"And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said."

Jesus has a dynamic way of sharing information. He is ok with people not understanding what he is saying and seems to be careful when he lets them in on the mystery. Luke here especially states that Jesus hides the meaning of this prophecy from them. Maybe another way of saying it, "it's not for you to know yet, but I'll tell you."

I hate not knowing something. The older I get, the more I've matured I have become accustomed to it but I still rather not be out of the loop. I hate when my keys go missing, I don't get the joke, or I can't understand something I'm reading. I assume most of us are this way. We may be ok with not knowing exactly why the sky is blue, something about particles and light,  but we are not good at not knowing when we should or think we should know. 

Why is Jesus good with us not knowing or understanding? Knowing is essential to the Christian faith. We must know Christ, know his word, know how to know him. So why is Jesus good with hiding things from us? 

Here are a couple of speculations...

  1. Transcendence -  God is vastly beyond us 
  2. Pursuit - Spiritual things must be sought 
  3. Revelation - Spiritual things must be revealed 
  4. Humility - dealing with my heart, following by faith
  5. Eternal - moving my attention from temporal matter to eternal 

Hearing that you don't know it all or that you can't google the information, is not typical in our culture. Christ wants us to seek him, not just to find out the facts. Jesus wants us to trust, not just have the immediate answers. By things being hidden the person how by faith continues to pursue Christ will find the mystery reveal. 

Don't grow discouraged as you grow in your walk without understanding. It is simply part of the process to put faith at the forefront of your walk with Christ!