An incredible thought.

As He went about His Father's business teaching the means of eternal life, Jesus presented many principles that it was difficult for His followers to understand, but you may readily imagine that He presented no other thought so hard for them to comprehend as the thought that He must lay down His own life. To His disciples, Jesus was the Mighty King come to establish His reign on earth. They thought that He would establish an earthly kingdom; that He would overthrow the dominion of Rome in Palestine; that He would restore the independence of the Jewish nation. It did not occur to them that His was more largely a spiritual kingdom, than a material kingdom. The thought that He should lose His life seemed impossible to them; indeed, it was abhorrent to them. Many of them did not learn to understand Jesus's sayings about His death until after He was actually laid away in the tomb.

Jesus's foreknowledge of His death.

But the knowledge of His approaching and inevitable death, seems to have been always present with Jesus Himself. Very early in His ministry, Jesus foreshadowed the coming end. "The days will come," He declared to those assembling about Him, "when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days." Somewhat later. He spoke of His death as a "baptism," and asserted that it would become a kind of test to determine, who was for him and who was against Him." "I am come to send fire on the earth," declared He; "and what {272} will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you Nay; but rather division; for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." The division in the family would be caused, of course, because some members would accept Jesus, whereas others would reject Him; some would find in His sinless death reason for worship, whereas others would find in His sufferings sufficient reason for rejection.

After Peter's confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," at Caesarea Phillipi, Jesus began more definitely to proclaim a violent death. Immediately, "He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He spake that saying openly," we read. "And Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him." Or, as Matthew expresses it, Peter rebuked Him, saying, "Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee." It is evident then that even though Peter was inspired to know that Jesus was the Christ, he had not yet received an understanding of the fact that Jesus must suffer death at the hands of His enemies in order to fulfill His great mission to the earth. And if Peter did not understand this truth, you may easily believe, that the thought of it {273} was intolerable to the rest of the disciples. They could not conceive of their divine leader's failing to establish the kingdom of God as an earthly dominion. Then further to impress upon His disciples the fact that His death was required by the law of sacrifice, He told them that they must themselves not expect to profit in a worldly or political way through their association with Him; but rather must they expect to suffer persecution and to sacrifice themselves. For sacrifice and service are demanded in the kingdom of God. "Whosoever will come after me," said Jesus to the awe-stricken disciples, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."

The significance of the death of Jesus.

It is not necessary here to quote further in detail the sayings of Jesus which indicate that He foreknew the violent death which He was destined to suffer. He assured James and John, when they sought places of honor and power in His Kingdom, that they were not able to drink the cup that He had to drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which He was to be baptized. And at the last supper, when He instituted the ordinance we call now the sacrament. He said of the broken bread, "Take, eat; this is my body;" and of the cup, "Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." From these statements, it is apparent that certain facts were clearly understood by Jesus, and that He endeavored as clearly to teach them to His disciples. These points are four, and you should try to remember them. First, Jesus foreknew and {274} proclaimed that the hatred of His enemies—the scribes and the Pharisees and the rulers in general—would finally bring about His death. Then, He knew equally well, and asserted with the same assurance, that His death was divinely appointed. Again, He assured His disciples that if they would gain places of honor in His kingdom, they too must be prepared to practice self-denial, to humble themselves and render service, and even, if necessary, to lay down their own lives for the Gospel's sake. Finally, Jesus announced that, through His death, mankind would be redeemed from sin, and that His death was therefore not a defeat but a glorious victory.

Worldly views of how Jesus's death can save.

These teachings are certainly inspiring and hopeful. The last one is particularly consoling. But, of course, it is only natural to ask, From what does the death of Christ actually deliver us? How can His death deliver us from sin? These questions have been asked by men ever since the crucifixion. It is almost amusing what strange ............