CHAPTER XVI.HIS PREDICTIONS CONCERNING HIMSELF.

In the account of Christ’s crucifixion by Matthew and Mark, it is recorded that they which passed by railed on him, saying,—“Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself”; and that witnesses had testified to the same accusation, but did not agree. The disagreement seems to have been, that some (Mark xiv. 58) testified that he said,—“I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another made without hands,” and the others (Matthew xxvi. 61) “I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.” The Evangelists properly characterize both classes asfalsewitnesses. Jesus had not said, “I willdestroy,” nor “I amableto destroy,” but, “Destroy (thou) this temple.” It was not a destroying byhim, but bythem; and it was the temple of his own body. It was the earliest, and in some respects the most striking of his predictions of his death and resurrection. It was on the occasion of his cleansing the temple at the first Passover. The Jews demanded of him, “What sign showest thou unto us, seeing thou doest these things?” Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews therefore said, “Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When, therefore, he was raised from the dead his disciples remembered that he spake this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.” (John ii. 13 to 22.)

It must have been soon after this Passover, and certainly before John the Baptist was cast into prison, that Jesus said to Nicodemus, that, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, thatwhosoever believeth may in him have eternal life. (John iii. 14, 15.) Nicodemus does not appear again, until his mild protest to the rest of the Sanhedrim,—“Doth our law judge a man except it first hear from himself, and know what he doeth?”[1]They answered and said unto him, “Art thou also of Galilee? Search and see that out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” He was silent. (John viii. 45 to 52.) But when Jesus had been put to death as a malefactor, no longer afraid, he comes with Joseph of Arimathea, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight, and they gave the Crucified One a princely burial. (John xix. 39, 40, 41.) What had wrought this change in Nicodemus? The lifting up upon the cross, was tohimassured proof that Jesus was a true “prophet, and more than a prophet.”

On more than one occasion in his early ministry, Jesus in reply to a demand for a sign from heaven had said, “There shall no sign be given but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew xii. 38 to 40; Luke xi. 29.) That he should be there only three days and three nights implied his resurrection. To any objection that he was not in the tomb any part of three nights, the customary[2]use of language among the Jews is a sufficient answer. In theTalm hieros, it is said that a day and a night together make up a period; and a part of such a period is counted as the whole. It is a received[3]rule among the Jews that a part of a day is put for the whole. Yet that the prediction was expressed in such terms, is strong evidence of the truthfulness of the record. As Godet well says, “Who would ever have dreamed offalselyputting in the mouth of Jesus the expression three days and three nights, when in actual fact the time spent in the tomb did not exceed one day and two nights?”

Jesus, when called to account for healing on the Sabbath day, answered: “My Father worketh even until now, and Iwork.” For this cause, therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. In reply Jesus said: “For as the Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will ... Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.... Marvel not at this, for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tomb shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done ill, unto the resurrection of judgment.” (John v. 1 to 29.)

In his discourse in the Synagogue at Capernaum, concerning the manna, he said to the Jews: “The bread which I give is my flesh (that is, my life), for the life of the world.... For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.... Many therefore of his disciples when they heard, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can hear it?’ But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said unto them, ‘Doth this cause you to stumble?Whatthen if ye behold the Son of man ascending where he was before.’” (John vi. 30 to 63.)

His first distinct announcement that he should be put to death and be raised from the dead, was upon Peter’s confession,— “Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God;” and it doubtless was in consequence of this confession. It was after John the Baptist had been put to death, and after the third Passover, but before the time had come for a public declaration of his Messiahship; for he charged the disciples that they should tell no man that he was the Christ. The place was in the coast of Cesarea Philippi, near the sources of the Jordan. With verbal differences, the same account substantially is given by each of the Synoptics, and as follows: “From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and the third day be raised up.”(Matthew xvi. 21.) “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mark viii. 31.) “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed, and the third day be raised up.” (Luke ix. 22.) Such is the testimony of these three witnesses. They agree also, that he warned the disciples not to anticipate worldly glory, but the reverse. Peter, fromhisconception of the Messiahship, treated Christ’s predictions of his death as but gloomy forebodings, and began to rebuke him, saying, “Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall never be unto thee.” But he turned and said unto Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art a stumbling block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God but the things of men.” (Matthew xvi. 23; Mark viii. 33.)

