Lesson 28: Jesus Foretells His Death

Matthew 16:21‑28  •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 4
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Matt. 16:21-28.
JESUS knew everything that would happen,1 and He knew that He must soon die. He used to tell His secrets to His disciples. So He took them to a place by themselves and said, ‘I shall soon leave you. Wicked people will take Me and bind Me with ropes and beat Me and laugh at Me and nail Me to a cross, but I shall soon be alive again.’
The disciples could not bear to hear Jesus talk of dying, for they loved Him very much. They all looked very sad, and Peter said, ‘Thou shalt not die’. But Jesus said, ‘I must die to save sinners, and to please My Father.’ The Father had desired Jesus to die, and He would not disobey His Father. 2
Most of the people who wished to kill Jesus, lived in a city called Jerusalem. Jesus used to go to Jerusalem very often, and He used to preach there.
Why did some people hate Jesus?
Because He told them of their wickedness.3 He used to say to them, ‘You do not love God, who is My Father, but you are proud and vain. 4You wish to kill Me. You tell lies. You are unkind to poor people. You pretend to love God, but while you are saying your prayers, you are thinking how good you are. Your hearts are full of wickedness. You are the children of the devil.’ 5
Jesus wished them to turn from their wickedness. He was sorry to see that they hated His Father, and that they would not turn from their wicked ways. 6
The wicked people were angry with Jesus. They said that God was not His Father. 7But Jesus said, ‘He is My Father, and I came down from heaven, where He lives, 8and I shall go back to Him some day.’ 9
At last the people took up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus did not choose to die yet, so He easily got away and went to a place where they could not find Him. He stayed there with His disciples for some time. 10
Questions
Did Jesus know that the wicked people would soon kill Him?
Who did Jesus tell that He would die?
Were they sorry?
Why did many people hate Jesus?
Who is the father of liars?
How did the wicked people try to kill Jesus?
Did Jesus let them kill Him?
Why did He hide in a place far away?
Where Jesus came from, and where He went:
A verse from the Bible for you to learn. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. John 16:28.
 
1. ‘Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him.’ John 18:4.
2. ‘I have power to lay it (my life) down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.’ John 10:18.
3. ‘The world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.’ John 7:7.
4. ‘I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.... How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another?’ John 5:42, 44.
5. ‘Which devour widows’ houses, and for a show make long prayers.’ Luke 20:47. ‘Their heart is far from Me.’ Matt. 15:8. ‘Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.’ Matt. 23:28. ‘But now ye seek to kill Me.... Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning... he is a liar.’ John 8:40, 44.
6. ‘Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.’ Mark 3:3. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life. John 5:40.
7. ‘The Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He... said also that God was His Father.’ John 5:18.
8. ‘I proceeded forth and came from God.’ I am from above.’ John 8:42, 23.
9. ‘What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?’ John 6:62.
10. ‘Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.... He escaped out of their hand, and went away again beyond Jordan.’ John 10:31, 39, 40.