IT WAS NO ACCIDENT!

(Luke 18:31-34)
October 16, 2016
Read Lu 18:31-34 The photographer for a national mag went to photograph
a raging fire. A plane rental was arranged, so when he arrived, he saw the
plane on the runway, hurried aboard and ordered, Okay, lets go. The pilot
swung around and took off. Once airborne the guy said, Can you make a low
pass over the north edge of the fire? The pilot said, Youre kidding. Why?
So I can take some pictures. Pictures? You mean youre not my flight
instructor? Slight misunderstanding there potentially fatal to both.
But not nearly as bad as most peoples misunderstanding about Jesus and His
mission. That misunderstanding could be fatal. Jesus own disciples had a hard
time getting over their own preconceived notions. They just knew He was
going to send the Romans packing. So for the 3rd time directly and the 7th
overall in Luke, He predicts His future. He hadnt come to save them from
the Romans; Hed come to save them from sin. But they werent getting it.
We must see Jesus death was not a kind of tragedy like the assassinations of
President Lincoln and Kennedy. An awful accident of history. Far from an
accident, Jesus death was the most carefully planned and executed event in
world history. The disciples eventually got that Jesus death and resurrection
was the greatest plan God ever made. And all for us! Here are the details!
I.

The Prophesy of the Plan

The context. The rich young ruler just left sadly rejecting Jesus
in favor of his money. Then Jesus assures His disciples that
their trust in Him has secured eternal life. But they still dont
get that life comes at a price a price Jesus must pay in
Jerusalem. So, He pulls them aside one more time to tell them the plan. He
is going to suffer and die. His prediction of His own death reinforces that its
not an accident. It is a carefully staged, purposeful event. And if they dont
get it yet, it is important that they can look back later and realize He knew all
along -- in detail. Mid-v. 32 He says the Son of Man will be mocked and
shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill
him. Nothing surprised Jesus. But rather than run away, He ran right into the
teeth of the storm.
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V. 31: See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written

about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. It wasnt just
Jesus predicting His death; prophets had been doing it for hundreds of years.
His death was no mistake. Those prophecies are like a neon
sign blaring the message: This is no accident. This
happened on purpose!
The detailed prophecies that were fulfilled in this very trip by Jesus of
Nazareth to Jerusalem are astounding. Zech 9:9 predicted, Behold, your
king is coming to you . . . humble and mounted on a donkey, exactly as
happened. Psa 41:9 predicted, Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who
ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me depicting Judas betrayal right
after celebrating Passover with Jesus. Zech 11:12 predicted the betrayal price
would be 30 pieces of silver, and Zech 11:13 predicted Judas would
eventually take the thirty pieces of silver and [throw] them into the house of
the LORD, to the potter, exactly as happened. Psa 38:11 predicted, My
friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, a prophesy fulfilled in
Lu 23:49: And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him
from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. Psalm 22:16 and Isa
53:5 predicted death by crucifixion. Psa 22:18 predicted they would cast lots
for His clothing. Psa 34:20 predicted that no bones would be broken, tho that
was common in crucifixions. Isa 53:9 predicted He would die with the wicked
(thieves on each side), but be buried with the rich in Joseph of Arimatheas
donated grave. Prophecy after prophecy after prophecy.
Think the death of Christ was just an accident of history? Think again. It was
meticulously planned, prophesied by Jesus Himself multiple times and by
various prophets hundreds of years in advance. When Jesus said, We are
going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man
by the prophets will be accomplished, He knew exactly what He was doing.
II.

