Gospel Reading: Lk 9:43b-45
While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
THE SON OF MAN IS TO BE HANDED OVER TO MEN
The disciples have much to learn from Jesus. In the midst of the crowd marveling, he reminds his followers that such admiration is short-lived. He then makes a second prediction of his coming passion, reiterating the coming betrayal of the Son of Man. Only Luke notes that the disciples do not understand Jesus’ meaning, because the meaning has been hidden from them.
Nor do they have the nerve to ask him about it. The fact that they fear asking shows that they do not understand his words. What they do not understand is how betrayal can happen to a figure whom they have just confessed as Messiah. How can such a popular person of God’s choice suffer? Can God’s work be rejected? Yet, as Jesus has just noted, the generation of humanity can be crooked and blind.
The text is also vague on who has “hidden” the truth from them (v 45). Is it God in the context of the divine plan of salvation? Or is Satan at work? In God’s sovereignty, whatever is needed for them to hurdle this lack of understanding is not yet in place, though by the end of the Gospel, the blinders will be removed. God certainly is most active as the Emmaus scene in 24:13-35 shows.
Our Savior Christ Jesus destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.
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SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
