THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever predicted something would happen and then it did?
READ TOGETHER.
Matthew 17:22-23. 22As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.
No one likes to talk about dying, including Jesus’ disciples. When Jesus started talking about his death Matthew says that they were greatly distressed. That means that they were very upset.
Why?
First of all, they thought Jesus came to them to be their king who would conquer all their enemies and start a brand new kingdom in the big city of Jerusalem. In their minds it’s not Jesus who should be dying, but the wicked Romans or the even wickeder King Herod.
Second, they were greatly distressed because they love Jesus so much. He is their teacher, and leader, and friend. So naturally, they don’t want him to die.
Also, it’s a bit weird that Jesus even knows when he will die. That’s something that none of us is supposed to know, for good reasons. And if you knew that you were going to die in a certain place, wouldn’t you stay away from that place? I would. But Jesus doesn’t. He heads straight to the place where he says that he will die – Jerusalem.
But Jesus is very different from all of us. We are all supposed to live forever, but we die because of sin. Jesus was already eternally alive in Heaven, but was born on Earth to die. His whole reason for living was so that he could die for all of us and for our sins. We are all trying to stay alive, and rightly so. Your parents work hard to keep you alive. So do your teachers, and coaches, and police officers, and firemen. But Jesus wasn’t trying to stay alive as long as he could. He knew that his mission was to come and die on the cross for us, and nothing could stop him from completing that mission.
Sometimes I wonder if Jesus’ disciples missed this part – and he will be raised on the third day. If they really understood that Jesus would come back to life would they have been so greatly distressed? Maybe if we understood that one day we will be alive with Jesus forever we wouldn’t be so distressed about things in our life.
When you believe that you will be raised from the dead and live forever with Jesus in his mansion with everything you need, then things here on earth don’t have to be quite so scary and confusing.
Because of Jesus we can know that we will be raised from the dead like him.
With Jesus we don’t have to be distressed.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Look at pictures of loved ones who have passed away? What do you remember about them? Talk about how it’s OK to be sad when someone who trusted in Jesus goes to Heaven, but we don’t need to be distressed or upset. Why not?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, a lot of things distress me each day. Help me to see that because I will live with you forever, I don’t have to let things bother me so much. Amen.
TLICfamily 