And so, obviously God had hidden that truth from them so that they could not understand it. When we read the account, we are almost incredulous as to how the apostles could not understand what to us, was the plain speech that the Lord was using. But in order for us to have some insight into how their understanding was blinded, we need to understand what the apostles had been taught all their lives. Most Jews that have been taught the Torah (the Old Testament) have only been taught about the Messiah coming to set up His reign physically on the earth, and to bring peace to the earth. As believers, we know that that event, refers to the second coming of Christ, but most Jews are not taught about the Messiah coming twice. And so, very few of them are taught about a suffering Messiah that had to come to the earth to die for their sins. Even today, the Jews still believe and look for a Messiah coming to set up His reign physically on the earth and to bring peace to the earth, which is one of the main reasons why they cannot believe in Jesus as their Messiah, because Jesus never did what they have been taught the Messiah would do. And so, the twelve apostles were no different to most Jews, for even though God had revealed to them that Jesus was their Messiah (Matthew 16:17), He had not yet revealed to them the suffering aspect of Jesus ministry, and so as they went to Jerusalem, they fully expected Jesus to set up His reign physically on the earth and to bring peace to the earth (Luke 19:11). In other words, because they believed the lie, they could not understand and believe the truth that Jesus was trying to tell them. That is why the disciples were absolutely devastated and confused when Jesus died, because they realised that they had believed a lie (Luke 24:17-21).
Michael E.B. Maher
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