Six or eight days after these transactions Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray; and he was transfigured before them. As they were coming down from the mountain “he commanded them to tell the vision to no man until the Son of Man be risen from the dead.” (Matthew xvii. 1, 2; Mark viii. 2 to 9; Luke ix. 28 to 36.) Mark adds (doubtless from Peter), that they kept that saying, questioning among themselves, what the rising again from the dead should mean.

Elijah’s appearance suggested to them the question, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?” To which Jesus replied, “Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they listed. Even so shall the Son of Man also suffer of them.” Then understood the disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist (Matthew xvii. 10 to 13). Mark (ix. 12 to 14) puts the reference to the Son of Man in the form of a question: “And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be set at naught? But I say unto you that Elijah is come, and they have also done unto him whatsoever they listed, evenas it is written of him.” In either form his own death is predicted.

After the transfiguration he went to Capernaum, passing through Galilee. “And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, ‘The Son of Man shall be delivered up into the hands of men; and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised up.’ And they were exceeding sorry.” (Matthew xvii. 22, 23.) “‘The Son of Man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he shall rise again.’ But they understood not the saying, and were afraid to ask him.” (Mark ix. 30 to 32.) “‘Let these words sink into your ears: for the Son of Man shall be delivered up into the hands of men.’ But they understood not this saying, and it was concealed from them that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.” (Luke ix. 44, 45.) It is not necessary to suppose that it was otherwise concealed than by their dullness of apprehension, and preconceived opinions.

At the feast of Tabernacles, Jesus said to the officers whom the Pharisees had sent to take him: “Yet a little while am I with you, and I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me and shall not find me: and where I am ye cannot come.” (John vii. 32 to 35.)

He said the same to the Pharisees or the “Jews,” the day following the feast as he taught in the temple; and they said, “Will he kill himself, that he saith whither I go ye cannot come?” In reply, after repeating his previous declaration, he said, “When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me; he hath not left me alone; for I do always the things that are pleasing to him.” (John viii. 21 to 30.)

In the parable of the good shepherd spoken soon after the Feast, Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd ... and I lay down my life for the sheep.... Therefore doth theFather love me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment received I of my Father.” (John x. 11 to 18.)

He said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on me, though he die yet shall he live.” (John xi. 25.)

As he was going up to Jerusalem to the Passover at which he was to suffer, he again repeated his announcement to his disciples. “Behold we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he shall be raised up.” (Matthew xx. 18, 19.) “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles; and they shall mock him, and shall spit upon him, and shall scourge him, and shall kill him; and after three days he shall rise again.” (Mark x. 33, 34.) “Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written by the prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of Man; for he shall be delivered up unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully entreated, and spit upon; and they shall scourge and kill him; and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them; and they perceived not the things that were said.” (Luke xviii. 31 to 34.)

Immediately after (as it would seem), the mother of James and John came with them with the request, that the sons might sit one on his right hand, and one on his left hand, in his kingdom. The ten were moved with indignation. But Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew xx. 20 to 28; Mark x. 45.)

Six days before the Passover, he came to Bethany, where Lazarus was whom he had raised from the dead, and they made him a supper in the house of Simon; and Mary (the sister of Lazarus) anointed his head and feet with very precious ointment. This excited the anger of Judas. Jesus said, “Why trouble ye the woman, for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always, for in that she poured this ointment upon my body she did it to prepare me for burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” (Matthew xxvi. 6 to 13; Mark xiv. 3 to 10; John xii. 2 to 8.)

Immediately after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, on the first day of the week of his crucifixion, he was told that certain Greeks desired to see him. It was to him a sign of his glorification among the Gentiles, and, therefore, of his death. He answered, “The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.... Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour.... And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.” But this he said signifying by what manner of death he should die.” (John xii. 20 to 22.)

The parable of the wicked husbandman (to be found in all the Synoptics) represents them as killing the son and heir, by whom, as the context shows, our Lord was intended. And Jesus said, “Did ye never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected,The same was made the head of the corner;This was from the Lord,And it is marvellous in our eyes.’

