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.
Just moments before this verse, one of Jesus's closest disciples — Simon Peter — had declared him to be 'the Messiah, the Son of the living God,' and Jesus had affirmed him. In Jewish expectation of that era, the Messiah was widely anticipated to be a powerful political or military deliverer who would overthrow Roman occupation and restore Israel to greatness. Then, immediately after that high moment of declaration, Jesus does something jarring: he begins dismantling that expectation entirely. Jerusalem was the center of Jewish religious and political life. The 'elders, chief priests and teachers of the law' were the most respected and powerful religious authorities of the day — the last people his disciples would expect to destroy the one they believed was sent by God. The phrase 'raised to life on the third day' is Jesus's first clear prediction of his resurrection, but the disciples could barely hear it over the shock of everything that preceded it.
Jesus, I confess I often want the resurrection without the Friday. Thank you for walking into suffering with open eyes — for choosing the cross knowing exactly what it would cost. When I find myself in places of pain or loss, help me remember that you knew, you went anyway, and Sunday is still coming. Amen.
The sentence starts in triumph and ends somewhere no one in the room wanted to go. Peter had just given the best answer of his life — the right answer — and Jesus responded by dismantling the image of victory they had all been quietly constructing. Not a throne in Jerusalem. A trial. Suffering. Death at the hands of the men everyone respected. You can almost feel the air leave the room. We do something similar. We sign up for the Jesus who heals, feeds, and calms the storm. We're less prepared for the one who says the path runs through the hard thing, not around it. The cross wasn't a detour in God's plan — it was the plan. And that means the places in your life where you're suffering, being misunderstood, losing, or waiting in what feels like a sealed tomb aren't automatically signs that you've gone wrong. Sometimes the road to resurrection is unmistakably, unavoidably Friday first. Jesus told them plainly — not to crush their hope, but so that when Friday came and everything looked finished, they would remember: he knew. He walked in anyway.
Why do you think Jesus chose this particular moment — right after Peter's declaration of faith — to begin explaining his death? What was he preparing them to understand?
Have you ever had a picture of what following Jesus would look like that turned out to be wrong? What did it cost you to let that picture go?
Jesus says he 'must' go to Jerusalem and suffer — not 'will' or 'might.' What does that word 'must' suggest about how Jesus understood his own mission and identity?
Knowing that Jesus predicted and walked willingly into his own suffering — how does that change the way you sit with someone who is in pain? Does it make you more willing to be present in the 'Friday' moments of their life rather than rushing them toward Sunday?
Where in your life right now are you hoping God will redirect the path away from something hard? How does this verse speak honestly into that hope?
He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
Luke 24:6
Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
Luke 24:7
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:3
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1 Corinthians 15:4
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
Matthew 20:19
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Matthew 28:6
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 12:40
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
From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples [clearly] that He must go to Jerusalem, and endure many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and be killed, and be raised [from death to life] on the third day.
AMP
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
ESV
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
NASB
Jesus Predicts His Death From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
NIV
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
NKJV
From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
NLT
Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive.
MSG