Jesus was born to die. Let me say that again. Jesus was born to die!

Jesus, the Eternal Son of God, came from Heaven to earth through the process of human birth – but without a human father. The angel Gabriel told the virgin Mary that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

Why would the Son of God be born to a virgin? To gain a human body. Why? So He could die a human death for our salvation.

Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’ Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them‘ (which are offered according to the law), then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:5-10

A Prophecy of Death

As we saw in the last part of our series, the Apostle Peter ran into some problems after confessing that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah).

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’ Mark 8:31-33

Peter believed that Jesus was the Christ, but he didn’t believe Jesus should suffer and die. Why would Peter have made that mistake? Because of what Jews believed about the coming of the Messiah. Peter and the other disciples believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but they believed He had come to establish a physical kingdom. They didn’t know then what you and I know now. Jesus had to die so that they and we could be “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Jesus’ response to Peter was quick and powerful – “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Jesus pointed to the real enemy of God’s eternal plan – Satan. The devil had been deceiving God’s people for thousands of years and was still up to his old tricks. Peter and the other disciples needed to be “mindful of the things of God,” rather than the “things of men.” In other words, the disciples needed to think differently about what Jesus said about His death.

Jesus often spoke about things that were going to happen in the future. He answered their questions about what would happen at the end of the age. He told them about His impending suffering and death, and His glorious resurrection from death.

Three Times

Jesus told His disciples about His death three times before He was arrested, tried, crucified, and buried. He told the disciples three times about His resurrection from death. The disciples didn’t understand at the time, but remembered His words after Jesus rose from the dead.

  1. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Mark 8:31
  2. Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, ‘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 9:30-31
  3. Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.’ Mark 10:32-34

Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ And they remembered His words. Luke 24:3-8

As you follow the timeline of Mark chapters 8, 9, and 10, you see Him and the disciples traveling near Caesarea Philippi, then on through Galilee to a mountain where Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, then on to Capernaum. Jesus left Galilee with His disciples and traveled “to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan” (Mark 10:1). It was “on the road, going up to Jerusalem” where Jesus prophesied His death and resurrection for a third time to His disciples.

Jesus and the disciples went on to Jericho from there where He healed Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, from blindness. Jesus then traveled to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, and sent two of His disciples to a nearby village to get a colt to bring to Jesus. Jesus rode that colt into Jerusalem and entered into the temple. We know that as the day of His “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem as crowds of people shouted, “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:9-10) After looking around “at all things” (Mark 11:11), Jesus returned to Bethany with His disciples.

That was several days before Jesus was betrayed into the hands of men, rejected by the elders and chief priests, condemned to death, crucified, buried, and rose from the dead – just as He had told His disciples three times before it happened.

An Apologetic Perspective

From an apologetic perspective, Jesus foretelling His betrayal, arrest, rejection, suffering, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection three separate times to His disciples is powerful. Jesus was very specific about what would happen to Him in Jerusalem, weeks before they happened. Everything Jesus said would happen to Him happened. That’s a powerful apologetic for Christians. It’s one of the things that played an important role in my becoming a Christian.

As I said at the beginning of this article, Jesus was born to die. We find the first prophecy of His death in Genesis 3:15. We find prophecies concerning His death throughout the Old Testament. Some examples are:

  • Isaiah 53
  • Deuteronomy 21:23
  • Exodus 12 (The Passover Lamb)
  • Psalm 34:20
  • Psalm 22
  • Psalm 69:21
  • Psalm 16:10
  • Zechariah 12:10
  • Zechariah 13:7
  • Amos 8:9

The words Jesus spoke to His disciples should be an important part of our “faith defense” in the days, months, and years to come.

Next Time

Jesus had much to say to the disciples between the time He entered Jerusalem and His death on the Cross. We’ll look at those words as we continue our special series, And Jesus Said.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Faith & Self Defense © 2026