Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?”
- KJV Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
- NKJV Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”
- NASB Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to come into His glory?”
- NLT Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus declares that the Christ had to suffer before entering his glory. Suffering was not the failure of the Messiah's mission but the divinely appointed path to it.
Overview
Jesus poses a question that reframes the cross: the Messiah's suffering was a necessity foretold in Scripture, not a tragic accident. Glory followed suffering by God's design, fulfilling passages such as Isaiah 53. This pattern, suffering then glory, anchors the gospel and reshapes how the disciples must understand both Jesus and discipleship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Pet 1:11trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
- Zech 13:7Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- Isa 53:1–12Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
- Acts 17:3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.
- Heb 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Heb 2:8–10and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
- 1 Cor 15:3–4For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
- Heb 9:22–23According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
- Luke 24:46And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
- Ps 69:1–36For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
- 1 Pet 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- Luke 24:44Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”
- Luke 24:7‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”
- Ps 22:1–31For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 24:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.