‘The stone which the builders rejected,

The same was made the head of the corner;

This was from the Lord,

And it is marvellous in our eyes.’

Therefore, say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringingforth the fruits thereof. And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.” (Matthew xxi. 42 to 45; Mark xii. 1 to 12; Luke xx. 9 to 10.)

And every day he was teaching in the temple; every night he went out and lodged in the Mount of Olives till the third day of the week (Tuesday) with which his public ministry ended; and then he departed from the temple, never to return.

When he had finished his teaching in the temple, he said unto his disciples, “Ye know that after two days the Passover cometh, and the Son of Man is delivered up to be crucified.” (Matthew xxvi. 2.)

Peter and John, as he had directed, made ready the Passover, and when the hour was come, he sat down, and the Apostles with him. And he said unto them, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke xxii. 7 to 15.)

All the Evangelists state, that Jesus at the Passover supper said to the twelve, “One of you shall betray me”; and two of the Evangelists say that he designated the traitor, by the giving of the sop. (Matthew xxvi. 21 to 25; Mark xiv. 18 to 21; Luke xxii. 21 to 23; John xiii. 21 to 35.)

After giving him the sop, Jesus said to Judas, “That thou doest do quickly;” and he having received the sop, went out straightway to carry out that which he had before agreed;and it was night. (Luke xxii. 2 to 6; John xiii. 26 to 30.)

After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him; and to Peter he said, Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow afterwards.” (John xii. 36, 37.)

To the institution of the Lord’s Supper, there is the testimony of the three Synoptic Gospels, and that of Paul; four witnesses; and its constant observance from that time to the present. It was to commemorate his death to the end of the world,—“Take, eat, this is my body.... Drink ye all of it;for this is my blood of the covenant which is shed for many unto remission of sins.” (Matthew xvii. 26 to 28.) “Take ye; this is my body.” “This is my blood of the covenant which is shed for many.” (Mark xiv. 22 to 25.) “This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me.... This cup is the new covenant in my blood,eventhat which is poured out for you.” (Luke xxii. 18 to 22.) “This is my body, which is for you; this do in remembrance of me.... This cup is the new covenant in my blood; this do as oft as ye drinkitin remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.” (1 Corinthians xi. 23 to 28.)

To his saying that he would go before them into Galilee after his resurrection, there aretwowitnesses. It was after they had sung their hymn, and had gone out unto the Mount of Olives. “All ye shall be offended in me this night; for it is written I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am raised up I will go before you into Galilee.” So, Matthew. Mark’s account is: “And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended; for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad. Howbeit after I am raised up I will go before you into Galilee.” (Matthew xxvi. 31, 32; Mark xiv. 27, 28.)

That Peter should thrice deny that he knew him, is proved byallthe Evangelists. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow[4]thou shalt deny me thrice.” (Matthew xxvi. 34, 35.) “I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, until thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.” (Luke xxii. 34.) “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice.” (John xiii. 38.) Mark (probably from Peter himself) says that when Peter said, “Although all should be offended, yet will not I,” Jesus said to him, “Verily I say unto thee, that thou to-day,eventhis night, before the cock crow twice, shalt deny me thrice.” “But he spake exceeding vehemently, IfI must die with thee, I will not deny thee. And in like manner said they all.” (Mark xiv. 26 to 31.)

Yet in the discourse which followed, Jesus again says, “Behold the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” (John x. 31, 32.)

“Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me; because I live ye shall live also.” (John xiv. 19, 20.)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.”

“Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass ye may believe.” (John xiv. 27 to 31.)

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if ye do the things which I command you.” (John xv. 13, 14.)

“But now I go unto him that sent me, and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have spoken these things unto you sorrow hath filled your heart.” (John xv. 5, 6.)

“A little while and ye behold me no more, and again a little while and ye shall see me.” (John xv. 16.)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” (John xvi. 20.)

“And I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.” (John xvii. 11.)

“Again the high priest asked him and saith unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am, and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark xiv. 62.)

To Pilate he said, “I am a king”; and “Thou wouldst have no power against me, except it were given thee from above.” (John xviii. 33 to 37; xix. 11.)

To the penitent thief he said, “Verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke xxiii. 43.)

