Matthew 17:22-23
As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.
“If at first you don’t succeed….” Or so goes the old aphorism of encouragement. Perhaps that’s the strategy Jesus is adopting here. He had earlier not only told but also showed his disciples that he must die and Peter rebuked him. So now, some time later and back on their home turf in Galilee, he tries again, tell them plainly, even tersely, what his fate will be. And it goes little better. They are, as Matthew describes, greatly distressed.
I can understand that. It’s like someone telling you they have stage-four cancer and will soon die. Except perhaps worse, as it is a violent death Jesus predicts. This kind of news is hard to believe, elicits reactions of protest and denial, and at the very least takes time to sink in. Perhaps the denial is stronger, the protest more vigorous, the amount of time to move to acceptance greater because of their profound hopes in him. They had hoped and expected, after all, that he would free them from their Roman oppressors and restore the fortunes of Israel.
So, yes, their distress is understandable. But notice that Jesus doesn’t only tell them he will be killed, but also that he will be raised to new life. I wonder if resurrection was so beyond their experience they just couldn’t fathom it. Or I wonder if their distress was so great they couldn’t even hear what he was saying. Either way, those last few words of Jesus’ prediction seem to have little affect on the disciples. They do not hear it as good news and cannot imagine God forging a way forward that is beyond that they had imagined or expected.
I wonder how often I do that. How often, that is, do I get so distressed when plans I’ve made or expectations I’ve held aren’t realized that I cannot see the possibilities God is creating all around me. It’s as if my disappointments serve ultimately to blur my vision so that I can’t even see where God is still at work. This isn’t to say that disappointed hopes or real setbacks aren’t just plain difficult. But it is to say that we worship a God of hope, life, and resurrection, and at times we can get so pulled into those things that are disappointing us that we miss signs and promises of resurrection.
Thankfully, God raises Jesus to life even if the disciples didn’t expect it. And thankfully, God keeps working for the good in our lives – and, indeed, caring for the whole world – even if we don’t expect it either.
Prayer: Dear God, open our eyes and hearts to the signs of your activity in our lives that we might live in hope. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thank you.
How is the resurrection that Jesus is trying to get across to his disciples in this passage different from from the biblical story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead? Didn’t the disciples witness this? If so why do so many commentators say that the disciples had no experience with what Jesus was trying to tell them? Why would they find it so implausible for the resurrection to be a possibility?
Thank you Jesus