And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee.
Christ teaching His disciples
I. He explained to them His present state. He was about to be delivered by a traitorous disciple, etc.
II. He told them the parties into whose power He had been given.
1. To be delivered into the hands of men, is to be put into their power-to do to Him, and with Him, as they chose.
2. They could have this power only by special permission-from the Father, and Himself.
3. It is marvellous that He should have been so delivered. God in humanity! It brought out their desperate wickedness, proved the voluntariness of His obedience, showed how blind sin is in its supposed triumphs, etc.
III. He told them what must befall Him at the hands of men.
1. That Christ was to die, was not now foretold for the first time, predicted, etc.
2. This death of Christ was necessary, etc.
IV. He further revealed to them the future, by telling them of His resurrection. The result of an agency, neither human nor satanic, but Divine; prophecy, etc., called for it. Conclusion:
1. Christ had His sufferings ever in view (Luke 12:50; John 12:27).
2. In His sufferings and resurrection He saw His people.
3. He unveiled the future to His disciples. They were contending for honour-on the brink of sufferings-understood not the warning of Christ (Expository Discourses.)
The complete truth
About this announcement there are two things remarkable-Christ’s care in preparing His disciples for the cross, and the confidence with which Christ affirms His own resurrection. To have spoken of the betrayal alone, would have been to have put before His disciples a fragmentary truth; over the darkness of death Christ sheds the light of resurrection. The revelation of Christ’s purposes can occasion grief only when it is incompletely apprehended; sorrow attaches to some of the intermediate points, but never to the issue; “the Lamb slain” is a part of the process; the Lamb slain, but seated in the midst of the throne, is the sublime consummation. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The utility of truth not understood
It is not to no purpose, to speak things that are not immediately understood. Seed, though it lies in the ground awhile unseen, is not lost or thrown away, but will bring forth fruit. If you confine your teacher, you hinder your learning; if you limit his discourses to your present apprehensions, how shall he raise your understandings? If he accommodate all things to your present weakness, you will never be the wiser, than you are now; you will be always in swaddling clothes. (Dr. Whichcote.)
Understood not
When I was a little girl I had a sovereign given to me. If it had been a shilling I might have put it in my own little purse, and spent it at once; but, being a sovereign, my dear father took care of it for me, and I expect I forgot all about it. But one day when I was quite grown up, he called me into his study and gave me the sovereign, reminding me how it had been given me when I was about as high as the back of a chair. And I was very glad to have it then, for I understood how much it was worth and knew very well what to do with it. Now, when you come to some saying of the Lord Jesus that you do not understand or see how to make any use of yourself, do not think it of no consequence whether you read it or not. When you are older you will find that it is just like my sovereign, coming back to you when you want it and are able to make use of it. (Frances Ridley Havergal.)