Coming Off a Spiritual Mountain: Luke 9:43b-45

During one of the emotional high points the disciples had with Jesus, He pulls them aside to tell them a very sobering message. Oftentimes, the events of the short passage predicting His upcoming crucifixion are disconnected from the larger event that has just taken place.

To set the stage for what Jesus shares in this passage, Jesus, Peter, James, and John had just come down from the mountain where they had seen the event known as the transfiguration, a point in Jesus’ ministry where these disciples were able to experience a brief glimpse of Jesus’ glory. While this was happening on the mountain, the remaining disciples were unsuccessfully trying to cast a demon out of a boy.

Luke tells us that the following day, when Jesus came down from the mountain, He meets the disciples and the father of this boy and successfully casts out the demon. It is at this moment where Luke tells us: “But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ‘Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.’” (v. 43b-44)

The gospels of Matthew and Mark have Jesus conclude this sentence by saying: “and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” (Mark 9:31; Matthew 17:23)

This is powerful when we think about it. At this point in Jesus’ ministry, the thought of Jesus being killed was the last possible thing on their minds. To these disciples, especially Peter, James, and John who saw Jesus glorified less than 24 hours earlier, they may have perceived Jesus to be invincible. Regardless of the predicted resurrection that is also included in this statement, Jesus’ words seem to fall on deaf ears.

Luke tells us that the disciples were afraid to ask and that the meaning of Jesus’ words was hidden from them. It is possible that God hid the meaning of Jesus’ words from the disciples. Also, it is possible that the fear of asking stopped the disciples from learning the truth about Jesus’ message here. However, I wonder if the emotional high that is shared at the beginning of this passage is a clue about what blinded the disciples to the meaning of Jesus’ words.

Luke tells us that the events leading up to Jesus’ message prompted everyone present to marvel at what Jesus was doing. This was a high moment for Jesus and the disciples, and part of me wonders if Jesus reserved this direct message for this emotional high point to help ground the disciples onto the reality of the true mission of the Messiah.

If this is the case, we can learn a powerful truth from this short passage: During our emotional highs, it may be more difficult for God to share His message and His truth into our lives. While there is nothing evil about emotional and spiritual high points, we must not focus our lives towards always seeking after these types of events, because God may have something to teach us that can only be learned while we are facing the challenges of life.