A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 

NO SUGAR COATING      

Matthew 20:17-19 “Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, He took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day He will be raised to life!” 

Jesus did not sugar coat what was about to happen to Him. To sugar coat what was about to happen, Jesus would have had to minimize what His enemies were plotting against Him. To sugar coat the situation, Jesus would have had to find a way to make the upcoming treatment He was to receive at the hands of the Jewish leaders and the Romans less unpleasant and less serious than it really was.       It was time for Jesus’ disciples to hear the truth about what was going to happen to Him in in the clearest words possible. He told them directly and bluntly that they were on the way to Jerusalem where His enemies would turn Him over to the Roman authorities who alone had the power to put Him to death. He further said, that the Romans would put Him to death by crucifixion.  

In the last several chapters, Matthew had captured the disciples debating what Jesus was about to do. They were prepared for Him to establish an earthly kingdom that would have great power and prestige. They were ready to assume personal positions of power and honor. Jesus’ revelation destroyed their grandiose plans. God was serious that His Son had to substitute Himself on Calvary’s cross, there be crucified and die, to make full and complete payment for the sins of all human beings.      This should not have surprised the disciples because Jesus had already pointed out the necessity of His suffering and death. (Matthew 16:21) In Matthew 17:22 He spoke of the impending plans of His enemies to put Him to death. Now, in today’s devotional verse He leads His disciples, starting them on the journey to the very place where everything prophesied about Jesus’ suffering and death would be fulfilled.   

There is a note of glorious assurance at the end of Jesus’ words to His disciples: “On the third day He will be raised to life!” Jesus went to Jerusalem knowing with certainty that though He would be crucified, die and be buried, on the third day He would rise from the grave victorious over Satan, the world, sin, and death. But first must come the cross! 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, let me never minimize or sugar coat Your cross. Help me instead, to focus upon its necessity for my salvation. In Your holy name. Amen. 

On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross  
The emblem of suff'ring and shame  
And I love that old Cross where the dearest and best  
For a world of lost sinners was slain 

Refrain:  So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross  
Till my trophies at last I lay down  
I will cling to the old rugged Cross  
And exchange it some day for a crown 

Oh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the world  
Has a wondrous attraction for me  
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above  
To bear it to dark Calvary. Refrain: 

In the old rugged Cross, stain'd with blood so divine  
A wondrous beauty I see  
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above  
To pardon and sanctify me. Refrain: 

To the old rugged Cross, I will ever be true  
Its shame and reproach gladly bear  
Then He'll call me some day to my home far away  
Where his glory forever I'll share. Refrain:

(George Bennard. 1913. Public Domain) 

Old Rugged Cross // TCH 327