Week 1 – PRONOUNCEMENT:
Matthew 20:18-19
– Sterling Hernandez
“See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.” – Matthew 20:18-19 (NRSV)
This statement from Jesus toward His disciples is the single best report of good news for all Christians to hear. It is with this one sentence that Jesus summarizes the entirety of the whole Bible and the essence of the gospel. It is simply impossible to separate the person of Jesus and the message of good news. Jesus began His public ministry with the pronouncement to “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15, ESV). But His message of good news does not always appear to be good to His hearers. On the contrary, it seemed to Jesus’ disciples that this “good news” spoken in the text was actually bad news. Peter responded by rebuking Jesus in anger (Mark 8:32). The other disciples responded in grief (Matthew 17:23). Mark’s Gospel describes how the disciples did not understand Jesus and were afraid (Mark 9:32).
It was about three years ago when I graduated from college. I remember choosing not to pursue marriage so I could focus on my studies. When God told me another bit of “good news,” that I would remain single after graduating college, let’s just say that my response was not full of excitement. Like Jesus’ disciples, I did not have a positive response. And ever since then, He hasn’t changed His answer.
As Christians, it doesn’t always make sense to us why God tells us certain things. It can likewise be difficult to trust that all God’s actions and intentions toward us are for our good. In the biblical text, the disciples certainly didn’t fully understand what Jesus was saying. Not understanding God can be true of any news that we receive from Him. For me, that news had to do with marriage. But for the disciples, it was not until after Jesus had resurrected from the grave that their eyes were opened to see the news Jesus had spoken was indeed good news, like with our two friends on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:31).
Though we cannot always understand in the present, we can trust that God’s news is always good news, even when it seems presently to be bad news. This is what the biblical text testifies to concerning Jesus. For some of us, we will be able to look back in retrospect and understand in this lifetime. For others, we may not be able to understand until we see the Lord face-to-face. For me, if one day God grants me the gift of marriage and a family, I am certain that then I will understand more fully why God has granted me the blessing of being single. But if I never get married, I am persuaded that I will fully understand one day when I am with Him. But my prayer is that my lack of understanding will not result in a lack of trust. Whatever the circumstances of your life, what good news is God speaking to you?