Remembering Jesus’ Words

The Bible Text (Luke 18:31-34)

And He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, 33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”34 And they understood none of these things, and this saying was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said (Luke 18:31-34, NASB).

An Introduction (Luke 18:1-8)

Luke placed this passage after His disciples' open declaration to follow Jesus, “We have left our own homes and followed You” (18:30). We do not know if it happened in time this way, but the two, back-to-back, highlighted Jesus’ care for His disciples. The disciples were still living for their signficant ministry. They were sure they made the right choice! They, however, had not come to terms with broken dreams-–no Jesus.

The material on the web here is only a small portion of the great media-enriched resources that we have both on the OT and NT. Click here or on the picture to look at our New Testament resources. This is just the beginning of our huge library of quality biblical training materials–always filled with many applications.

The Bible Study Questions (Luke 18:1-8)

• How did Jesus change the way He was ministering in Luke 18:31?

• What is it that Jesus told the disciples in 31-33? You can answer these by carefully going through the passage or follow the questions below.

• Where were Jesus and the disciples going to go? What would be there normal expectations of going there?

• The prophets in the Old Testament made many predictions about Jesus. How many would come true? Name three.

• What does it mean to "rise in three days?" Where in the Old Testament does it state this?

• Who was Jesus going to be turned over to? How?

• Name the five ways Luke18:32-33 describes how Jesus would be treated.

• What would happen after Jesus was killed (Luke 18:33)? What does that mean?

• Did the disciples understand these things (Luke18:34)? How many ways did Luke state this in this verse?

• Why might they have not understood these things that were so clearly announded to them?

“All things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished” (Luke 18:31).

The Application Questions

• How well do you know the scriptures? The disciples seem not to be as acquainted with them as they should be. Get on a program of reading the Bible at least once a year.

• Something else, though, was the problem with their understanding. Jesus told them, but they could not comprehend it. “They did not get it.” Perhaps it is because what they hoped to gain by following Christ was so astronomically different than what Jesus was saying. Joining Him in His glory was one thing but following Him to the cross was another. If a great persecution came up against Christians because of their unwillingness to join the world in their tolerance of sin, are you prepared to give up your possessions for the sake of Christ? Your life? Discuss.

A Summary (Luke 18:1-34)

By taking a look at the 18th chapter of Luke, we would almost have to conclude that Jesus was speaking in a veiled way to His disciples. Is it possible that Jesus was suggesting that they would meet up with hopeless situations where they would be tempted to give up praying? Indeed they would.

Were the disciples so convinced of their commitment and zeal that they thought that they were okay? Were they, perhaps, those who had exalted themselves rather than humbling following Christ? From the way they speak and later betray Jesus, it is all to clear that their understanding was too shallow and would not stand the shaking it would soon receive when Christ would be killed and they being left alone.

How ready are we for what the Lord has appointed for our lives? Is our commitment to Christ so sealed that no storm or threat could shake it? One step for us is to decidely live for tomorrow (eternity). But this is not enough. We need to commit to living for Christ no matter what.