will be spit upon. While Luke does not list this being fulfilled, both Matthew and Mark do. He was spit upon by the Sanhedrin and later by the Roman soldiers. This was the Son of God. (NFL)

He will be scourged. Many of you are familiar with Roman scourging – as horrifically depicted in The Passion of the Christ. Again, I’ll save the description for later, but it involved being stripped and beaten with a whip embedded with shards of bone, metal and glass. Besides inflicting enormous pain, it was intended to weaken the victim for impending crucifixion.

He will be killed – and that by the horrendous and ignominious death of crucifixion. A Roman form of death reserved for the most hardened and despicable of criminals. It was against the law to put a Roman citizen on a cross, so horrible it was. But it is how He would die.

Listen, Jesus knows all this, and heads to Jerusalem anyway, with purpose. Matthew says at this point, Jesus was walking on ahead – and they, that is the disciples, were amazed or astonished. Usually, people were amazed at His teaching, His healings, His demonic deliverances, His miracles. But here, they were amazed at His walking ahead, with purpose. He’s getting closer to Jerusalem and the Passover; He’s quickening His gait, knowing He was going to His death. They were amazed, as we should be.

Others who followed were fearful – they can sense the tension in the air, perhaps getting some inkling of what awaited. At the very least, they knew of the rising religious opposition against Jesus. They were fearful. But He walked on ahead. You see, as many brilliant theologians have noted – once God decided to create, knowing we would rebel, the death of His Son became a consequent necessity. It was necessarily the only way a just God could redeem sinful humankind.

If you drop down to the next chapter, you’ll see we’re just about to the Triumphal Entry – which begins the passion week – the last week of Jesus’ life. We’ll discuss His suffering in more detail in the months to come. But let me say again, Jesus knew what awaited Him. He knew of the horrible suffering He would endure, to include one of the most inhumane deaths ever practiced by humankind. And He went purposefully.

He knew. Is there any wonder He would sweat great drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass from Me? It was the reason for which He came. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” One thing we’ll note is that they did not take His life – He had the power to end the ordeal any time He wanted. But He came to give His life, to lay it down. We then, too, knowing what awaited Him, should be astonished.

But don’t miss the last thing that He knows will happen. The third day, the first resurrection Sunday, He will rise again. Hallelujah. You see, a dead Savior does us no good. Romans 4 says He was “delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” Don’t be one who denies or even questions the resurrection. It was necessary for the expiation of our sins and the declaration of our righteousness. Romans 1 says He “was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

It’s why He came, it’s why He died. In the parallel passage in Mark, we read those important words, He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom. Most agree this is the purpose statement of Mark’s gospel. Most agree is also a succinct summary of Isaiah 53, especially verses 10 and 11:

10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.

Unbelievable. Who would have thought this up? It’s no wonder the disciples were confused, which brings us to our last point and conclusion – verse 34: the confusion of the purpose of the trip to Jerusalem. While Jesus spoke plainly, the disciples remained in the dark. Again, it was selective hearing; it wasn’t what they expected. They were looking for a coronation, not a crucifixion. So three times, Luke says they didn’t get it. The disciples understood none of these things – it didn’t fit their paradigm. The meaning of this statement was hidden from them. This is a divine passive – God kept them from understanding until it was accomplished. And they did not comprehend the things that were said.

Do you understand? This was mystery – that God would send His Son, the Christ, to die for the sins of people. Who would have thought of this? The cross, you see, is foolishness to those who do not believe. Even today, people use silly and really blasphemous words to describe the event: it’s a fairy tale; Jesus was simply a man who got carried away with His own delusions of grandeur; Jesus had no idea what His words would cause – how His mission would end; and perhaps worst of all – the cross is nothing less than cosmic child abuse.

Do you understand? It’s an unbelievable story, but it’s a true story, the story of all stories. After we get to the triumphal entry in a few weeks, we’re going to spend some time in the last week of His life – the passion of our Christ. People still refuse to believe that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him and His cross-work, to include the resurrection, will not perish but have everlasting life.