22 “As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.” (Matthew 17:22–23 (ESV)
Jesus and the disciples gathered in Galilee. As they were, Jesus took the opportunity to tell His disciples of His purpose. “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
Today’s text is the second time Matthew recorded Jesus informing His disciples about His impending death and resurrection (Matt. 16:21-23). Why was it necessary for Jesus to continually remind His followers of His destiny?
The answer is simple. Jesus needed to remind His disciples because they needed reminding. They chose to forget, or reject, the uncomfortable truth of Jesus’ imminent crucifixion. See Mark 9:30-32; Luke 9:43-45.
Jesus’ death on the cross did not fit the disciples’ first century paradigm of who the Messiah would be and what He would do. They believed Messiah would conquer Rome. They presumed Him to be a political deliverer. Instead, Jesus came to conquer sin, death, hell and Satan. He came to bring an eternal deliverance.
While it is truth Jesus spoke of His death, He also spoke of His resurrection. The disciples’ reaction was one of great distress. They focused on what they understood; death. They did not focus upon what they did not fully understand; a bodily resurrection from the dead. It was beyond their comprehension.
“Again the Lord reminded the disciples that He was to be betrayed and wicked men would kill Him. One could never say that death took Jesus by surprise. He was in control of His life and no one took it from Him (John 10:11, 15, 17–18). He also told the disciples that death would not be the end for Him. Again He said He would rise on the third day. Unlike before (Matt. 16:21–23) this announcement of His death was not met by any recorded opposition from the disciples. But they were filled with grief over the Lord’s words. One wonders if they heard the complete message or simply the part about His death,” explains commentator Louis Barbieri.
“Even with a second mention of his resurrection, the disciples were still grieved. Their grief masked their inability to accept and understand Jesus’ mission as a suffering Savior and their own mission to follow in his footsteps. Peter could not accept Jesus’ death in Matthew 16:21–23. In Matthew 20:17–19, the only recorded response to Jesus’ third passion prediction was the disciples’ quarrel about who would be the greatest in the kingdom (Matt. 20:20–27). They had replaced acceptance of Jesus’ death with a self-centered striving for status,” states the Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary.
We must strive to understand all that God reveals to us in His Word.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 