Mensa Otabil - The Promise of Pain and Triumph (10/02/2025)
We’re still looking at Jesus, preparing to go to Jerusalem for the triumphant entry on Palm Sunday. Luke chapter 18, verses 32 and 33: «For he will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge him and kill him, and the third day he will rise again.» These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember yesterday he said that the Scriptures will be fulfilled, and now he’s telling his disciples the Scriptures that will be fulfilled. He announces the message to them in a very strong way. He uploaded such an unsettling message to his disciples.
These are people who are close to Jesus; they’ve been with him all along. Jerusalem has always been a fascinating place for them to go because Jesus works miracles in Jerusalem, but this time he tells them very profound words. I’m going to group what Jesus said into four categories. The first is that Jesus said he’ll be delivered to the Gentiles, or to his enemies, and that was an important aspect of this prophecy because the death that Jesus was going to die could not be exacted by the Jews. The Jews could stone people and they could punish people in different ways, but they couldn’t crucify because crucifixion was a particularly Roman system of punishment, and the Romans, being the ones ruling Judea, had the authority to exact this kind of punishment. So the Gentiles were going to be the ones responsible for his death. That’s the first thing he said.
Second, Jesus said he will be mocked and insulted, that they are going to mock him, make fun of him, and insult him. We saw that happen in the Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ when his beard was pulled, and they put a crown of thorns on him. They slapped him around and spat on him. Then Jesus said he will be whipped, and he stated clearly he’ll be scourged, he’ll be whipped, and then killed. So Jesus noted that there would be whipping ahead of him, and later on we get to know that it was necessary for him to suffer the stripes because that is what brought healing to us. Then Jesus says, after all of these things, «I will rise again the third day.»
But when we follow the disciples, it seems as if they paid attention to the first three and forgot about the rising again because when it was time for him to rise, they weren’t expecting him to. What I wanted to pay attention to is that Jesus said this is what the Scripture had said concerning him. You know, many times when we say that God has spoken to us, we think that everything God says to us might sound nice to our ears, but the word of God to us is not fortune telling; it’s not soothsaying. The word of God is real, and so when there is pain coming, God speaks to our pain. He speaks to our suffering; he speaks to everything we go through, and that’s why he can tell us, «Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.»
So the word of God sometimes speaks, and affliction comes to us, and difficulties come to us, but the same word also delivers us. So when we say that God’s word has spoken to us, don’t just look through the Scriptures looking for nice-feeling words, but look for everything that God says. There is some pain, and there is some suffering, and there is some difficulty, but there is always deliverance. There is always help; there is always triumph because the Christian life is a life that ends in triumph. But in the process, all kinds of things can happen, and that’s what we see in the life of Jesus Christ. He talked about the suffering; he didn’t shy away from the suffering. It was written, and it’s part of God’s word. He went through it, but he also talked about the glorious resurrection, and all of this happened in the life of Jesus.
So God has a word for you; no matter what you suffer through, you will come out victorious. You will be lifted up, and you will be raised up. That is the promise of God to his children. Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you know the end from the beginning. You know both the pain and the deliverance of your children.» In Jesus' name, amen. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom. Peace and life to you.