The Prophecy of Preparation: Understanding Matthew 17:22-23

A Personal Foundation: Letting Go in Faith

I want to share something deeply personal that shaped how I understand this passage. A year before I began my pastoral journey in 2011, my family and I sat in a hospital waiting room. A doctor told us my father had six months to live—cancer would be fatal. We needed to go home and put our affairs in order.

In that moment, my mother displayed a divine calm I couldn't understand. Looking back, I realize she had confidence—either that my father would be healed, or in her spiritual maturity, she believed that through death he would be freed from years of suffering. My father had battled cancer for years. Toward the end, he stopped talking, stopped writing in his journals. He was afraid of what death would be like, what lay on the other side.

My mother understood the scriptures. She knew that ultimately, my father would be healed—in this life or the next. She understood that there is nothing we suffer now that is greater than what the Lord has prepared for all of us who are His sons and daughters.

But I was not calm. I was angry and distressed. My love wasn't mature enough to hear my mother's words or the Spirit speaking through her. My love was handcuffed by fear. This immature love, I believe, is what swirls around the prophecy we're about to examine.

The Context: Jesus Prepares His Disciples for Transition

By the time we reach Matthew 17, Jesus is in His early thirties. He has been in ministry for three and a half years, and He knows His earthly time is coming to an end. What does He do? He uses these verses to try to prepare His followers for the transition of His absence.

Matthew records what Jesus said:

"As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, 'The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.'" (Matthew 17:22)

Who is listening? The twelve apostles—the first followers of Jesus Christ. These are men who heard His teachings firsthand. They saw Him perform miracles. Some of them saw Him raise a little girl from the dead. Jesus poured His life into them and discipled them. They would give birth to the First Christian Church and lead it.

And this gives me hope. Why? Because in the next verse, you'll learn that although Jesus was talking to them about this transition, they were afraid. They did not understand what He was saying.

This tells me something crucial: the disciples of Jesus give me hope because even the closest followers struggled to understand and accept His plan.

The First Warning—Peter's Resistance

Back in Matthew 16, Jesus tells them this for the very first time:

"The Son of Man has to go to Jerusalem. He's going to be turned over to the elders. He's going to suffer many things. He will be killed and resurrected from the grave." (Matthew 16:21)

This is the second time He's telling them. The first time? Peter grabs Him by the shoulders, pulls Him into a corner, and rebukes Him. In my translation: Oh, heck no, Lord. You can't leave us right now.

Jesus responds: "Get behind me, Satan."

Satanically, Peter is speaking. And this is important: you must discern every voice. Not every voice is God's voice. The devil would speak through a friend to frustrate you.

Let me remind you of something from Matthew 4. When Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, what happened? Jesus said, "It is written." The devil said, "It is written." Both quoted Scripture. You have to discern the difference. Just because someone has a microphone doesn't make them a man or woman of God. Just because they have a Facebook Live doesn't mean they're anointed. You have to know the difference.

The Lord is not the author of confusion. In the body of Christ, there are voices Jesus planted, voices the devil planted, and voices that planted themselves—people the Lord did not send. You must discern: Is this God's voice? Is this the devil's voice? Or is this a man or woman who is not anointed for that place?

What They Heard vs. What They Should Have Heard

So Jesus says: "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men."

Listen to what they heard:

"The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. The Creator is about to be delivered into the hand of creation."

What they heard was: I'm about to be betrayed. I'm about to be arrested. I'm about to be persecuted. I'm about to be separated from you.

The word "delivered" is code language. It was the Father's will for Him to be delivered into the hands of persecutors. Sometimes it is the Father's will for us to suffer certain things in certain seasons to bring about God's purposes in our lives.

The Creator was about to submit to the will of the Father to be persecuted by creation—by the very people He created. Here's the question for all of us: Are we submitted to the Father at that level?

