Tornado Warning

## Foreign

David, the co-writer of these devotions (not the former king of Israel) and I had a very short conversation the other week about his truck. One day after he used his truck to help me move a couch, his truck seemingly died. He briefly told me what was going on with it, and I simply said, “Have you checked the oil? Or it could be the fuel pump.” This advice is coming from a guy who knows nothing about cars. And the only reason I gave him that information is the trouble I’ve had in the past, and my brother is a mechanic, I decided to try to talk “car” and give David some hope. Our conversation ended with each of us stating the fact that we are limited in our knowledge about troubleshooting car problems. It’s not just Greek to us, but it’s a foreign concept when it comes to the possibilities of what could be wrong. In the conversation between Jesus and the twelve, He may as well have been speaking car issues with David and myself. We hear what words you’re saying, but the understanding is missing. Jesus tells them it’s no secret what is going to happen to the Messiah. In fact, it’s written down by several prophets what they can expect. The problem is: who wants to see the Son of God who is coming to redeem man back to God be treated this way? No one who believes in God. And definitely not those who have given up everything to follow Him. One interesting point is found in verse 34, “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not

grasp what was said.” The Greek word for “grasp” here γινώσκω deals with knowing through experience or coming to an understanding of the object given. It wasn’t the words Jesus said they didn’t get, but the meaning of what was being said because it hadn’t happened yet.

## Alert

Imagine a tornado coming to your area, but you haven’t been trained on what to do. The only thing you know is a tornado can be dangerous with its powerful winds. You’ve never been through one and it isn’t very common in your area, so you don’t have a need to prepare yourself for such an event. You know the word tornado and what it does, but that’s where your knowledge ends. The disciples heard what Jesus said. They knew about death, beatings, mocking, and people being handed over to Roman officials if they were guilty of a crime. The words Jesus said made sense until He put Himself in the context, which made the disciple's lives become affected by the event. They had never gone through anything like that, nor could they understand why Jesus would be handed over, mocked, and beaten. When the Bible tells us to prepare to be treated like Jesus, it’s easy for us not to really take hold or understand what is meant. We see others go through such events or read the stories, but then we think “that’ll never happen like that, not in America.” Jesus warns us to be ready so that we won’t run away. The twelve ran off because they didn’t think it would happen – especially not to the Christ. Jesus warned them it was written. We see things that are to come that is written in scripture, but are we ready? Are you prepared, or are you ignoring it?

## Self-Check

Just because a tornado isn’t likely in the area doesn’t mean we won’t experience one, so we must be ready. Hold firm to the faith because after it’s all said and done, we now can know that death has no power over our Risen Savior.

## Age Old Answers