Most of you remember the incident in Acts 3 where Peter and John were entering the Temple and ran across a lame fellow begging at the Beautiful Gate. They healed the man and he came dancing and shouting into the worship service, probably for the first time in his life. The lame were never permitted in the Temple, but everyone recognized this fellow as the one who used to be lame.
After the Temple service, Peter and John with this new friend went out to the larger courtyard around the Temple called Solomon’s Porch. A crowd gathered quickly and Peter addressed them to answer the question of how this man was healed by the name of Jesus. During this message, Peter referred (v. 18) to the Messianic prophecies: “But the things God foretold long ago through all the prophets — that his Christ would suffer — he has fulfilled in this way.”
When did Peter come to the realization that it was necessary for Jesus to suffer and die? So far as we can tell from the Gospels and Acts, Peter didn’t figure it out until after the Resurrection. Remember when Jesus met with them in the Upper Room after His arose? He breathed on them so that their minds could be opened to the Scriptures’ message about the suffering Messiah. Then He proceeded to explain it. And He explained on the road to Emmaus, and repeatedly throughout the next forty days He was with them.
Indeed, He had tried to explain it both before and after the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is in Luke 9:28-36 (Matthew 17 and Mark 9). But back in v. 20-22 He tried to warn them. In Matthew’s version of that incident (Matthew 16:21-28), Peter rebuked Jesus for saying that kind of thing. They went up on the mountain for this vision, and promptly upon coming down, Jesus explained again that He must face betrayal. Later, in Luke 18:31-34, He explains He must go to Jerusalem and face serious trials. Their minds were closed to this message. You can’t just blame the Talmudic influences; nowhere does the Old Testament say bluntly that the Messiah would suffer and die. Rather, it was hidden in bits and pieces, scattered across the prophetic terrain in little clues here and there.
This was intentional, but not to confuse humans. Those who truly sought the Lord’s face could have eventually figured it out. Jesus Himself realized it as part of His own study of the Scriptures. The whole point was to keep Satan and his allies out of the loop. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 that, had the powers of this world (both human and eternal powers) known that was the plan, they would not have carried through the crucifixion:
Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing. Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The Devil and his allies in rebellion had cut themselves off from the Holy Spirit, and were unable to discern the clues in Scripture. The glorious plan was there, but it required divine guidance to see it. Paul goes on to explain that in detail. Remember that the Wilderness Temptations were in part an effort by the Devil to suss out what Jesus was up to, and Jesus didn’t tip His hand.
This is why so many argue against Election, or try to define it to mean something else. Without the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, you cannot embrace that truth. You may struggle even with His Presence. Everything critical to understanding the Unseen Realm depends on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
