10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising
from the dead” meant. (9:10)
32 But they
did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. (9:32)
These were amazing times but also trying
times for the disciples. In the
beginning of chapter 9 you have the transfiguration of Jesus, where Peter,
James, and John got to see Jesus in His glorified form chatting it up with Moses
and Elijah. They where amazed, as you
can imagine, by this, but as they where leaving Jesus told them not to discuss
it until He rose from the dead. That is
where chapter 9 verse 10 falls in. They
absolutely kept it to themselves, but they also had no idea as to what Jesus
was referring to. Fast forward a little
bit in chapter 9, Jesus heals a possessed boy that the other disciples could
not, they then pass through Galilee as quietly as possible because He wanted
some time to teach His disciples. Then
comes this part of the narrative:
31 because he
was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be
betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he
will rise.” 32 But they
did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. (9:31-32)
He flat out tells them what is going
to happen, and they fail the test. So
you ask “what was the test”…… the test was would they ask Him about what they
did not understand. They failed, because
they where “afraid”. Afraid? Yes, afraid.
We think: how in the world could they be afraid.
We are always afraid to ask
questions. We won’t raise our hands in
class to ask questions because we are afraid.
We won’t ask our parents questions because we are afraid. We won’t ask our friends questions because we
are afraid. Why are we so afraid. We are afraid because we don’t know all the
answers and we are too prideful to admit it.
We are afraid because we don’t want to ask and look like an idiot. We are afraid because of appearance,
ignorance, and shyness. And we certainly
can’t let Jesus know that we don’t know everything, we should never question
Him about anything… oh the horror if we did…. Somewhere along the line of
Christianity we bought into the lie that we shouldn’t question any
questions. Just sit there, smile, and
act like everything is ok and you understand everything.
Here is the thing. Jesus knows already that you don’t know, so
just admit to Him you don’t and allow Him to teach you. That is what He wanted the disciples to do,
and that is what He is wanting you and I to do today. If you don’t understand it…. Ask. Ask Him, ask a mentor, ask your pastor, ask
your teacher, ask a trusted friend, just please ask someone.
Don’t be afraid….. ask.
