“the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes...” Jesus in Matthew 20:18-19
God planned the death of Jesus not to disown him or dishonor him or reject him, but to glorify him as the perfect, flawless Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John Piper in his sermon, “Did You Kill the Lord of Glory?”)
The cross was not plan B but plan A. (David Platt from his book, Radical)
Jesus resumes his journey now to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city on a hill with an elevation of approximately 2500 feet (760 meters) above sea level and is surrounded by valleys. Any journey to Jerusalem requires one to be going up (v.18). Along the way Jesus takes the twelve disciples aside by themselves and tells them what will happen in Jerusalem: the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up (vv. 18-19).
As tragic as these details are, Jesus relates with stunning accuracy what will happen to Him. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes is fulfilled in Matthew 26:57. Condemn Him to death: Matthew 26:66; 27:23, 26. Will hand Him over to the Gentiles: Matthew 27:2. Mock: Matthew 26:67-68. Scourge: Matthew 27:26. Crucify: Matthew 27:35. He will be raised up: Matthew 28:6. Only the omniscient God can make these kinds of predictions with this kind of accuracy.
Mark provides some interesting detail here. Mark records that “Jesus was walking on ahead of them. And they [the disciples] were amazed, and those who followed were fearful” (Mark 10:32). Jesus marched to Jerusalem as a man on a mission. The trial, crucifixion and death of Jesus were not accidents; it was not a series of unfortunate events that He haphazardly stumbled into. This was planned. Jesus’ came to earth to give his life as a ransom for many (v. 28).
There is a brief but powerful moment in the movie, “The Passion” when Jesus arrives at the crucifixion site unable to walk from the torture that He has endured. Yet instead of being passively nailed to the cross, He crawls deliberately yet trembling on all fours to the cross so that He may be nailed to it. Although that action is not recorded in Scripture, it illustrates the same determination Jesus had as He marched toward Jerusalem.
From the first breath of creation (Genesis 1), to the casting out of the garden (Genesis 3), to the Passover in Egypt (Exodus 12), to the crossing of the Jordan River (Joshua 3), to the birth of Jesus (Luke 2), to the final battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19), to the restoration of Jerusalem, heaven and earth (Revelation 21), the cross stands central. Even though His enemies consider the cross to be foolish (1 Corinthians 1:18), the world will not be allowed to forget Jesus’ death on the cross. Even before the throne of God the Father, Jesus stands glorified as the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5:6). The cross is the pivot point around which all of history revolves.
The Cross is the triumphant moment of history when the judgment of God and the love of God intersect. His rising on the third day, His resurrection, is when the power of God embraces the judgment of God and the love of God to present to all of creation, the Greatest Conceivable Being, the great glory of God Almighty. No wonder Paul said he would never “boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14).
Jesus knew exactly what would happen to Him in Jerusalem. It would be a time of great suffering and at least once He needed to be strengthened to accomplish this great task (Luke 22:43). Yet “for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). “For this reason, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow…and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). What an awesome God we serve!
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