‘And they went out from there and passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed after three days he will rise again.” '
Jesus seems at last to have been successful in avoiding the crowds in Galilee. He took great precautions to ensure that He could teach His disciples undisturbed, probably by using lesser known routes. He knew it was very necessary. For He was aware that events were approaching which would throw them into total confusion and leave them feeling totally bereft. Thus He was laying the foundation so that when the time came, and they had passed through the tumult and tribulation, they would understand how it all fitted into the purposes of God. There are no grounds for suggesting that the secrecy was through fear of Herod.
“The Son of Man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed after three days he will rise again.” It is clear that He spent a good amount of time expanding on these words for He had many days in which to teach them. But these words sum up the essence of His message. Notice the tenses. What He described was already determined in the mind of God.
‘The Son of Man is delivered up into the hands of men.' The Son of Man, God's chosen One, is delivered up by God into men's hands. Who can grasp the enormity of it? He Who was truly Man as God had intended man to be, and Who had the mind of God and walked in full obedience to God, He Who was the purest, kindest, most compassionate being who ever lived, is to be ‘handed over' to the wild beasts (as in Daniel 7). What a paradox. He was shortly to come on the clouds of heaven into the presence of God, but first He must be humiliated and treated as evilly as a man can treat his fellow, and with total disdain. Man was to be allowed to have his day in which he could reveal how evil he had become. And there was no limit to the evils he would reveal. Some would not take a direct hand in it, but they would approve of what was done, or at least not protest against it. And let us make no mistake about it, had we been in their situation most of us would have been part of it. They are now about to be ‘partakers in the blood' of One Who is more than a Prophet (compare Matthew 23:30; Matthew 23:32) but it was very necessary if life was to be made available (John 6:53-58)
Let us note what Jesus said. He was not to be delivered into the hands of Satan but into the hands of men. Satan's evil influence would undoubtedly be behind it (John 13:2; John 13:27), and through what was done Satan was to be totally defeated (probably to his great surprise), but it was man who was to be the prime instigator.
‘Delivered up.' The verb is used of Judas' betrayal in Mark 3:19. Jesus would be handed over from one to another. Betrayed by Judas, handed over by the Sanhedrin, passed on to the mocking soldiers by Pilate, and by Herod Antipas, and finally handed over to Pilate to be sentenced to be crucified. They all had a hand in it. ‘Against your holy Servant Jesus, Whom You did anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together' (Acts 4:27). But finally it was God Who would deliver Him up. Without that no one could have done anything.
‘And they will kill him.' The method of His death was not yet known. This statement is a remarkable proof of the genuineness of the narrative, and the care taken to preserve the exact words of Jesus. Had it been known at the time that this was said that He would be crucified it would surely have been stated. It demonstrates that it was not an invention of a later day. What is equally remarkable is that neither Mark or Luke alter the wording, when they could have done so on translation grounds. (Matthew possibly succumbs to the temptation in Matthew 20:19, which he could in fact have justified as an interpretive translation from the Aramaic, but as by then Jesus was aware that He would be ‘delivered to the Gentiles' He would have good grounds for recognising that He would be crucified, and may well have said so). But the fact of it was certain. He was to die as was promised to the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53.
Jesus may well in fact originally have expected to be stoned for blasphemy. One or two attempts would certainly be made to do that (John 8:59; John 10:31). It would seem that He knew that He must die, but at this stage not how that death would take place. Later He would become aware of that as well (John 12:32-33).
‘And when he is killed after three days he will rise again.' Compare Mark 8:31. Disaster will be followed by triumph. Not for one moment are we to be allowed to think that God will be defeated. His death will be followed immediately by resurrection in the short but complete period determined by God. Death would be defeated and God would triumph (Isaiah 53:12). How clearly the disciples were given preparation for what was to be, and how totally unprepared they were, simply because they did not believe Him.