IS IT A SECRET CODE?
In this reading and understanding try your best to temper your knowledge of the Scriptures and try to "walk a mile in the shoes" of the Disciples. Attempt to see through their eyes and/or get into their mindset.
Isaiah 53:2 says about Jesus, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." Yet, there was something about Him that drew the Disciples like a moth to a flame. Observe - "Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him." (Matthew 4:22) Maybe it was His eyes. We might have Hollywood to thank for that (a nod to The Passion of The Christ). Maybe it was His voice. He was, after all, the Word of God - in flesh! There had to be some kind of pull because the two brothers in Matthew 4:22 left their boat and father to follow Jesus - "immediately"! But once you were a Disciple of Jesus it must have been awesome to hear what He had to say and see the compassionate miracles He poured out on the people. However, Jesus' public and private teachings must have been unclear at times, if not most of the time, to the Disciples. I mean a carpenter's son speaking on the things of God and eventually claiming He was the very Son of God Himself - this falls under the category of "things that make you go hmmmm". But, just look at the fruit of His life and you have your answer. As far as The Disciples went, only the one destined to betray Jesus was lost. There were other followers of Christ that the Bible describes as disciples (not the twelve) who "turned back and no longer followed him" (John 6:66) and this was due to a "hard teaching" (verse 60) on Himself, by Jesus as the "bread of life" (verses 35-58).
I applaud The Disciples for sticking with Jesus throughout all the moments of confusion and fogginess of concept. Again, placing myself in The Disciples' shoes, I guess The Disciples could have consulted the Pharisees, Sadducees and Teachers of the Law for some clarity on what Jesus might have been referring to in many of His teachings. However, those groups of people were probably so high on themselves that The Disciples would not get an accurate answer.
The parables Jesus spoke to The Disciples and the people were some of this coded speech Jesus spoke. A story, pulled from life to deliver a higher message than what was verbalized. You gotta love The Disciples. Their commonality finally got the best of them and would have got the best of me too. They approached Jesus about His parable language. "The disciples came to him and asked, 'Why do you speak to the people in parables?' He replied, 'The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it". (Matthew 13:10-17) So, it was prophesied that Jesus would come and speak this way and that even if Jesus spoke plainly or clearly, the people would still not hear and understand because their "eyes" and "ears" were "closed" and their "hearts" were "calloused".
Wow! Talk about your coded words, just read the book of Revelation and Daniel for a start right? In that vein, Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 12:35-48 are End of Days passages that contribute to Jesus' coded speech. As a Disciple in those days, Jesus would have lost me at hello during these teachings (nod to Jerry Maguire - "you had me at hello"). For example, in Matthew 19:28-30 "Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.'" So, as a fisherman or tax collector turn Disciple of Christ, what is this renewal of all things bit and thrones and judgment of Israel and reward of some kind and this confusing talk about "the first will be last, and many who are last will be first"?
And who walks around talking about Himself in third person? The red letters state Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16-18) Now, Jesus could have been pointing at Himself while He was speaking these words in order to help out the audience identify God's Son, but evidently that was another style to His coded speech.
Jesus also talked a lot about His Father. Still pretending I am a Disciple back then, I only knew Jesus to have Joseph as His father, so for Him to speak about any other person as father, especially Yahweh or Jehovah, I might have second thoughts about my discipleship. Jesus' identification with His Father in John 5:19-40 is more of the coded speech. To display The Disciple's confusion concerning Jesus' identification and His Father's identification, as well as when He plans to share Himself with the world - just examine the questions the choice Disciples ask in John 13 and 14. "Simon Peter asked him, 'Lord, where are you going?'" (John 13:36) "Thomas said to him. 'Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?'" (John 14:5) "Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.'" (John 14:8) "Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, 'But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?'" Clearly they were not getting it.
Jesus spoke of Himself as being the "Vine" and His Father the "gardener" and the Disciples as being "branches" and them bearing the right "fruit" (John 15:1-17). While it is an analogy we know the meaning of today, think about how they might have processed it back then - still some sort of coded speech. How do I stay in you? Do you mean with you? If you are going away, how is this possible? What are you really saying? Speak plainly please.
