The Sufferings and the Glory

A broken hope. On the road to Emmaus the two disciples said, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). When Jesus was crucified, they thought that hope was over.

What redeem means. To redeem is to set someone free by paying a price. God's people were waiting for the Redeemer He had promised.

Ought not? Jesus answered with a question: “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (24:26). Suffering came first. Glory came after.

He told them before. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus had said, “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation” (Luke 17:25). The suffering had to come before the glory.

The prophets searched. Peter later wrote, “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you” (1 Peter 1:10).

Sufferings, then glories. The Spirit of Christ in the prophets “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow” (1 Peter 1:11). The prophets wrote about both, and they searched to learn when it would all happen.

Written for you. “To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering” (1 Peter 1:12). God gave the prophets His message so that people like you could hear the good news.

Angels want to look. These are “things which angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:12). Even angels wonder at what God has done through His Son.

All the prophets. Peter preached, “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled” (Acts 3:18).

Isaiah saw it. “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Redeemed after all. The two disciples were right to hope for a Redeemer. Peter wrote, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold” (1 Peter 1:18), “but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1:19). The cross did not end the hope. The cross paid the price.

What this means for you. When something hard happens, it can feel as if hope is over. But God can bring good through what looks like defeat. The darkest day for the two disciples was the day Jesus paid for your sins. Trust Jesus, your Redeemer.

Into His glory. Jesus said the Christ would suffer “and to enter into His glory” (Luke 24:26). The cross was not the end. Glory came next.

David's song. Long before, King David wrote, “The Lord said to my Lord” (Psalm 110:1). Then he wrote God's words to his Lord: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

Two Lords. The first Lord is God. The second is the one David called “my Lord,” the promised Christ. David, the great king, called Him his Master.

Jesus asked about it. While He taught in the temple, Jesus asked, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?” (Mark 12:35). Then He quoted David's psalm.

Son and Lord. “Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?” (Mark 12:37). The Christ would be born into David's family, and He would also be David's Lord. Only Jesus is both.

The right hand. The right hand of a king is the place of honor and power. To sit there means to rule with him.

A footstool. God said, “Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” A footstool is where a king rests his feet. One day every enemy of God will be under Jesus' rule, and even death will be defeated.

He sat down. Jesus died and rose again, and then “when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). Purged means cleaned away.

Peter preached it. On the day of Pentecost Peter said, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). Then he quoted Psalm 110 too (Acts 2:34-35).

Crowned. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor” (Hebrews 2:9).

Stephen saw Him. When Stephen stood before an angry council, he “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55).

Glory for His people. Paul wrote that God's children are “joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:17). Jesus walked the road of suffering into glory, and He leads His people the same way.

What this means for you. Jesus is not in the tomb, and He is not just a good memory. He is alive and reigning at God's right hand. You can bring Him every prayer, because the King of all things loves you.