Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
Mat 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify [him]: and the third day he shall rise again.

The premise of this study is that all of Christ's words were relevant both in the context of his life and as a message to us today. The question is: what is Christ saying to us in this prophesy of his coming death?

One possible interpretation is that whenever Christ is turned over to the head priests and scribes (the academincs and the writers), he is going to be criticized to death. In other words, even in our time, when Christ is given over to religious leaders and academics, they will make judgments against him. In other words, Christ only is accepted by individuals, outside of institutions and outside of history. Those with a stake in institutions, even religious institutions, must make decisions that go against Christ.

However, it is not these institutions that kill Christ. For that, he must be turned over to the state. The "gentiles" of Christ's time referred to the state power of Rome, but we can assume that it is any group of non-believers. In our time, it is, of course, the secular state.

So there is a progress here. The institution of religion, in conjunction with the media, makes judgments that are against Christ. This leads, inevitably, to the state or government of non-believers to try to kill Christ. There is a very modern message here. What is really interesting is that this formula words for all eras since Christ, no matter who the religious leaders, the academics, or the state leaders are.

Of course, in the end, Christ always arises again. The term used not only means to rise up himself, but to rouse other people to action. This says it all. Christ cannot die, but nor can he live in institutions. He lives only in the hearts of people that he changes.


"Betrayed" and "deliver" are from paradidômi (paradidomi), which means "to give over to another," "to transmit," "to hand down," "to grant," "to teach," and "to bestow."

"Condemn" is from katakrino, which means "judge against."

"Gentiles" is from ethnos, which means "tribe" or "nation," but implies a foriegn group.

"Rise again" is from anistêmi, which means "to make stand up," "to raise," "to wake up," "to build up," "to restore," "to rouse to action," "to stir up," and "to make people rise."