NO ONE LOOKED FORWARD TO THE CROSS
By Ken Blue
“Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” Luke 18:31-34.
Most Christians think that, prior to Jesus’ death, Old Testament believers looked forward to the cross and those of us on this side looked back. However, that is only a half truth. Any honest believer must admit that none of the twelve disciples were looking forward to Jesus’ death on the cross or to His resurrection; neither were the women who went to the tomb to embalm His dead body. Notice the above verses, and you will see that verse 34 is the key. “And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” You can read. Do you think the Twelve preached the death, burial and resurrection of Christ in any fashion for three and one-half years when they didn’t understand one thing about His coming death? In fact, no one looked forward to Christ’s death.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The only gospel preached, prior to Paul, was the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.[/perfectpullquote]
The only gospel preached, prior to Paul, was the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. The content of that gospel was: believe the message about the coming Messiah, repent of your sins, be baptized and remain faithful to the end. I am confident that many of the brethren will have a cardiac arrest over this, but the stubborn facts must replace centuries of tradition. It is true; we look back to the cross where Jesus died for our sins and accept His death, burial and resurrection for sin as our substitute. However, no one prior to the cross looked forward to that event for their personal salvation, even though His death is found in type and prophecy all through the Scriptures.
Pastor Ken Blue was born in Boswell, Ark. In 1955 he accepted Christ as his Savior. He and his wife Joyce were married in 1955. They have 5 children. He graduated from Midwestern Baptist Bible College in 1969 and started the Open Door Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Wa. where he pastored for 39 years. Because of health issues (ALS) he was forced to resign as pastor. It is his desire to continue to be used of God to help pastors and believers through this ministry.
By Ken Blue