Mark 8:31
Jesus begins to tell his disciples about what was going to happen towards the end of their time together. It’s important for us to remember that Jesus is indeed a prophet. He tells the future because he knows the future. In fact the Bible tells us the spirit of Christ is the spirit of prophecy, all the prophets prophesied by him. Indeed, this is what makes the prophets different from fortune tellers or diviners that find their source in the devil. The prophet of God gets his truth from Jesus, who knows the future because he is God, and knows everything.
This is a very unique situation. Who would claim to know the day of his death, unless he were God? And, it would only stand to reason that God would speak of rising again because you would not think that to be final for him. If human authors had written the Bible by themselves, without divine inspiration, they would not have put such a thing in Scripture. Someone would be considered mad to believe something like this, and yet it is the truth. This is one of the great things that verifies the truth of Scripture.
It is interesting that several groups of the Jewish leaders are mentioned here. It’s not just that all of them are thrown in together. The elders would reject him. The chief priests would reject him. The scribes would reject him. This is interesting because, had any one of these groups been on his side, there would have been a possibility of him not being rejected. But, they all turned against him.
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus even though you knew exactly what was going to happen. Thank you for the sacrifice of your son. Thank you for your great mercy and love! Thank you for Christ! Oh Lord Jesus thank you for dying in my place, your great love for me is overwhelming! I will praise you forever, and lift your name on high. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you Father, Amen.