When he had cried with a loud voicehe said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”(Luke xxiii. 46.) And all the Evangelists, four witnesses, say that he “gave up,” or “yielded up,” the ghost.

There is as much evidence of these utterances (and they are notallof his predictions, in some form, of his death and resurrection), as there is of any of his sayings upon any subject, and they are so interwoven with the entire narrative that is impossible to set them aside, and leave anything to which we can safely assent as historically true of all his recorded acts and words. There is no alternative, except to believe that he uttered these predictions, or else to arbitrarily set aside the testimony of the four Evangelists, as well as that of Paul. It is impossible to save their character as honest witnesses, and deny that Jesus at various times, and in different ways, foretold his death and the circumstances attending it, and also his resurrection, and that after he was raised from the dead, he would go before them into Galilee. Not that we have theprecisewords, neither more nor less, that he uttered. In no instance do any two of the five witnesses givepreciselythe same words. Their testimony is in accordance with what usually[A]occurs, with honest witnesses. The witness says, “I cannot give the exact words, or all of them.” He is told to give the substance of what was said; and he does so to the extent of his recollection, using some of the same words, doubtless, but in the main expressing the idea in language of his own. Yet there is sufficient certainty, for the court or jury, in matters of the greatest concern. It is, in the highest degree, unreasonable to demand more of the Evangelists. It is also to be borne in mind that neither of themprofesses to give all of our Lord’s sayings; and John, writing much later than the others, purposely omitted many things as having been already sufficiently stated.

If, then (as it cannot be doubted was a fact), Jesus plainly foretold his death, why did it take his disciples by surprise? The answer to this question may be that not till within six months of the close of his ministry were they thus told; those months were crowded with his teachings and miracles, multitudes were following him; he had just before entered Jerusalem as they might expect their Messiah would do, amidst the hosannahs of thousands; and they were so filled with their visions of his glory, and their false conceptions of the predicted Messiah, whom they believed him to be, that they could not understand him. Their mistake under the circumstances was a natural one. (See alsopost,c. 19.)

[1]Canon Farrar’s Life of Christ, c. 13; Lange, ditto, Vol. II., p. 29; John ii. 13-22, and iii 22-25. Here, and in allsubsequentreferences, the citations are from the Revised Version of the New Testament, unless otherwise stated.[2]Lange, Vol. II., p. 273, note, citing Stier, ii, 171.[3]Lange, Vol. II., p. 273, note; Godet on Luke, p. 265; Whitby, as quoted by Scott, on Matthew xii. 40; Genesis i. 5; Daniel viii. 14, with Genesis vii. 4 and 17; Deuteronomy xiv. 28, with xxvi. 12; 1 Samuel xx. 12, with v. 19; 2 Chronicles x. 5, with v. 12; Matthew xxvi. 2, with xxvii. 63 and 64; Luke ii. 21, with i. 59; 1 Kings xx. 29; Esther iv. 16; Greenleaf on the Evangelists, etc., 268, 269 and notes.[4]The cock crows about midnight and about three in the morning, which was the beginning of the fourth watch. Galicinium (Cock-crowing) standing alone means the latter time; so that the same time is referred to by all. Greenleaf’s Testimony, etc., p. 436, and citations.[A]Seepost,c. 19.

[2]Lange, Vol. II., p. 273, note, citing Stier, ii, 171.

[3]Lange, Vol. II., p. 273, note; Godet on Luke, p. 265; Whitby, as quoted by Scott, on Matthew xii. 40; Genesis i. 5; Daniel viii. 14, with Genesis vii. 4 and 17; Deuteronomy xiv. 28, with xxvi. 12; 1 Samuel xx. 12, with v. 19; 2 Chronicles x. 5, with v. 12; Matthew xxvi. 2, with xxvii. 63 and 64; Luke ii. 21, with i. 59; 1 Kings xx. 29; Esther iv. 16; Greenleaf on the Evangelists, etc., 268, 269 and notes.

[4]The cock crows about midnight and about three in the morning, which was the beginning of the fourth watch. Galicinium (Cock-crowing) standing alone means the latter time; so that the same time is referred to by all. Greenleaf’s Testimony, etc., p. 436, and citations.

[A]Seepost,c. 19.

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