Jesus has just been crucified. The Messiah is dead. The words on a plaque above His head said, “I Am The King of the Jews.” What a mockery! This King is dead. He can’t save anyone. He certainly can’t free the Israelites from the Romans. How those words must have stung the eyes of all who called themselves “followers”.
And where are His disciples? It seems that they are moping and grieving, believing that Jesus is dead, and they would never see Him again.
Now, here’s what has always baffled me. Jesus told them over and over that He was both going to die AND rise again the third day. Look at the Scriptures –
Mark 8:31 “And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
Mark 9:31 “For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.”
Mark 10:32-34 “And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: (34) And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
In the end of the Passion Week, here’s how I imagine that the events should have gone down.
Thursday – Jesus is crucified. (see yesterday’s devotional and the third footnote)
Friday at sundown – the Sabbath begins. We will practice our normal Sabbath routine because this is the last Sabbath we will ever need to recognize.
Saturday at sundown – we’re packing supper, snacks, popping a bag of popcorn, and taking our lawn chairs to the tomb! We weren’t told when on the third day Jesus would arise, so we are going to have plenty of snacks to munch while we wait. We won’t sleep. We will just watch for the most exciting thing that could ever happen to happen!
Sunday – Resurrection Day!!!! We get to watch as the angels descend, the Romans guards pass out in fear, the stone in front of the tomb is rolled back, and we get to see that the tomb is EMPTY! All of us gathered KNEW this was going to happen and we are there to cheer and celebrate as Jesus arises from the grave.
This is not what happened.
Instead, the disciples were in a state of unbelief. How is that possible after all they’d been taught? Bible commentator William MacDonald shares some insight. “It seems hard for us to understand why they were so dull in this matter, but the reason is probably this: Their minds were so filled with thoughts of a temporal deliverer who would rescue them from the yoke of Rome, and set up the kingdom immediately, that they refused to entertain any other program. We often believe what we want to believe, and resist the truth if it does not fit into our preconceived notions.”1
Pastor David Thompson has an interesting thought on the dullness of the disciples and gives a humorous illustration. “There was a woman who was between flights at an airport, who went to a lounge and bought a small package of cookies. She then sat down and began reading a newspaper, waiting for her flight. Gradually she became aware of a rustling noise and from behind her paper she was flabbergasted to see a well-dressed businessman helping himself to her cookies. Not wanting to make a scene, the woman leaned over in front of the man and took a cookie herself. A minute or two later, she heard more rustling and sure enough the man was helping himself to another cookie. By this time, she had come to the end of the cookies in her package. She was so angry but she decided not to say a thing. Then when it came to the final cookie, the man broke it in half and gave her half. Just about that time her flight was announced and the woman opened 
her handbag to get her ticket. To her shock and amazement, there was her package of cookies, unopened in her purse. This woman had become so emotional that she lost sense of all reality. The man wasn’t eating her cookies, she was eating his cookies.
“That is what losing track of truth will do. It will blind you. You will not see clearly or think accurately. The disciples of Jesus Christ were listening and learning. They apparently were losing sight of some reality pertaining to Jesus Christ. They could not grasp the fact that the whole program of God was contingent upon Jesus Christ going to the cross and dying as a sacrifice for sin. Even the best of disciples can get very confused.”2
If you are confused – if you are a dull disciple – troubled by something difficult Jesus taught, practice James 1:5-6 and believe. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (6) But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
1https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-18-commentary#18:34
2Ibid.
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