Can we submit to the Father's will even when it's unwanted or doesn't feel good? When the Lord tells you to leave that church, can you submit? When the Lord tells you to leave that job and start the ministry, can you submit? When the Lord tells you to break up and come out of that relationship, can you submit? When the Lord tells you to leave that city and move to another, can you submit?

Can you submit to the Lord even when you know you're about to suffer? Do you love Him enough to suffer well for the name of the Lord? Because if we are true followers, we cannot just pad our ears with tingling voices of false prophets that keep us comfortable in sin. In this life, we must live well and suffer well for the name of Jesus Christ.

I'll tell you my own story. I didn't want to be a pastor. I wanted to be an attorney. I had a degree in criminal justice, and I was headed to law school. But the Lord closed that door. What I'm doing right now, I'm doing out of obedience, not out of glory. This isn't glory for me—this is a cross. This is me suffering.

I don't always feel prepared. I don't always feel skilled. I don't want to prepare an oral presentation every week of my life, even when I've had a hard week. But I'm here because I'm surrendering to His will. I wanted to plant a church in DC or New York or New Jersey. But coming to Atlanta? That's submitting to His will, even when it goes against mine.

The Language of Loosening

Now let's go deeper. Notice the word "about to." About to means in space and time, this is going to happen very soon. He's telling them: Very soon, I'm about to be separated from you.

Here's what's happening: The Lord is using words to loosen their grip from the concept of physical intimacy. He knows He's about to be taken away from them permanently in the earth. He will be removed. He will come back for 40 days, then He'll be gone. What He's doing right now is using His words to loosen their grip from their physical attachment to Him as a person.

Because here's what He's about to do: leave and tag team, sending back the Holy Spirit to be their leader. He will tell them later:

"I will no longer be with you, but I will send a Helper." (John 14:26)

The Holy Spirit—the Paraclete, the one who comes beside you. The one who talks to you, guides you, leads you, reminds you, rebukes you, empowers you. He's not a force. He's a person. He's the third person of the Trinity—the Godhead.

I'm tired of people trying to call Him an "it" or a "force." You call Him that because you're not reading Scripture carefully. When John recorded Jesus, do you know what pronoun the Holy Spirit has? He. The Lord has a pronoun. He's called "he." When He comes, He will tell you all things. He will remind you of all things. He will do this. He will do that. He. The Holy Spirit is a person.

We must correct false doctrines: the "Mother God" talk, the Hebrew Israelite talk, all these false Christian spin-offs. God is a singular being who has revealed Himself in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We serve one God who exists in three persons.

A Testimony of Grip-Loosening

The Lord uses language to loosen our grip from our physical attachments because He's preparing us for something new. Have you experienced this? There are times in our lives when the Lord loosens our grip from something we held so close—to prepare us for a new assignment or a new life on the other side of a coming transition.

For some of you, the Lord loosened your grip through betrayal. You were betrayed by somebody, and He loosened your grip from bad company. For others, you've been rejected, and He was loosening your grip from bad friends and family. For some of you, you lost a job, and He was loosening your grip to lead you into something you would never have pursued on your own.

For some of you, He loosened your grip from the city you were in to move you to Atlanta to be a part of 2819 Church. The Lord will use discontentment to loosen your grip. He'll use discouragement. He'll use spiritual warfare. He'll use unwanted circumstances.

You're clutching that thing very tight, and the Lord says: I'm going to pry your fingers off of it. And when you look over your shoulder as you grow in faith, you realize the Lord has loosened your grip from some things to prepare you for either a new life or a new assignment on the other side of a transition that was coming.

The Prophecy of Resurrection

Now, verse 23. Listen to what Jesus finishes with:

"And he will be raised on the third day." (Matthew 17:23)

Do you see what just happened? Let me read the full statement again:

"Jesus said to them, 'The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men by the will of the Father, and they will kill Him. And He will be raised on the third day.' And they were greatly distressed."