As mentioned before, Jesus says, "I am the bread of life." (John 6:35) But then later Jesus explains to those who may seem to understand somewhat - "This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:51) However, even the explanation is coded for those basic mentalities. The Jewish community was looking for a Messiah to come in military and governmental victory over their foes and set up an eternal kingdom of righteousness. At one point in the Gospels the people were ready to do just that - "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself." (John 6:15) But Jesus' first visit as the Suffering Servant and/or Sacrificial Lamb was concealed from their discovery.
Even Jesus' words about becoming His disciple or follower probably seemed cryptic to the Disciples. Consider Mark 8:34-38 - "Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.'" Wow Jesus! I don't know about taking up a cross! Who is this "Son of Man"? Is that you? And if it is, why are you speaking in third person again?
Have you ever said, "I'm going to leave in a minute and I'll be back in a little bit."? Well, Jesus seemed to say this same thing but in a round-about-way..."In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me." (John 16:16) When the Disciples asked Jesus about not seeing Him for a while, Jesus was once again guarded in His response - John 16:19-24. Then in verse 25 Jesus gives a silver lining to this cloud of code. "Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father." If I was a Disciple back then I am shouting ''Hallelujah!" about now. But then I can hear Jesus saying, "BUT (Disciples groan here) I have some other things I need to share with you before that happens." Then one of the Disciples says, "I knew it was to good to be true."
Then, still imagining we are Disciples back then, we hear Jesus continue with The Code of all codes. Matthew 16:21 (Luke 8:31) records the following - "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."
And He did. He explained to them many times. Sometimes He explained all of what was to come. At other times He reminded the Disciples of maybe one or two parts to this code. The following two passages report the Betrayal, Death, and Resurrection parts of The Code.
"Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 'We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!'" - Matthew 20:17-19 (Mark 10:32-34)
"When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.' And the disciples were filled with grief." - Matthew 17:22-23
Jesus mentioning His death and resurrection are documented in Matthew 26:31-32. Then Jesus told them, 'This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: " 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.'" The phrases "I will strike the shepherd" and "after I have risen" follow in the line of Jesus speaking His Code.
At the Transfiguration Jesus only makes mention of His resurrection, but nobody had ever raised himself/herself from the grave before, so this had to be Code for something else. Right? "As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, 'Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.'" - Matthew 17:9
Jesus pictures John the Baptist as an Elijah that had come and died for the cause of God and that He, Himself would suffer and die in a similar style - "In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." - Matthew 17:10-13 Here, just suffering is mentioned.
In these verses Jesus speaks only of His coming death - "When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 'As you know, the Passover is two days away--and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.'" - Matthew 26:2
Jesus even spoke His Code to the Pharisees, "Once more Jesus said to them, 'I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.'" - John 8:21
Another instance Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in His Code was in Matthew 12:39-40. "He answered, 'A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Luke 10:21-24 says the same thing as Matthew 11:25-27 but adds - "Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." I can hear the Disciples still having a hard time with The Code and ask, "Wow! What are we seeing and hearing?" In this verse I hear Jesus saying something like, "Even though you have limited understanding of my words and actions, fully satisfied are you who are seeing and hearing all I am doing and saying. For there are prophets and kings that knew the meaning of this, my first visit, and would love to be here."
It seemed like everybody got involved and everybody received Jesus' Coded response. "Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken." - John 2:18-22
Ah! So, we begin to get some reasoning of why the Lord spoke this way. The ending of the previous verse says, "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken." So, what was concealed or hidden is now revealed or "recalled" by the Disciples and they believed IN and BECAUSE OF two things: 1) what the Scripture had to say about these matters and 2) what Jesus had said.
Luke 18:31-34 is the same as Matthew 20:17-19 and Mark 10:32-34, BUT adds in verse 34 the following - "The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about."
Here is another place in Scripture that exemplifies the Plan of Revelation by Father God. "At that time Jesus said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 'All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.'" - Matthew 11:25-27 To me, I equate "the wise and learned" that Jesus is speaking of in this verse with the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law of the day. Next, I associate "little children" with the Disciples and all the followers of Christ that would be considered "non-wise" or "unlearned". So, in this verse, Jesus praised His Father for choosing to reveal His [Jesus'] identity and so provide a little clarity to The Code along the journey.
