Acts 1:8 NKJV

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria; and to the ends of the earth.

#verseoftheday

As I was reading Matthew 20, these verses stuck out to me. I don’t recall every really noticing them until today. I had to read them at least 4 times. It struck me that Jesus was already telling his disciples that he would be betrayed but they are not at the last supper. Matthew does not go into detail on how they reacted to these statements of betrayal, being condemned to death and given to the Gentiles to mock, scourge and crucify. Neither do we see how they react to the fact that he said he would rise to live again on the third day.

Jesus never names the one who would betray him here or at the last supper (he does say the one who I give the bread I have dipped but the 11 didn’t understand). I have to wonder what Judas Iscariot thought about this revelation. Was he already thinking about betraying the Lord? Is he not bothered by the fact that Jesus knows what is about to happen? Was his heart already hardened even not to not notice what Jesus said?

In Luke 18:31-34, we are told that the ...