The Participants in the Plan

Now, this may surprise you. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles.
Gentiles are involved, but note first he will be delivered over. Who does
the delivering? Jews, right? Theyre in it up to their eyeballs. Lu 9:22, The
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief
priests and scribes. The Jews led! But the Jews, operating under Roman
authority, couldnt impose the death penalty. They needed Roman approval.
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Thus Pilate and Herod, were pulled in. And it was Roman soldiers who carried
out the execution. So, who killed Jesus? Well, it was both Jews and Gentiles.
But wait! Someone else is involved. Back to v. 31: everything that is written
about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. Looks clear
enough, but the word by translates which is normally translated thru.
Both the NASB and the Holman Xn Standard Bible use thru. That shows
the predictions of the prophets were not made by them, but were transmitted
thru them. Who made them? God Himself. That clarifies. The prophets didnt
know the future on their own, but God did and transmitted thru them.
So if God is predicting the death of Christ, He is an active participant. In fact,
He was the ultimate participant. The prophets confirm that. Isa 53:4: He was
smitten by God, and afflicted. Jews and Gentiles were mere instruments of
accomplishing His purposes just like the prophets. Isa 53:10: Yet it was the
will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. Peter adds that the life
and death of Christ was foreknown [planned] before the foundation of the
world (I Pet 1:20). So get the big picture. The death Jesus is heading for in
Jerusalem has been in the planning stages since before time began! It was no
quirk of fate that took Jesus to the cross. It was the eternal will of the Father.
But people are accountable. Peter reminds the Jews the blood of their own
Messiah is on their hands: Acts 2: 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the
definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands
of lawless men. But the most active participant of all in the death of Christ
was the Father Himself. So why? Why would the Father impose this horror
on His Son? There had to be a stupendous purpose. And there certainly was.
III.

The Purpose of the Plan

Its not specifically stated here, but theres no question what Jesus was doing.
He was going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover only
this time, instead of bringing a lamb He will be the Lamb. The Bible
persistently points to the cross as the pivotal point of history. This is where the
spotless lamb of God became sin for everyone who will follow Him.
The concept of substitution is there from the beginning. Just after Adam
and Eve sinned, while they are still blaming everyone else,
God promises in Gen 3:15 a redeemer who will defeat Satan.
And the first hint of a sacrificial, substitutionary death is
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symbolized by the animals that God kills to substitute

for the fig leaf covering they made themselves. Later,
when Abe is asked by God to sacrifice his own son, Isaac gets
curious. Dad, Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a
burnt offering? And Abe replies, God will provide for himself the lamb
(Gen 22:7-8). Substitution.
When Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt, the plague that finally breaks
Pharaohs back is God saying, All the firstborn in Egypt are forfeit. They
will all die. But grace is available. If the people sacrifice a lamb and put the
blood on the doorpost God promises: The blood shall be a sign for you, on
the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you
(Exod 12:13). A substitutionary sacrifice, pointing forward to this moment
in Jesus life when He leaves for Jerusalem to be the ultimate lamb of God.
Isa 535) But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his
wounds we are healed. 6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every oneto his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of
us all. You may not like this teaching. You may even reject it. But you must
throw out the whole Bible to do so. And it will catch you out eventually. Paul
tells us that based on Jesus death, 9 God has highly exalted him and bestowed
on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
(Phil 2:9-10). So everybodys saved? No! You must confess His Lordship on
this side of the grave to get in on that. But make no mistake His death was
substitutionary, for all including you if you will accept it.
Life comes from death! You ask a 6-year-old where food comes from. Hell
tell you Heritage or King Sooper, right? From the grocery store. But you ask
someone in 1st century Palestine and they would tell you, From plants, fish,
animals. Theyve grown or caught the food themselves. And they know. We
live because the chicken died! We live because the carrots have been pulled
up and killed. We think were self-sufficient? Think again. For us to live,
something dies. Either we die or it dies! Next time you are at MacDonalds,
what will you eat? Dead cow. Dead lettuce. Dead wheat. Everything we eat in
a meal once lived and is now dead. All of it has given its life as a substitute
for us. We cant escape this truth physically. Either it dies or we die.
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Its all a big object lesson, Beloved. Just as something has to die for you to
live physically, so someone has to die for you to live spiritually. Thats Jesus.
Which explains His curious statement in John 6:51: I am the living bread
that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
Cannabalism? No. Hes just saying that just as you must consume something
that has died to sustain physical life, so you must consume someone who has
died to live spiritually. That someone is Jesus. Its all over the Bible. He died,
so we can live. Deny that and we deny ourselves eternal life.
Know what that means? In addition to Jews, Romans and God we also
participated in Jesus death. It was for us He died. No other death was like
His. All people of a broken race participated. The whole universe had a stake
in this death, and the question is what are we going to do with it?
IV.

