Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
This verse is spoken by angels at Jesus' empty tomb, quoting words Jesus himself had said earlier during his ministry in Galilee — the northern region of Israel where he taught, performed miracles, and first told his followers what was coming. The women had arrived to anoint his body with burial spices, only to find the tomb empty. "Son of Man" was a title Jesus used for himself, drawn from Jewish prophecy suggesting both deep humanity and divine authority. The word "must" is significant — the crucifixion and resurrection weren't random tragedy, but something required within God's redemptive plan. The angels aren't bringing new information. They're issuing a reminder: he told you this would happen.
Lord, forgive me for how quickly I forget what you've said when things get hard. Bring back to mind the words you've already spoken — the promises I've let grief and fear quietly bury. Help me remember, and let that memory become my anchor today. Amen.
Grief has a way of erasing memory. The women at the tomb had walked with Jesus, listened to him teach, watched him heal people, heard his words with their own ears. And yet, in the crushing weight of his death, his own predictions had slipped away from them. The angel's first move isn't to explain the mechanics of resurrection — it's to remind them of what they already knew. "Remember how he told you." That phrase is a small, quiet grace. Sometimes the most spiritual thing isn't receiving a brand new revelation — it's recovering an old one. What has God already said to you that fear or exhaustion has made you forget? The promise you scrawled in a journal at 2 AM. The verse that stopped you cold three years ago. The word spoken over you that you've since talked yourself out of believing. The angel didn't bring new information to those women. He pointed back to words that were already there, waiting to be remembered. Sometimes that's exactly all you need.
Why do you think Jesus repeatedly told his disciples what was coming, and yet they still couldn't understand it until after the resurrection? What does that say about the limits of preparing for something you've never experienced?
When have you experienced grief or fear erasing something you knew to be true? How did you find your way back to it?
The word "must" suggests the crucifixion and resurrection were necessary — not accidental. What does it mean to you that God's plan included suffering, not just despite it, but through it?
How does the practice of remembering what God has already said change the way you show up for someone who is struggling to hold onto hope?
What is one specific thing God has told you — through scripture, a mentor, or a moment of prayer — that you have let slip and need to actively reclaim this week?
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1 Corinthians 15:4
And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mark 8:31
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Luke 24:44
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Matthew 16:21
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
Luke 23:33
And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
Mark 9:10
And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:
Matthew 17:22
When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
John 2:22
saying that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise [from death to life]."
AMP
that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
ESV
saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'
NASB
‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”
NIV
saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”
NKJV
that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”
NLT
that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?"
MSG