Thrice in the Gospel according to St. Matthew (and in the other synoptics as well, I believe), Christ takes to Twelve aside to predict His impending Passion and Resurrection. Each time, the narrative of this seems somewhat "dropped," a self-enclosed episode with no real rapport to what immediately precedes it (in this case, the parable of the workers in the vineyard) and what follows it (in this case, the story of Zebedee's wife's intercession for her sons, though Christ's statement to her that the Son of man came "to give his life as a redemption for many" for a definite, though not immediately apparent, relation to this prediction). Indeed, I don't believe that we read of the Apostles' reaction to Jesus's words at all.
So, what do you make of these incidents?Predictions of the Passion: to your mind, what is their purpose?
It means I'm getting laid tonight.Predictions of the Passion: to your mind, what is their purpose?
When Peter told Jesus he would never deny Him and Jesus told him otherwise, following that up with "when you are converted (changed), feed My lambs", Christ was preparing Peter for a real look at his humanity and the process of accepting it and moving forward in spite of it. Peter was to head the church. Likewise, Christ prepared His followers for events that they didn't think could happen to Him so that they could remember what He said, accept their limitations and change and grow because of it.
The disciples were expecting a messiah of a different kind. Instead of the spiritual deliverance that Christ brought, the disciples expected what the Jews expected (and therefore did not recognize Christ for who He was), which was physical deliverance for the nation of Israel from Roman oppression. The disciple's blessing was that they finally understood the kind of messiah Christ was and moved forward to teach others about Him.
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