The Power of the Plan

Its hidden away in one little phrase in v. 33. And on the third day he will
rise. Jesus never spoke of His death but He also spoke of His resurrection.
This casual phrase speaks of unimaginable power. Its the lynchpin of
everything. Without this, nothing works. If there is no resurrection, the
substitutionary atonement is a fake and a fraud. But if there is a
resurrection, that tells you 2 things. First, it tells you this death was absolutely
necessary. If God could raise Jesus from the dead, then He certainly could
have prevented the death in the first place so it must have been necessary.
God would never have put His Son thru this if it were not totally necessary.
The 2nd thing the resurrection tells you is that Jesus is not just a way He is
the only way to the Father. The popular view that Christianity is too exclusive
and there must be multiple ways to God is a well-intentioned but Satanically
inspired lie. It isnt Christianity that is exclusive; it is Jesus. Those who
honor Him as a way actually dishonor His own claims. The claims were as
fantastic and as exclusive as you can get: I am the way, the truth and the life;
no one comes to the Father except through me. Thats an astounding claim.
But Jesus resurrection, planned by God before time began, prophesied for
hundreds of years in advance, predicted on multiple occasions by Jesus
Himself Jesus resurrection proves His claim to be the only way. Just ask
yourself, what other religion has anyone who made such claims and then
backed them up with victory over death? Its a small list, Beloved.
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The belief in multiple ways to God has become pervasive. Listen to this from
Brian McLaren, the leading voice of the emerging church movement: I don't
believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian
religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people
become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or
Jewish context. Thats an incredible comment indicating that you can be a
follower of Jesus and deny His most basic claim to be the exclusive way to the
Father. Wishing it so does not make it so. Jesus resurrection demonstrates
there is only One person who has the power over sin, death and destruction.
Thus John 17:3, And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. There simply is no other way.
V.

The Paradox of the Plan

Look at the disciples after Jesus has told them this many times. 34 But they
understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they
did not grasp what was said. Why could they not understand? Because what
Jesus was saying did not square with what they had been taught and believed
about Messiah. They knew Him only as a powerful King who would triumph
over evil, leaving perfection in His wake. Thats what they were up for.
They kept missing the paradox of the plan. They missed that given a fallen
world, life comes out of death. There is a cross before the crown. That seems
counterintuitive, right? But that is exactly what Jesus taught shortly before His
death. John 12:24: 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
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Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will
keep it for eternal life. Theres the paradox. He had to die in order to give
life. And they would have to die to self to receive life. This has been Gods
plan since before time began.
Conc So are you in? You and me and every other person who ever lived
went with Jesus on that trip to Jerusalem because it was our sin that nailed
Him to the cross. But now He invites us to share in His resurrection as well.
The purpose of this plan is to redeem us, but that decision is now ours.
D. A. Carson writes in his book, Scandalous: Do you believe? Or do you
find yourself among the millions who begin to glimpse what the cross is
about and dismiss the entire account as scandalous? A living-and-dyingand-living God? A God who stands over against us in wrath and who loves
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us anyway? A cross where punishment is meted out by God and borne by

God? Scandalous! But what will you say when you give an account to him
on the last day, and admit you heard this message and walked away? Dont
walk away, Beloved. Dont buy the scandalous denials of His grace. A
misunderstanding here is fatal. Embrace what He has done for you. It was no
accident that Jesus died. He died for you. Accept Him now. Lets pray.