The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men.” But the disciples didn’t understand this
saying; something prevented them from grasping what he meant, and they were afraid to ask
him about it.
Reflect
“The suffering Messiah.” Today’s Gospel narrates Jesus foretelling of his passion. This is
the second foretelling of Jesus’ passion in the Gospel of Luke. The passage follows the Lucan
account of the Transfiguration and the succeeding healing of a boy possessed by a demon.
The people were amazed at God’s wonderful work, Jesus predicted again his passion.
Jesus reminded his disciples that the Son of Man would be handed over to the hands
of men. The disciples did not understand the words of Jesus. Moreover, they were afraid to
ask him about what he told them. We may wonder why his disciples were afraid of asking
him so that he may explain it to them and so that they would eventually grasp what Jesus
was trying to tell them. Were they merely afraid to ask Jesus because Jesus might rebuke
them? Or were they afraid to ask Jesus because they fear to hear from Jesus the things they
would not want to hear like the reality of sufferings and death? Their understanding of
messiahship and Jesus’ message about the offering of his life appeared to be irreconcilable
at that time in the minds of his disciples. Can we really accept a suffering Messiah?
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