Afraid To Ask - Mark 9:30-32 Series

Mark 9:30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

Jesus Thrown to the Humans

We left off last time with Jesus driving a demon out of the boy after the disciples had failed. They are way up north of Israel, the farthest Jesus ever went from Jerusalem, and now it’s time to begin his journey down to Jerusalem for his appointment with the cross. And so in today’s passage we find him sneaking around in Galilee.

Background

30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples.

So he’s sneaking through there, trying to go unnoticed. This is the last mention of Galilee until after the resurrection. Jesus is done with Galilee. They had their chance and blew it. From now until he gets to Jerusalem will be a traveling classroom where the disciples get their final semester of training. And you’ll never guess what the topic is.

Delivered into the Hands of Men

31 … He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."

Here we go with that again. Jesus keeps bringing that up, and each time he adds something new. What’s new here is the part about being delivered into the hands of men (v.31).

The Worst Punishment

Of all the possible punishments God gives, being delivered over to the hands of men is the worst. When God lets human beings mete out your punishment— Remember when David displeased God with the census and God told him, “Pick your punishment, David. Three years of famine, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of plague—your choice. David’s answer is, “Anything but #2.”

2 Samuel 24:14 David said … “Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."

Being turned over to the mercy of human beings is a horrible fate because human beings, once they feel justified in hurting you, there are no restraints. It turns into a mob mentality, conscience disappears, and it’s a feeding frenzy—no mercy.

And it’s more painful than other suffering because of the hatred behind it—people hurting you on purpose because they hate you. You’ll notice when you read the biblical accounts of the crucifixion, they talk just as much about the spitting and the mocking as they do about the physical torture. That hatred makes the suffering so much worse. Of all the hardships I’ve faced in life, I can tell you nothing has been as painful as when God has given me over to the hands of my enemies. There are layers of anguish that come from that that are hard to even put into words. And, of course, in Jesus’ case the anguish was infinitely worse because of how much Jesus loved those people who were mocking him.

And Jesus wants his disciples to know that’s what’s coming. Jesus won’t get the three options David got. He just gives him the one that David said, “Definitely not that one.” Jesus will be thrown to a pack of vicious, hateful men insane with jealousy. And there will be no restraints. The twelve legions of angels protecting Jesus will be told to stand down. When Jesus cries out to the Father to let the cup pass from him the answer will be no. Everyone will forsake him and God will allow Jesus’ enemies to do their worst. A terrifying prophecy.

Implies Our Suffering

And if you think back to the first time Jesus spoke of his upcoming suffering, you’ll remember that if Christ must suffer, so must those who follow him.

So whenever Jesus speaks of his rejection and suffering and death, included in that is our suffering and rejection and death.

So Jesus explains all that, and what’s their response?

Disciples Don’t Understand

32 But they did not understand what he meant

The disciples are now 0 for 3 in their ability to get this. The more clearly Jesus says it, the more confused they get. I am red/green colorblind. That means I can see most colors, but have trouble making out those two shades. The disciples were suffering-blind. Everything else Jesus said they could see just fine, but they went blind and deaf whenever Jesus talked about suffering.