Here is another Code followed by a reaction from the Disciples. "... because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it." Interesting that they "were afraid to ask him about it".
And the winning verse - "At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him." - John 12:16 Really? Do you think, John? Captain Obvious strikes again! It has the same flavor as his previous penning in John 2:22 above - "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."
Isaiah 53:2 says about Jesus, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." Yet, there was something about Him that drew the Disciples like a moth to a flame. Observe - "Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him." (Matthew 4:22) Maybe it was His eyes. We might have Hollywood to thank for that (a nod to The Passion of The Christ). Maybe it was His voice. He was, after all, the Word of God - in flesh! There had to be some kind of pull because the two brothers in Matthew 4:22 left their boat and father to follow Jesus - "immediately"! But once you were a Disciple of Jesus it must have been awesome to hear what He had to say and see the compassionate miracles He poured out on the people. However, Jesus' public and private teachings must have been unclear at times, if not most of the time, to the Disciples. I mean a carpenter's son speaking on the things of God and eventually claiming He was the very Son of God Himself - this falls under the category of "things that make you go hmmmm". But, just look at the fruit of His life and you have your answer. As far as The Disciples went, only the one destined to betray Jesus was lost. There were other followers of Christ that the Bible describes as disciples (not the twelve) who "turned back and no longer followed him" (John 6:66) and this was due to a "hard teaching" (verse 60) on Himself, by Jesus as the "bread of life" (verses 35-58).
I applaud The Disciples for sticking with Jesus throughout all the moments of confusion and fogginess of concept. Again, placing myself in The Disciples' shoes, I guess The Disciples could have consulted the Pharisees, Sadducees and Teachers of the Law for some clarity on what Jesus might have been referring to in many of His teachings. However, those groups of people were probably so high on themselves that The Disciples would not get an accurate answer.
The parables Jesus spoke to The Disciples and the people were some of this coded speech Jesus spoke. A story, pulled from life to deliver a higher message than what was verbalized. You gotta love The Disciples. Their commonality finally got the best of them and would have got the best of me too. They approached Jesus about His parable language. "The disciples came to him and asked, 'Why do you speak to the people in parables?' He replied, 'The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it". (Matthew 13:10-17) So, it was prophesied that Jesus would come and speak this way and that even if Jesus spoke plainly or clearly, the people would still not hear and understand because their "eyes" and "ears" were "closed" and their "hearts" were "calloused".
Wow! Talk about your coded words, just read the book of Revelation and Daniel for a start right? In that vein, Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 12:35-48 are End of Days passages that contribute to Jesus' coded speech. As a Disciple in those days, Jesus would have lost me at hello during these teachings (nod to Jerry Maguire - "you had me at hello"). For example, in Matthew 19:28-30 "Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.'" So, as a fisherman or tax collector turn Disciple of Christ, what is this renewal of all things bit and thrones and judgment of Israel and reward of some kind and this confusing talk about "the first will be last, and many who are last will be first"?
And who walks around talking about Himself in third person? The red letters state Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16-18) Now, Jesus could have been pointing at Himself while He was speaking these words in order to help out the audience identify God's Son, but evidently that was another style to His coded speech.
Jesus also talked a lot about His Father. Still pretending I am a Disciple back then, I only knew Jesus to have Joseph as His father, so for Him to speak about any other person as father, especially Yahweh or Jehovah, I might have second thoughts about my discipleship. Jesus' identification with His Father in John 5:19-40 is more of the coded speech. To display The Disciple's confusion concerning Jesus' identification and His Father's identification, as well as when He plans to share Himself with the world - just examine the questions the choice Disciples ask in John 13 and 14. "Simon Peter asked him, 'Lord, where are you going?'" (John 13:36) "Thomas said to him. 'Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?'" (John 14:5) "Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.'" (John 14:8) "Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, 'But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?'" Clearly they were not getting it.
Jesus spoke of Himself as being the "Vine" and His Father the "gardener" and the Disciples as being "branches" and them bearing the right "fruit" (John 15:1-17). While it is an analogy we know the meaning of today, think about how they might have processed it back then - still some sort of coded speech. How do I stay in you? Do you mean with you? If you are going away, how is this possible? What are you really saying? Speak plainly please.
