In verses 31-34 Jesus foretells His crucifixion for the third time. He told them that He would be spit upon, flogged, killed, and then would rise on the third day. But verse 34 says “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.“ We are not told why these things were “hidden” from them, but it becomes clear in reading the gospels that their present knowledge of what was to happen to Jesus was not desired.

The Blind Beggar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Perhaps one reason was that it could present another complication that Jesus would have to deal with unnecessarily. Some of his disciples might make plans to intercede, as Peter did at the time of His arrest (John 18:10). What was important was that they would remember these things after they received the Holy Spirit following Jesus’ ascension to heaven after His resurrection.

The blind beggar whose sight Jesus restored in verses 35-43 got the attention of Jesus and all who were with Him. When he heard the crowd passing by, he asked what it meant, and was told that it was Jesus of Nazareth. Having heard of Him already, he showed that he believed what he had heard about Jesus being the Messiah when he cried out to Him as the “Son of David.” Jesus, asking what the man wanted Him to do for him, restored his sight upon request, saying that his faith had made him whole.

Besides being another miracle for the scripture, this passage serves to tell us that the news of who Jesus really was had gone beyond the speculation about being reincarnated from some other prophet. Many now knew that He was the Messiah, and many more had heard without yet believing. Jesus’ predictions of His death were of an event that would now come soon.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Luke here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 1 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.