You should be shocked. And the reason you're shocked is because we read over what just happened. Jesus is prophesying about the fulfillment of the Gospel. He's prophesying about His death on the cross. He's saying: Just a little while, I'm about to do what I came to do. I'm about to nail to the cross all of your sin—past, present, and future. I'm about to nail to the cross all of your mistakes. I'm about to snatch people from depravity and bring them into the marvelous light.

He's prophesying about the greatest event in human history: the death and resurrection of Christ on the cross.

Without the cross, we are all hellbound. Without the cross, there is no forgiveness of sins. Without the cross, you do not have a righteousness strong enough to stand in the presence of a holy God. Your good works, your good deeds—they're not strong enough. Without the cross, you cannot even have a relationship with God the Father.

There are some Christians so familiar with the Lord, so bougie and prideful, that the cross doesn't even excite them anymore. All they want to hear about is blessing. But let a preacher talk about the cross, and they won't shout.

When I hear the cross, something wells up in my spirit. I get excited. I get a flashback to my life. When I hear about the cross, I remember what He saved me from. I remember how I was hellbound. Is anybody thankful for the cross?

The Instrument of Salvation

He's prophesying about that instrument of death—the cross—that allowed some of you to put on your shirt, your bracelet, your heart, your notebook with the words: "The Son has set me free."

Imagine you're standing in front of a judge, facing prison time. A man walks through the back of the courtroom. He walks up next to you and pushes you out of the way. He says to the judge: "I'm going to pay the price for what they just did."

You're free.

But here's my question: How do you walk out that courtroom and not have a conversation with that man? How do you walk out that courtroom and not show gratitude to the man who set you free? How do you walk out that courtroom and not give your life in gratitude to the man who set you free? You were on your way to eternal damnation.

How do you walk out that courtroom and not turn back to give that man the gratitude he deserves?

Somebody give Jesus the praise.

I wish I had a church of men, women, and children totally sold out for Christ—not because of some blessing that's bottom shelf, but because of what's on the top shelf. Because of the cross. I don't need a house to get excited over Jesus. I don't need a new car. I don't need a million dollars.

All I need to do is get a vision of the cross. The cross is enough.

The Distraction of Blessing Theology

I'm saying this in Atlanta, Georgia, where we live in a spiritual context of blessing for worship. That's what your prophets tell you. That's what your apostles, bishops, and evangelists tell you. We live in a city where there is an exchange of blessing for worship.

Men and women stand on the stage. They prophesy for fifty minutes about blessing. Then they tell you to praise God. Let me be clear: I am not against praising God for the material things He's given me. I owe Him that gratitude. But praising God for material things would not be at the top of my list.

I will thank God audibly and in my heart for everything He's done for me. But at the top of that list is my salvation first.

If anybody's thankful for your salvation, give praise right now. Anybody thankful for salvation, give Him praise.

I don't need a car to get excited when I hear His name and see the cross. That's enough to get me excited. That's enough to make me say, "Wow!" We are outside because of the cross. We are outside because of the cross. We know about the cross. We give Him praise because of the cross.

Truth Over Emotions

Here's the critical point as I close. Look at verse 23 again. After Jesus tells them, "He will be raised," why are they distressed?

It's because all they heard in their immature love was: "You're not going to leave us. The ministry is over. We're not going to overthrow the Roman government. Our time running with you is about to end." They loved Him, so they didn't want Him to leave. But what they should have listened to was: "He will be raised."

They let their emotions eclipse the truth of God's Word.

They had the Old Testament in their possession. They had knowledge that the Christ would come, would live, would suffer, would die, would be buried for three days, would be resurrected, would reign. But in this moment, they let their emotions eclipse the word of God. Their emotions in the moment were stronger than the truth of God's Word.

How many times have you and I done this? How many times have we allowed our emotions in the middle of a season or moment to eclipse the truth of God's Word?

I am guilty of this. Your emotions are real. Your emotions are legitimate. But there comes a time when we buckle down with that Bible and we cannot let our emotions eclipse the word of God.