As mentioned before, Jesus says, "I am the bread of life." (John 6:35) But then later Jesus explains to those who may seem to understand somewhat - "This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:51) However, even the explanation is coded for those basic mentalities. The Jewish community was looking for a Messiah to come in military and governmental victory over their foes and set up an eternal kingdom of righteousness. At one point in the Gospels the people were ready to do just that - "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself." (John 6:15) But Jesus' first visit as the Suffering Servant and/or Sacrificial Lamb was concealed from their discovery.
Even Jesus' words about becoming His disciple or follower probably seemed cryptic to the Disciples. Consider Mark 8:34-38 - "Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.'" Wow Jesus! I don't know about taking up a cross! Who is this "Son of Man"? Is that you? And if it is, why are you speaking in third person again?
Have you ever said, "I'm going to leave in a minute and I'll be back in a little bit."? Well, Jesus seemed to say this same thing but in a round-about-way..."In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me." (John 16:16) When the Disciples asked Jesus about not seeing Him for a while, Jesus was once again guarded in His response - John 16:19-24. Then in verse 25 Jesus gives a silver lining to this cloud of code. "Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father." If I was a Disciple back then I am shouting ''Hallelujah!" about now. But then I can hear Jesus saying, "BUT (Disciples groan here) I have some other things I need to share with you before that happens." Then one of the Disciples says, "I knew it was to good to be true."
Then, still imagining we are Disciples back then, we hear Jesus continue with The Code of all codes. Matthew 16:21 (Luke 8:31) records the following - "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."
And He did. He explained to them many times. Sometimes He explained all of what was to come. At other times He reminded the Disciples of maybe one or two parts to this code. The following two passages report the Betrayal, Death, and Resurrection parts of The Code.
"Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 'We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!'" - Matthew 20:17-19 (Mark 10:32-34)
Again...
"When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.' And the disciples were filled with grief." - Matthew 17:22-23
Jesus mentioning His death and resurrection are documented in Matthew 26:31-32. Then Jesus told them, 'This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: " 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.'" The phrases "I will strike the shepherd" and "after I have risen" follow in the line of Jesus speaking His Code.
At the Transfiguration Jesus only makes mention of His resurrection, but nobody had ever raised himself/herself from the grave before, so this had to be Code for something else. Right? "As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, 'Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.'" - Matthew 17:9
Jesus pictures John the Baptist as an Elijah that had come and died for the cause of God and that He, Himself would suffer and die in a similar style - "In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." - Matthew 17:10-13 Here, just suffering is mentioned.
In these verses Jesus speaks only of His coming death - "When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 'As you know, the Passover is two days away--and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.'" - Matthew 26:2
- "Jesus said, 'I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.'" - John 7:33-34
- "So Jesus said, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.'" - John 8:28
Jesus even spoke His Code to the Pharisees, "Once more Jesus said to them, 'I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.'" - John 8:21
Another instance Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in His Code was in Matthew 12:39-40. "He answered, 'A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Luke 10:21-24 says the same thing as Matthew 11:25-27 but adds - "Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." I can hear the Disciples still having a hard time with The Code and ask, "Wow! What are we seeing and hearing?" In this verse I hear Jesus saying something like, "Even though you have limited understanding of my words and actions, fully satisfied are you who are seeing and hearing all I am doing and saying. For there are prophets and kings that knew the meaning of this, my first visit, and would love to be here."
It seemed like everybody got involved and everybody received Jesus' Coded response. "Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken." - John 2:18-22
Ah! So, we begin to get some reasoning of why the Lord spoke this way. The ending of the previous verse says, "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken." So, what was concealed or hidden is now revealed or "recalled" by the Disciples and they believed IN and BECAUSE OF two things: 1) what the Scripture had to say about these matters and 2) what Jesus had said.
Luke 18:31-34 is the same as Matthew 20:17-19 and Mark 10:32-34, BUT adds in verse 34 the following - "The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about."
Here is another place in Scripture that exemplifies the Plan of Revelation by Father God. "At that time Jesus said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 'All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.'" - Matthew 11:25-27 To me, I equate "the wise and learned" that Jesus is speaking of in this verse with the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law of the day. Next, I associate "little children" with the Disciples and all the followers of Christ that would be considered "non-wise" or "unlearned". So, in this verse, Jesus praised His Father for choosing to reveal His [Jesus'] identity and so provide a little clarity to The Code along the journey.
