It is clear that the disciples
did not understand what was going to happen to Jesus, let alone why, and Mark
frequently reminds his readers of that fact as he retells the story of Jesus’
life and ministry. It might seem reasonable to assume that proximity to Jesus
would produce some understanding of the purpose of his ministry. Perhaps it
does, but that understanding is significantly limited. I wonder what are the
things that we just do not see.
The twelve disciples within
the core group will have an important and developing role and Jesus puts effort
into preparing them for that. This is one of those places where it would appear
that he is providing this group with a teaching session while they are away
from the crowds. He wants them to understand. Indeed, it would seem that they
recognise that Jesus is trying to communicate something important here. Maybe
it is just that the concepts were all a bit too much. They did not understand,
but were afraid to ask him for further explanation. I wonder if they were
worried that further conversation might take them into territory that they
would prefer to ignore, at least for the moment. I wonder if there are things that
we avoid because we would rather not address them.
The avoidance of the
subject at that point did not mean that the betrayal and killing would go away.
I wonder if we might have seen things in the same way, had we been there. As
William Barclay (Daily Study
Bible – The Gospel of Mark) comments – “Sometimes we are amazed that the disciples did not grasp
that which was so plainly spoken. The human mind has an amazing faculty for
rejecting that which it does not wish to see. Are we so very different?”
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