The word of God is more real than your emotions.

I know you feel abandoned, but the word says: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." I know you feel like He's not listening, but the word says: "He hears the cry of His righteous children." I know you feel like you're not going to survive this financially, but the word says: "We've never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread."

I know. But the word says. I know. But the word says.

I feel this way. I feel insecure sometimes. I feel like God doesn't care about me. I feel like He's not pleased with me. But I've got to bury my face in the Psalms, in the New Testament, in the Old Testament, in Proverbs. And even though I feel this way, I've got to go back to the Word.

When I feel insecure, when my mind is going crazy, the word says: "We take captive every thought that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we tear it down." So when the devil is lying to me, I go back to what the word says. When my emotions are out of whack, I go back to what the word says.

Finding Hope in the Cross

When you feel unloved, go back to what the word says. When you feel like there's nobody in your corner, go back to what the word says. When you feel like your life has not turned out the way you wanted it to, when things are not the way you want them to be—I know you're not going to get excited for this, but I don't care—remember what this Bible says:

"The suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed to those of us who are in Christ Jesus."

I may suffer now for just a little while, but there is a life coming where there will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more sickness, no more pain. I am headed for a life that Jesus has gone to prepare for me.

I may suffer now. I may cry now. But I remember what the word says. When I feel like nobody understands me, I'll go back to the word, and I know that I'm perfectly understood by my Father. When I feel awkward and people don't understand me, I remember what David wrote in Psalm 139:

"For I was fearfully and wonderfully made."

You are wired this way for God's purposes and for His glory. Why are you an introvert? You're fearfully and wonderfully made. Why are you an extrovert? You're fearfully and wonderfully made. Why are you drawn to the things you're drawn to? You're fearfully and wonderfully made. Why do you hate the things you hate? You're fearfully and wonderfully made.

Every time my emotions are out of whack, I remember: They should have heard He will be raised. Instead, their emotions eclipsed the truth of the word. This happens to all of us.

The Future Governs the Present

I want to encourage you with this last thing: The Lord is not only prophesying about the fulfillment of the Gospel. He's prophesying about the future.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to see a beautiful character of the Lord: It is His will for His children to know His will.

The Lord actually wills for His children to know the future. Why does that matter? Because when you understand the future, it will govern how you live right now.

The Old Testament is replete with prophets telling the children of Israel about the future. The New Testament is full of apocalyptic language from Jesus Christ and the Book of Revelation, telling His children the future. Why? Because the Lord wills for His children to know His will. He gave us a whole document about the future.

You think I'm going to be distressed about what I'm suffering now when I already know this book says I'm going to end up in glory? You think I'm going to let the devil punk me out now when I know the Bible teaches me that he's on a leash?

The devil could go but so far. Job—Satan asked to test Job, and God said: "You can do whatever you want, but don't touch his body, don't touch his life." The devil's on a leash. So why should I be afraid of him?

How do I know my ear is going to be healed? The word says so. How do I know my marriage is going to be a picture of Christ and the Church? Because the word says so. I fight like hell for my marriage. How do I know my children are like arrows that I disciple and release one after another? Because the word says so.

I know that I will not see one day in hell. I know that one day I'll be seated with Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb. I know that one day I will get a crown. I know that one day I will live in a mansion better than every house down here. I know that one day I will not feel any more tormented pain. Because of what the word says.

If you know the future and can govern how you live down here, watch this: Because I know the future—because I know the Lord is going to recreate a new world with new grass, new trees, fresh oxygen, fresh water, no evil, no death, no aging, no pain, no sin—that's why I live the way I live right now.

I live like a wild man on mission because I already know Utopia is not now. Utopia is coming. That's why I govern the way I live right now. Because I know the future.

You think I'm like this because I'm a pastor? No. I'm a sold-out ninja because I know the word of God. You think I'm on fire because I'm a pastor? No. I'm on fire because I know the word of God.