Here is another Code followed by a reaction from the Disciples. "... because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it." Interesting that they "were afraid to ask him about it".
And the winning verse - "At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him." - John 12:16 Really? Do you think, John? Captain Obvious strikes again! It has the same flavor as his previous penning in John 2:22 above - "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."
Jesus' meaning being "hidden" in coded language was important to The Cause! Evidently the "secret" to keep, the reason for The Code was to fulfill prophecy. All the prophecies foretold Christ's first visit in human form as The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. One example of such a prophecy is found in Isaiah 53. This prophecy, among many others, is not a picture of The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. That view somehow got jumped over The Lamb of God view in the thinking and belief of the Jews. As stated earlier, they were expecting their Messiah, their Anointed One to save them from the Roman oppression of that day, set up His own kingdom of Righteousness forever, and deal out all that was coming to them in the inheritance. Wrong order.
Jesus' words were - phrased in such a way, guarded at times, unclear and down right confusing in other instances because The Code - Father God's Plan of Revelation - was to deliver it as such to the certain individuals He had in mind at that moment. Father God's Coded Revelation through Jesus came through many styles of language (parables, spoke in 3rd person, guarded answers, End of Days imagery, etc...) and He used these different styles of Code to keep hidden certain revelations (being one with God - "Vine", "eating His flesh" - meaning taking in His Word daily, etc...). But the main message of all that Jesus pushed right at the end of all the Gospels that you see repeated is The Code of Salvation (the way He spoke about His betrayal, being handed over to the authorities, suffering, death, and resurrection). We definitely observed the Disciples uncertainty about Jesus' words and even fear to ask Him about them. But it was all in God's Plan to have the understanding, The Revelation come afterward - after Jesus had fulfilled prophecy and the words of His and His Father's Code, the Plan of Salvation.
We know Jesus explained about Himself to the two men on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). We know Jesus appeared to His Disciples many times after He rose from the dead (Mark 16:14; John 21:1; John 21:14) and taught many more things. In fact, John says it like this - "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." (John 21:25) However, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to come once He ascended to the right hand of His Father, So That, among other things, the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth (John 16:13). But The Revelation and The Revelator came at Pentecost (Acts 2) and keeps coming in our own lives today, especially if we first seek His Plan, Wisdom, and Revelation out in the first place. That is what Jesus did. He had God's Plan on His mind the whole time. He consulted His Father about everything. Yes, He spoke strangely to everyone, including His chosen ones, but He knew Revelation was coming and where to find it and so do we.
Jesus' words were - phrased in such a way, guarded at times, unclear and down right confusing in other instances because The Code - Father God's Plan of Revelation - was to deliver it as such to the certain individuals He had in mind at that moment. Father God's Coded Revelation through Jesus came through many styles of language (parables, spoke in 3rd person, guarded answers, End of Days imagery, etc...) and He used these different styles of Code to keep hidden certain revelations (being one with God - "Vine", "eating His flesh" - meaning taking in His Word daily, etc...). But the main message of all that Jesus pushed right at the end of all the Gospels that you see repeated is The Code of Salvation (the way He spoke about His betrayal, being handed over to the authorities, suffering, death, and resurrection). We definitely observed the Disciples uncertainty about Jesus' words and even fear to ask Him about them. But it was all in God's Plan to have the understanding, The Revelation come afterward - after Jesus had fulfilled prophecy and the words of His and His Father's Code, the Plan of Salvation.
We know Jesus explained about Himself to the two men on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). We know Jesus appeared to His Disciples many times after He rose from the dead (Mark 16:14; John 21:1; John 21:14) and taught many more things. In fact, John says it like this - "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." (John 21:25) However, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to come once He ascended to the right hand of His Father, So That, among other things, the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth (John 16:13). But The Revelation and The Revelator came at Pentecost (Acts 2) and keeps coming in our own lives today, especially if we first seek His Plan, Wisdom, and Revelation out in the first place. That is what Jesus did. He had God's Plan on His mind the whole time. He consulted His Father about everything. Yes, He spoke strangely to everyone, including His chosen ones, but He knew Revelation was coming and where to find it and so do we.
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