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Luke 9:21-22
In Luke 9:20, Jesus strictly warned and commanded His disciples to not tell anyone that He was the Messiah. This may seem odd being that the Bible teaches us in John 3:16 (NKJV), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Jesus came to save the world from sin (John 3:17). The first step in believing in Jesus is gaining the knowledge of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus. But in this earliest revelation of Jesus to His disciples, He is aware that if the crowd were to become aware that He is the Messiah, they would forcefully promote Him to King in replace of Herod with a literal understanding of conquering the Roman authority that the Jewish people are currently being subjected to. In fulfilling God’s plan for salvation the Bible teaches us in Luke 9:22 as Jesus declares, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” For this reason, the identity of Jesus as the Messiah must be kept at a minimum until the proper time to reveal such things.
This is a promise of Jesus acknowledging to His disciples that He is the Messiah.
God’s plan of salvation required that Jesus must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and then be raised on the third day (Luke 9:22). This was the requirement for fulfilling the Law that God gave to Moses. Jesus suffered for you and me; He was rejected for you and me; He was killed as a sacrifice for you and me; and He was raised from the grave for you and me.
Jesus, as a man, was without sin. Death is the punishment for sin, and yet Jesus died on the cross. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The wages of sin is death, and yet Jesus died without sin. This selfless act in dying undeservingly was more than death could handle, and through this act Jesus defeated sin once for all. Because Jesus died without cause, sin had no hold on Him in death, and He was raised from the grave victorious over sin and death. The Apostle Paul teaches us in Ephesians 4:7-10, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:
‘When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.’
“(Now this, ‘He ascended’ –what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower part of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)”
The high priest, Caiaphas, prophesied about the death of Jesus in John 11:49-50, “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”
Jesus offers us a free gift of eternal life if we will accept what He did for us on the cross and believe in Him. The fact that Jesus is the risen Messiah is no longer to be kept at a minimum but should be proclaimed by us all from the rooftops; Jesus is our Lord and Savior! John the Baptist proclaimed this truth about Jesus in John 1:29 as he declared, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” We also should stand up and declare Jesus to the world!
Dear Lord,
When Jesus walked the earth, You revealed things through Him as You willed. It was important that the Scriptures be fulfilled concerning Him, and in His sinless death, He conquered sin and death and was risen to life eternal; the gift that He offers to each one who will believe in Him. Please open our hearts and minds to receive this truth in each of our lives so that we can gain an understanding for this truth about Jesus and come to a sincerity of repentance before Him and receive a new life in Him. In Jesus name I pray, amen.