davewatchman I have had many similar thoughts for the last year (or so).
Luke 24:18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? That's good Mike. The Script you post is an excellent example. It is HE who gives the wisdom to the wise, it is HE who reveals the deep and the HIDDEN things. That means that there are things that are HIDDEN. These need to be revealed by God. And they can't be all known at any time, only when the time comes for God to reveal them.
I don't believe that the people knew what was going on when Jesus walked the earth, not the disciples, not John the Baptist, not even Satan. John the Baptist had to send people out to ask Jesus, "are you the One we're waiting for, or should we wait for another? It was very clear that the disciples did not understand what was going on, even when Jesus told them point blank:
"Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written
by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will
mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.
There's a pretty good PDF note about all this that i'll try to send. It's 18 pages long. I don't know very much about the author, but i'm definitely not on the same page with everything else he says. But i like this essay. It gets into the idea that God can even hide information from the devil himself.
Here is a snip:
"Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written
by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will
mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again. (Luke 18:31-33)
This was clear enough. However, we also read in verse 34,
The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know
what he was talking about.
Why didn't the disciples understand? Was it because they couldn't break out of the paradigm of the eternal
Messiah who cannot die? Or was it God himself who "hid" the meaning from them? We don't know. But
if we study all of the similar disclosures Jesus made, we see sixteen passages where Christ told his
disciples what he was going to do (although some are referring to the same discussion).
The list is as follows: Mark 8:31*; 10:45*; 9:9,10,12*; 10:32-34; 9:31-32; Matthew 20:17-19*; 17:22,23; 16:21; Luke
9:22*; 9:44,45; 18:31-34; John 3:14*; 10:15-18,20; 12:32-34; 16:17-18,25. In each of the starred
passages, it records the disciples reaction, and makes it plain that they did not understand what he was
saying.
It seems they never did understand. Right up to the end of his ministry they were asking him, "So is this
the time when you will reveal your kingdom?" Even the question they asked at the Mount of Olives,
"What will be the sign of your coming?" may be misleading to modern readers. It sounds to us like they
now knew he would leave and come back. But the term "coming" may have meant a triumphal entry, or
presentation of himself as king. It's entirely possible that they were still thinking that the coming might happen any day.
Satan's Strange RoleNobody behaved more strangely during this time than God's enemy, Satan. We read in John 13:2 that at
the last supper, "devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him."
What an odd thing for Satan to do! If Jesus had come to die for human sin, why would Satan actively
cooperate in his death? Hadn't Jesus just warned that the cross would be the undoing of Satan? (John 12:31,32)
Wasn't it the cross that made it possible for Paul to say, "When He had disarmed the rulers and
authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him." (Col. 2:15)?
This part of the story is like a poorly written novel where people's motivations don't line up with the
action. Why would a creature as brilliant as Satan, not just acquiesce, but actually assist in doing the very thing that would be most destructive to himself?
Maybe Paul offers us another explanation in 1 Cor. 2:6,8,
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the
rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom,
which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has
understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Could it be that Satan, the great adversary, didn't know that Jesus actually wanted to die? If so, it would perfectly explain why he helped orchestrate his death.
The Mystery Hidden for Aeons Past
Author: Dennis McCallum
Considering anomalies in messianic prophecyThe Mystery Hidden for Aeons Past.pdf (343.79 KB)
