Jesus to be Delivered to the Gentiles - Matthew 20:19

Matthew the apostle wrote how, “Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death”, and in chapter twenty and verse nineteen of his book, Matthew wrote how Jesus said He would be, “delivered to the Gentiles” where we read:

And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge,

and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

The verse reads, “And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, ...”. Matthew began with the words, “and shall deliver him” or “and will give Jesus into the hands, power and use” “to the Gentiles” which means “a multitude of people who are associated or living together who are of the same nature or genus, a tribe, nation or people group who are pagan” “to mock” or “to play with, trifle with, delude and deceive”, “and to scourge” which means “and to flog”. Matthew shared how Jesus said the “high priests and scribes” would “give Him over” to the “pagan people” to “publicly humiliate, flog and beat” Him.

The verse goes on to say, “... and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” Matthew continued with the words, “and to crucify him” or “and to drive down and fortify with stakes or palisade”: “and the third day” which means “and the third day after Jesus is crucified” “he shall rise again” or “Jesus will rise up and raise from the dead”. Matthew wrote how Jesus prophesied in advance concerning His “crucifixion” as well as His “resurrection” from the dead three days afterward.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus knew His fate among the “high priests and scribes”. They were to be the agents through which God would fulfill His will and purpose to “save” mankind from their sins. This prophesy concerning Jesus' “crucifixion” and “resurrection” demonstrates Jesus' deliberate and willful plan to pay the price for man's sins, and those who are wise will consider His deliberate desire to “save” them as they yield their lives to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”.

Next time Matthew writes how Jesus said, “then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.