Let these words sink in

Luke 9:43b-45

While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.” 45 But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

The tension continues to rise. Jesus needs the disciples to understand what is going to happen. The cross is inevitable, and they need to get serious about this following thing because he won’t be around much longer. But his words seem completely foreign to them; yes, they know what he said, but they have no understanding of what it meant. And full of fear they don’t ask him to explain.

Often our lives feel like that. Often in the last two years have felt like that. People say things with great urgency, we recognize that what they are saying is very important, but we don’t understand what it is we are to do with what we have been told. Even in our following of Jesus we experience this. We hear Jesus’ words, we know the stories about Jesus, but what are we to do with this knowledge, how should it impact our lives?

We are invited to do what the disciples were afraid to do: to admit we don’t understand and ask. To have the humble courage to say, “Lord, help me understand what it is you want me to do.” To be humble enough to state that we don’t know the way ahead, recognizing we are not in charge and that we need the leading of one greater than ourselves who knows the end from the beginning and who holds all things in the palm of his hands. There is no shame in not knowing, no human being knows everything, no human being knows the future. We are invited to trust God, saying to him, “You know all things, show me what I need to know and that is enough.”    

PRAYER:

Lord God, we are limited human beings, we do not know all things. Give us the courage to ask you when we do not understand and give us the patience to live with the fact that we will not always know. Grow our faith in you so that we can follow even when we do not know. In Jesus’ name. Amen.