³¹ Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true. ³² He will be handed over to the Romans, and he will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. ³³ They will flog him with a whip and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.”

³⁴ But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.

Dear God, the line I developed back during the unemployment was, “God keeps me on a need-to-know basis, and I very rarely need to know.” It’s really true.

I don’t know where he got it, but my dad told me something 30 years ago that I always go back to. He said, “God doesn’t use prophecy so that we will know what is going to happen in the future. He usually uses it so that we can look back and know that He was in control and knew what was going to happen the whole time.” I think that holds true for this passage from Luke. Jesus told them, but they still couldn’t get their mind around it. They didn’t have the context we have now. But, at some point, they were able to look back and say, “Oh, remember when Jesus told us about this? He knew all along!”

Father, there’s a Newsboys song called “Lord (I Don’t Know).” I think I’ll close this prayer to you with their words:

“Lord, I don’t know where all this is going/Or how it all works out/Lead me to peace that passes understanding/A peace beyond all doubt”

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen