PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 17

What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?

“They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” (Matthew 17:23)
Jesus can’t make it any clearer: he will be killed, and then raised to life.
That Jesus will suffer and die fills the disciples with grief.
But what about his rising again, what does that fill them with?
I imagine the disciples could not even conceive what this meant.
We face death in the world everyday, and strive to avoid it.,
Death is a curse that ruins our hope and robs us of joy.
We do not experience resurrection, it just doesn’t happen.
What Jesus suggests seems contrary to ordinary reality and reason.
And so they could not feel hope they did not understand, or expect.
All they saw was the bad and the sad… are we the same?
Do we live more in fear and despair than faith and hope?
Jesus is preparing them for the trouble to come.
Yes, suffering and hardship will come, but I will overcome it (John 16:33).
Am I only filled with grief, or am I also filled with hope?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I am naturally inclined to focus on the fear and grief. Help me by your Spirit to focus on faith and hope, on the victory and not on the defeat.