Luke 9:22, commentary and pictures

He must suffer many things with anguish and insult, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes instead of receiving worldly honor, be slain upon the cross as a malefactor bearing the sins of the world, and be raised the third day. He knew beforehand the path to Calvary and willingly accepted its shame and death to save the lost, and the joy of the good His sacrifice would accomplish enabled Him to endure it. His disciples clung to hope of deliverance from Roman rule and earthly status, so their understanding was dull and they could not accept that He would suffer and die. They failed to retain and believe His plain warning, so His death surprised them and left them unprepared, hopeless and sorrowful, and even when the women brought news from the tomb their faith was too weak to believe and they dismissed it as illusion. His suffering shows that following Him requires bearing the cross for His sake, giving up worldly hopes and accepting reproach and shame, losing the life to the gospel in order to save it.

Foretold Suffering and Resurrection

The saying was given in seclusion while praying alone with the disciples when the time was nearly come for Him to be taken from them, to tell them beforehand of coming suffering, rejection, death and resurrection so they would remember His words as ever-increasing light, and to teach the nature of His kingdom more definitely in reproof of human weakness and earthly ambition for a temporal reign. It belongs to the foreshadowing of the cross, predicting suffering and death in connection with the cross. He must suffer many things with anguish, insults and privations, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and religious leaders, meaning shame instead of worldly honor and the pitiless cross instead of a throne.

He would be slain, handed over to His enemies and hung on the cross, crucified as a malefactor though innocent and bearing the world's sins. He knowingly went to Jerusalem to face this humiliation and death while hostile plans were being laid to stir His own nation to demand His blood with cruelty and scorn, yet He continued His work knowing betrayal and death were approaching and His life would be taken away. After being killed He would be raised the third day, speaking of the resurrection beforehand before it happened. He knew beforehand the suffering and death awaiting Him on the path to Calvary and willingly accepted it to save the lost and give His life for the world, delighting to do God's will, and the prospect of the good His sacrifice would accomplish gave Him joy that enabled Him to endure the cross and its shame.

Misunderstanding and Discipleship Call

The disciples clung to the hope of deliverance from Roman rule and to worldly ambitions for status and pleasure, so their understanding was dull and they could not accept or comprehend the plain announcement that He must suffer and die. He had carefully and openly told them beforehand of the sufferings He must pass through, even while hostile plans were being laid to stir His own nation to demand His blood with cruelty and scorn, yet what He said did not penetrate minds fixed on a temporal reign.

They forgot His warning and failed to retain and believe it, so His death came upon them as a surprise that collapsed their hopes and left them unprepared, hopeless, and sorrowful. Believing what He had said would have spared them much sorrow, for He spoke in advance to prepare them for their trials after He should be taken from them. His words were meant to be remembered as light shining with continual increase like the morning.

When the women brought news from the tomb on the first day of the week, the disciples began to recall His foretold resurrection, but after the disappointment of His death their faith was too weak to accept the fact. The event that should have filled their hearts with joy left them astonished, perplexed, terribly depressed, and yearning for their Master who always explained perplexing mysteries and smoothed difficulties. They dismissed the women's statement as an illusion and refused to believe even Mary Magdalene's testimony that she had seen and spoken with the risen Lord. They grieved over the missing body with fear of the stigma of having stolen it to deceive the people and with despair of correcting the false impression.

His suffering teaches that following Him requires bearing the cross for His sake to win salvation, accepting reproach, contumely, and shame, and giving up worldly hopes. Instead of worldly honor shame awaited Him, and instead of a throne the pitiless cross, and their suffering follows His. Each individual is called to take up his cross and follow Christ with a heart in full harmony with Him and intelligent understanding of His work, losing his life to the gospel in order to save it.

The verse stands where healing and preaching are not separated but connected as the work given to God's people, calling each one to this cross-bearing discipleship in preparation for trials and persecutions everywhere. It illustrates that revealed truth must be remembered and understood in advance of trial, or people will meet it unready. In the same way, prophecies plainly reveal the events near the close of probation and the preparation needed for the time of trouble, yet many fail to understand because adverse influence removes the impressions that could make them wise to salvation.