I Predicted My Death

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

October 16, 2019

I Predicted My Death

Page 145

Matthew 17:22-27; Mark 9:30-32; Luke 9:43b-45

Becoming a fully-devoted follower of Jesus takes work. The hardest part of the work is in erasing what we think we know and learning how to receive Jesus as he is, not the way we think he ought to be.

In today’s reading, Jesus speaks the literal truth to his disciples. Jesus says he, the Messiah, will be betrayed, he will die, and he will rise again.  When the disciples thought of Jesus as the Messiah, they had a vision of a great army waiting for their King to lead them into battle. However, instead of a mighty King dressed in battle armor and riding a big horse, a humble shepherd walks to the head of the army. No armor. No weapon. And he expects his army to dismount, remove their armor, drop their weapons and follow him. With such a contrast between Jesus the Messiah and the disciples’ expectation of the Messiah, it is no wonder “they were greatly distressed” (Matthew 17:23b).

Jesus’ story about the Temple tax is a reminder that as Christians, it is not a matter of what we have to do; rather, it is what we get to do. The Temple tax is rooted in the Old Testament and was used to maintain the Temple. All Jewish males were expected to pay the tax, but as is the case with taxes in general, people don’t like being told what to do, even if it is for a good purpose. Many people refused to pay the tax in protest of the Temple rulers.  Jesus told Peter that as children of God they don’t have to pay the tax; they get to.

My Takeaway: The things Jesus tells us we get to do are quite a strain on our life, such as turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, or loving our neighbors and enemies. How can we do these things? Sending Peter to get the Temple tax out of the mouth of the fish was Jesus’ way of illustrating the unmerited favor, the grace of God that gives us both the desire to do His will and the ability to fulfill His purpose for our lives: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.