Luke 18:31-36
Luke 18:31 (KJB)
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.
Jesus then began His journey to Jerusalem and now He takes His disciples with
Him and once again to speak to them about the events which were to unfold at
Jerusalem. (Mark 10:32 KJV) And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem;
and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they
were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things
should happen unto him, Mark states that at this time the disciples were
living in a sense of fear because they knew that things were about to happen but
did not know what nor how things were going to unfold.
Then Jesus plainly tells them what is about to happen to Him when He gets to
Jerusalem. He states that He will be betrayed unto the scribes and chief
priests. These would be the Sanhedrin which would hear the testimony of Jesus
and then condemn Him to death. They had the authority to condemn a person to
death but did not have the authority to carry out the sentence because they were
under Roman authority and no one could be put to death legally except it be by
the Romans in collusion with the Sanhedrin.
Luke 18:32 (KJB)
For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully
entreated, and spitted on:
Then once Jesus faces the ire of the Sanhedrin, they will find Him guilty of
trumped up charges and then He will be handed over to the Romans. They will mock
Him. (Mat 27:31 KJV) And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe
off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
(Mat 27:26 KJV) Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged
Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Luke 18:33 (KJB)
And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall
rise again.
Then they will scourge Him which was done to every condemned Roman prisoner. The
scourging was so virulent that many prisoners died under the scourging alone.
Then at the end of His statement, He gives a great ray of hope and that He will
rise from the dead on the third day which would be Sunday. Jesus had spoken
about this before but the disciples still did not comprehend what was being
spoken about.
Luke 18:34 (KJB)
And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken.
Despite the clarity which the Lord used in detailing what would happen to Him,
the disciples still did not understand what He was telling them. The phrase
“this saying was hid from them” means that they just did not understand what the
Lord was telling them. They had been told numerous times before what would
happen to the Lord but it seems they just could not grasp this reality. They had
come to an understanding of all these things when Jesus had risen from the dead.
Luke 18:35 (KJB)
And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man
sat by the way side begging:
Jesus and His disciples had left the region of Peraea and crossed the Jordan. He
was now ready to leave Jericho and as usual a great crowd had followed Him.
Jericho was about 20 miles (32 KM) northeast of Jerusalem. There were three
towns named Jericho in that region, all in close proximity. There was Old
Testament Jericho, New Testament Jericho, and Jericho. They were located about 3
miles apart from each other.
(Luke 18:35 KJV) And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho,
a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
(Mark 10:46 KJV) And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with
his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the highway side begging.
This scenario has been a puzzle but if you study how the Lord Jesus Christ seeks
faith to do something for someone, the mystery disappears. If you notice in
verse 46, it states that Jesus went out of Jericho. Mark 10:46 tells us that
Jesus had already came to Jericho and that He was on His way outside of Jericho.
Then in Luke 18:35 we read that as they came nigh or near unto Jericho they
encountered a man begging by the side of the road named Blind Bartimaeus.
Luke 18:36 (KJB)
And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
Bartimaeus had heard the crowd cheering and wanted to know what was happening.
Since he could not see he had to be told. Mark’s account mentions that he was
told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Luke is the only one who records
this question.