A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on July 6, 2025.
But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying (Luke 9:43b–45).[1]
Following his transfiguration upon the mountain, Jesus along with Peter, James, and John descended into a chaotic scene of seeming ineptitude. His disciples, who had recently returned from a fruitful mission trip of proclamation and miracles, now seemed fruitless and powerless in the presence of a demon-possessed boy bent on self-destruction. But as a sure testimony to a “faithless and twisted generation,” Jesus healed the boy, encouraged the boy’s father, and astonished the crowd, who rightly interpreted the miracle as a revelation of the “majesty of God” (Luke 9:41-43).
And it is here that we might expect Jesus, as the Son of God incarnate, to ride the wave of his popularity. He who came to seek and to save the lost[2] was being followed by an ever-increasing crowd. We might think this was what he wanted. From the perspective of his disciples, surely they thought that such fanfare was as it should be, that the fame of his name would lead to the prophesied assent to David’s throne, onward and upward until, as Daniel prophesied, the world would witness his “everlasting kingdom, and all dominions [would] serve and obey him” (Dan. 7:27). It would seem that this was the commencement of his earthly kingdom reign. Instead, Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men” (Luke 9:44). Surely, this was a deceleration to the exhilaration of the moment. So, why did Jesus say it, and what did he mean by it, and why does it matter?
What He Said
I love the imagery of the figurative expression, “Let these words sink into to your ears.” I need and you need the Word of Christ to sink into our ears, but in this moment, Jesus’ disciples needed it all the more. Why? Because what they perceived to be Jesus’ mission did not include the cross. Because what they anticipated was the restoration of the kingdom not the crucifixion of its king. So, while Jesus revealed various aspects of his passion and death throughout the Gospels, here he narrows his revelation into a succinct, sober statement: “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”
Soon one of the hand-picked twelve would betray him for thirty silver dollars.[3] Soon he would be greeted nobly as a rabbi, kissed as a brother, and arrested as a criminal.[4] Soon the religious and political leaders of his people would falsely accuse him, illegally try him, and condemn him to death.[5] Soon the Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate, would capitulate under pressure and pronounce his unjust judgment: death by crucifixion.[6] Soon Jesus would cry out, “It is finished,” and bow his head and give up his spirit (John 19:30). None of this would sink into their ears (and hearts and minds) until later.
But there is more here than simply the disciples’ ignorance. Note that Jesus said that he would be “delivered into the hands of men,” which should lead us to wonder, delivered by whom? Would it be Judas, in his greed for money? Would it be Annas, in his lust for power? Would it be Caiaphas, in his zealous nationalism? Would it be Pilate, in his cowardly capitulation?
After Jesus’ resurrection Peter would testify publicly that Jesus was “crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23). But the question is: Who delivered him into their hands? Who would deliver the most innocent man to ever live into the hands of lawless men? On the day of Pentecost, Peter answered this question, explaining that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). Jesus was delivered by the only one who could, with definitive purpose and complete knowledge.
It was no accident but according to God’s sovereign ordination. As Isaiah prophesied 700 years before Christ,
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
. . . it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief. (Isa. 53:4-6, 10a, emphasis added).
God ordained and orchestrated the deliverance of his only Son into the hands of lawless men, allowing them to do precisely what they wanted, that God’s sovereign plan of redemption might be accomplished. But in the moment, Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand.
They Didn’t Understand
What sounds straight forward to us, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men,” Luke tells us that Jesus’ disciples “did not understand” (9:45a). Why? Were they not smart enough, not perceptive enough? Or had they been carried away by all the excitement of the moment? None of the above. Rather, Luke reveals that it “was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it” (Luke 9:45b). Jesus’ disciples, including his handpicked apostles, could not understand what Jesus meant, because God concealed it from them.
