The Necessity of Suffering, Death, and Resurrection

From the moment Jesus warned His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ, He began to explain that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised to life (Matthew 16:20-21, Korean Modern Bible).  When Jesus said this clearly, Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him, saying, "Never, Lord!  This shall never happen to You!" (v. 22, Korean Modern Bible).  But Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns" (v. 23, Korean Modern Bible).  Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done.  Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom" (vv. 24-28, Korean Modern Bible) ["Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:27, Modern Bible)] ["If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38, Modern Bible)].  As I reflect on these words, I have several thoughts:

(1)    Why did Jesus begin to clearly reveal that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, be killed, and on the third day be raised to life, only after warning His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ? (Matthew 16:20-21; Mark 8:31-32).  Why did Jesus begin to clearly state that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and be resurrected after Peter confessed, through the revelation from God the Father in heaven, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God"? (Matthew 16:16-17, Korean Modern Bible).  In my opinion, the reason is that Jesus knew His time was near [‘My hour’ (John 2:4, 7:6, 8:20, 12:4, 23, 27, 13:1, 17:1)].  Jesus' "time" refers to the moment when, as God's Son, He would be crucified to redeem God's chosen people.  In other words, Jesus' "time" refers to the moment when He would reveal His glory as the Son of God.  Therefore, after Peter's confession, Jesus began to clearly reveal to His disciples that, as the Christ, He would go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and rise again on the third day.  The first half of Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 (Korean Modern Bible) says, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die."  God the Father appointed the time for His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be born into this world (His birth) and the time for Him to be crucified and die.  Jesus Christ was born in the manger in Bethlehem and lived for about 33 years, destined to die on the cross at Golgotha.  Throughout this process, Jesus began to reveal to His disciples that He would go to Jerusalem, suffer at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law (the necessity of suffering), be killed (the necessity of death), and be resurrected on the third day (the necessity of resurrection).

(2)    Why did the apostle Peter rebuke Jesus, holding Him back, and say, "Lord, this shall never happen to You" (Mark 8:32, Korean Modern Bible) when Jesus spoke about His suffering and death? (Matthew 16:22)  Why, out of all the disciples, did Peter, who had made the faithful confession that "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (v. 16, Korean Modern Bible), be the one to rebuke Jesus in this way?  Why did Peter, who had made such a precious confession through the revelation of God the Father in heaven (v. 17), think only of human concerns and not God's will (v. 23) when Jesus said He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and rise on the third day?  Why did Peter become a tool used by Satan (Hokma) in attempting to stop Jesus from fulfilling His mission?  Why did Peter, who confidently declared, "Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will" and "Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You" (26:33, 35, Korean Modern Bible), later deny Jesus three times? (vv. 70, 72, 74)  Jesus had also said to Peter: "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (26:41).  Therefore, Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:8-9: "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

(3)    Why did Jesus say to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35, Korean Modern Bible)?  Perhaps the reason is that Jesus, knowing in advance that Peter would deny Him three times (Matthew 16:70, 72, 74), even though Peter had confidently declared, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will,” and “Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You,” (vv. 33, 35, Korean Modern Bible), said these words because, as the all-knowing God, He foresaw what would happen.  If we truly wish to follow Jesus, we must (a) deny ourselves and not deny Jesus, (b) take up the cross that is given to each of us, following Jesus' example, and (c) we must not be ashamed of Jesus and His words, but rather, we must be willing to lay down our lives for Jesus and the gospel.  The apostle Paul’s confession is: “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news (gospel) of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24, Korean Modern Bible).