I Have Told You Beforehand

The God Who Tells Ahead

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In the middle of His teaching on the Mount of Olives, Jesus said, “See, I have told you beforehand” (Matthew 24:25). Telling His people ahead of time is something God has always done.

Only God knows the end. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said that He alone is God and there is no one like Him. He tells the end from the beginning, and He tells things that have not happened yet (Isaiah 46:9-10).

No idol can do it. Isaiah also wrote that God tells new things before they spring up (Isaiah 42:8-9). The idols people made could not tell the future, but the living God could.

He tells His servants. The prophet Amos wrote that the Lord God does nothing without showing His plan to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

Not a guess. People make guesses about tomorrow. Sometimes they are right, and sometimes they are wrong. God does not guess. He knows, because He rules over everything that happens.

Jesus told about the cross. Jesus told His disciples ahead of time what would happen to Him. He said, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day” (Mark 9:31).

Why tell them early? At supper on His last night, Jesus said, “Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He” (John 13:19). He told them early so that, when it happened, they would believe in Him.

Just as He said. Jesus was arrested, crucified and buried. Then on the third day the angel at the tomb said, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said” (Matthew 28:6). Everything Jesus had told His disciples about the cross came true.

A record you can trust. Jesus' words about His death and rising came true exactly. That is why we can trust His words about the future too.

For us. Jesus' death and rising were not an accident. They were God's plan to save us. He died for our sins and rose again so that everyone who trusts Him can be forgiven.

What to do. When you read a promise of Jesus in the Bible, remember that His words always come true. Thank Him for one of His promises this week.

Proeireka. “See, I have told you beforehand” (Matthew 24:25). The verb is proeireka (say: pro-AY-reh-kah), I have said it ahead of time. Jesus paused in His warnings to point out what He was doing: giving His people His word before the events came.

A mark of the true God. Through Isaiah, the Lord set Himself apart from every idol: He is God, there is none like Him, and He declares the end from the beginning and things not yet done (Isaiah 46:9-10). Telling the future truly is something only He can do.

New things announced. God also said through Isaiah that the former things had come to pass and that He was declaring new things before they sprang forth (Isaiah 42:8-9). The fulfilled word becomes the reason to trust the next one.

Shared with His servants. Amos wrote that the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). God does not hide His plans from the people who belong to Him.

The cross foretold. Jesus taught His disciples plainly, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day” (Mark 9:31).

The purpose (John 13:19). “Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.” Jesus' predictions were meant to build faith. When the events came, the words He had spoken would show who He is.

Fulfilled. At the empty tomb the angel said, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said” (Matthew 28:6). Every word Jesus had spoken about His death and rising came true.

Why it matters now. The same Lord who foretold His death and rising also foretold the things of Matthew 24. His record on the first gives His people every reason to trust Him on the second.

Not for guessing. Jesus' words about the future were given to strengthen trust, not to feed curiosity. He gave His disciples warnings, comfort and instructions, and He told them plainly that the end was not yet (Matthew 24:6).

The center of it all. The most important things Jesus foretold were the cross and the empty tomb. God planned them from the beginning so that sinners could be forgiven and made His children through faith in His Son.

For you. Every time you read a promise of Jesus, remember His record. The One who said He would rise on the third day kept His word, and He will keep every promise He has made to you.

That in Me You May Have Peace

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Jesus did not tell His friends about the future to scare them. He told them so that they would have peace.

So you will not stumble. On the night before the cross, Jesus told His disciples that hard times were coming for them. He said He told them these things so that they would not stumble and fall away (John 16:1).

So you will remember. He also said that He told them so that when the time came, they would remember that He had told them (John 16:4).

Peace in Him. Then He said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Good cheer. To be of good cheer means to take heart and be brave and glad. Jesus did not say it because the trouble was small. He said it because He is greater than the trouble.

Two places. Jesus said His friends would live in two places at once. In the world they would have trouble. In Him they would have peace. The trouble is real, but the peace is stronger.

Not afraid of bad news. Psalm 112 describes a person who trusts the Lord. He will not be afraid of bad news, because his heart is steady, trusting in the Lord (Psalm 112:7).

A steady heart. A steady heart is not a heart that never hears bad news. It is a heart that knows where to run when bad news comes.

A safe place. Psalm 46 begins, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). A refuge is a safe place to run to.

Even if the earth shakes. The psalm goes on to say that God's people will not fear, even if the earth gives way and the mountains are carried into the sea (Psalm 46:2-3).

Peace is a Person. The peace Jesus gives does not come from knowing every detail about tomorrow. It comes from knowing Him. He is with His people, and He has already won.

How He overcame. Jesus overcame the world by going to the cross for our sins and rising again. Sin and death could not hold Him. Everyone who trusts Him shares in His victory.

What to do. The next time you hear news that scares you, stop and pray. Tell Jesus what you heard, and thank Him that He has overcome the world.

Jesus' words about the future always came with a purpose. On the night He was betrayed, He told His disciples what that purpose was.

That you should not stumble (John 16:1). Jesus warned them that they would be put out of the synagogues and even killed by people who thought they were serving God. He said He told them so that they would not be made to stumble.

That you may remember (16:4). He said He told them so that when the time came, they would remember that He had told them. A warning remembered becomes an anchor when the storm arrives.

That you may have peace (16:33). “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The word for tribulation is the same pressure Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:9 and 21.

Two addresses. Believers live in the world, where there is tribulation, and in Christ, where there is peace. Jesus did not deny the first. He gave them the second.

Batach. Psalm 112:7 says of the person who fears the Lord that he will not be afraid of evil tidings, because his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. The word for trusting is batach (say: bah-TAKH), to lean your whole weight on someone you know is safe.

Evil tidings. Tidings are reports. The psalm does not promise that the bad reports will stop. It describes a heart that is fixed on the Lord before the reports arrive.

A refuge (Psalm 46:1). “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” The psalm then pictures the earth giving way and mountains thrown into the sea, and says that God's people will not fear (46:2-3). The worst that could happen to the earth is still smaller than God.

Peace rooted in a fact. Jesus' peace is not built on hoping things turn out well. It is built on what He has done: “I have overcome the world.” He said it before the cross, and He proved it by rising from the dead.

The victory shared. Jesus overcame sin and death for His people. Everyone who trusts Him is joined to Him, so His victory becomes theirs, and nothing in the world can undo it.

For you. When a frightening report reaches you, bring it to Jesus before you let it settle in your mind. Lean your weight on Him, and remind yourself that He told you these things so that in Him you may have peace.

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