How are we to understand this? Why was it necessary? And what does this teach us? First, while this is certainly mysterious, theologically we may understand this within the realm of God’s providence, which the Westminster Confession helpfully defines this way:
God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.[7]
What God does sovereignly is according to his wisdom and holiness. What God does sovereignly is to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, to the praise of his power, to the praise of his justice, to the praise of his goodness, to the praise of his mercy. What God does sovereignly is then ultimately for his glory but also, according to Romans 8:28, for our good.
Second, it was necessary then for the meaning of Jesus’ prophecy to be concealed from the disciples for their good, to keep them from themselves, as it were, and for our good too. According to God’s sovereign plan of redemption, it was necessary for everything to unfold as it did, not according to human perception but God’s providence. On the night of Christ’s betrayal, surely his followers feared the worst. When he was falsely tried before the Sanhedrin, surely his disciples were despondent. When Pilate pronounced judgment upon guiltless Jesus, surely those who had left all for him felt hopeless. And when Jesus died, the circumstances were so seemingly tragic, his followers were few, standing at the foot of the cross. As perceived in the moment, that was a bad day, and yet today we refer to it as Good Friday.
Third, the mystery of what was concealed from the disciples teaches us both humility and confidence. In a letter of response to his brother-in-law, who was ensnared in controversy, French philosopher Blaise Pascal made this biblically-informed observation: “The same Providence that has inspired some with light, has refused it to others.”[8] In other words, the outcome of all things, including controversies, is in God’s hand, who reveals or conceals according to his sovereign purpose. Jeffrey Bilbro says, “God often accomplishes his providential purposes in ways that we do not expect, so we should not be too quick to rejoice over what seems like a positive development or to despair over what seems like bad news.”[9] The providence of God teaches us to exercise humility when attempting to discern our circumstances or the events of any given day. We may assume we have clarity in a matter only latter to realize we lacked understanding.
Such humility grows out of a rooted confidence in God, informed by his Word. It is easy to consider the political chaos of our day, for example, and forget that Daniel and his brethren served as captives in another country, serving under a self-obsessed ruler, who demanded not only allegiance but worship. And yet, that same pagan ruler is referred to in Jeremiah as the “servant” of the Lord (Jer. 43:10), which seems to confound sound reason until we remember that the sage says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Prov. 21:1). In this sense, the king was the servant of the Lord, because God does “uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence. . . to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy. What the disciples would have perceived in the moment as bad news became good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why It Matters
Why then should we listen today to what was momentarily concealed from Jesus’ disciples?For one thing, it reveals God’s love for us. The apostle John explains it this way: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). Let this sink into your ears: God delivered up his only son “because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, [and] made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5). And, “God shows his love for us,” not in response to our obedience or love, but “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). It was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). So, what was momentarily concealed from Jesus’ disciples’ understanding has been revealed to us that we may know the love of God in Christ Jesus.
But also, in delivering up his only Son, in his love for us God made us his sons and daughters. John says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1). In Christ, you are not a child of the devil, nor a highly-evolved species, nor a mistake, nor a victim, but a child of the Maker of heaven and earth, whom by grace through faith you call Father. You were redeemed by the most precious gift ever given, and given an eternal inheritance, as if you had always been his child. When you are tempted to doubt God’s love, when you feel as if all hope is lost, let this sink in: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Rom. 8:31-32). So certain is this truth, Paul confessed, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39). Though Jesus’ disciples did not understand in the moment, they would, and through their testimony we do too. Indeed, the Son of Man was delivered into the hands of lawless men, that he who kept the law might make us the righteousness of God.[10] May this truth sink into our ears forever!
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] Luke 19:10
[3] Matt. 26:15
[4] Matt. 26:47-49
[5] Matt. 26:57-66
[6] Luke 23:24
[7] “The Confession of Faith” 5.1, The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (Lawrenceville: PCA Christian Education and Publications, 2007), 19-20.
[8] Blaise Pascal, Blaise Pascal: Thoughts, Letters, Minor Works quoted in Jeffrey Bilbro, Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2021), 36.
[9] Ibid., 37-38.
[10] 2 Cor. 5:21
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