When We Don't Understand...

This morning I am reading from Luke 18:31-34 NIV:

[31] "Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. [32] He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; [33] they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

[34] The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about."

I am always amazed when I read the statement Luke makes in verse 34, how the disciples totally missed what Jesus was saying, and its meaning was hidden from them. Jesus really couldn't have been and clearer, yet they didn't understand. I was thinking about how this all was written several years after the actual occurrences, and they are thus based on the Apostles memories of the events.

What I find interesting is their recollection of their totally missing the meaning of Jesus' statement concerning His impending death. I think this is similar to our more modern thought, "if I knew then what I know now, I would have done in this or that completely differently". The point that Luke makes, and I am sure the Apostles had come to understand, was that the meaning was hidden from them by the Lord. He was meant to be abandoned, meant to suffer, meant to be rejected (Isaiah 53), and if they had really understood what He was saying they would have likely tried to dissuade Him or even gotten themselves hurt in those events.

The point is that some things are only meant to be understood in retrospect. It is only in looking back, only when we reflect that we understand some things, and that is the purpose of God. I know of people who beat themselves up over things they didn't see, things they didn't understand, things they missed when in retrospect it all appears so clear. Here the Apostles, through Luke are confessing the same thing, and they see that it couldn't have been any different. This was the will of the Lord, and in time they came to understand that. The Holy Spirit brought revelation and helped them to see what they had missed, helped them to connect the dots and understand the fullness of His prophetic revelation concerning Jesus as it is found in the Old Testament.

I have written previously about how some of their missing Jesus' meaning had to do with their wrong expectations, and this is clearly also one of the reasons they misunderstood what He was saying. Much of this came from the teaching they had heard concerning the Messiah, and for that they cannot bear responsibility. It was only afterwards that everything fell into place. In the same way, as we grow and mature in the Lord we learn things that correct earlier thoughts we had, earlier understanding s, and for this we need to give each other grace, and help.

Sometimes the Lord will bring us into things we don't understand, and we need to trust the He knows exactly what He is doing. The real task is having faith, trust and belief that God's plan is for our good. These events and situations are meant to grow us and mature us. It is similar to weight lifting, it takes a certain amount of stress and strain and work to grow in strength. So let us give ourselves and others grace as we grow and mature and gain understanding. Let us continue to pray for wisdom and revelation.