Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

Luke 9:21-24

Dear God, I’m sure the disciples couldn’t get their head around the fact that Jesus would have to be rejected by the very people they had been taught to revere their whole lives—the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law. And how much did Jesus know about his own death at this point. His reference to taking up your cross could have been a local colloquialism at the time, it might have been a foreshadowing of what was to come, or it might have been added by Luke later after everyone knew about the cross. Either way, this passage definitely demonstrates that Jesus was letting them know about the future.

I talked to a friend last week about prophecy. I remember my dad telling me years ago that he doesn’t think we are given prophecy so that we will know or understand the future, but so that, after the prophecy is fulfilled, we will know that you were in control.

Father, as my own life unfolds, give me the peace to know that all is happening in your timing and for your good. Be with those I live as they figure out their futures. Help me to be one way through which your presence enters my home, my workplace, and my community. Let them be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen