The Cruciform Kingdom: Glory and Blindness Text: Luke 9:43-45
Introduction: Two Kinds of Glory
We live in an age that is drunk on the glory of man. We see it everywhere, from the highlight reels on social media to the self-congratulatory speeches of politicians. Man marvels at his own accomplishments, his own power, his own cleverness. And the disciples of Jesus, in our passage today, were not immune to this temptation. They were standing in the immediate afterglow of a stunning display of Christ's power, a powerful exorcism that left the crowds "marveling." They were on the winning team, and the captain was putting on a clinic. They were thinking in terms of earthly glory, earthly power, and an earthly kingdom that would throw off the Roman yoke and vindicate Israel.
But the kingdom of God operates on a completely different economy. Its glory is not the glory of conquest, but the glory of sacrifice. Its power is not demonstrated in the crushing of enemies, but in the bearing of a cross. And its king does not ascend to a throne by political maneuvering, but by descending into the grave. This is the great paradox, the stumbling block that the world cannot get over. And it was the very thing that the disciples, at this point in their education, could not comprehend.
Jesus, seeing their hearts and knowing the direction of their thoughts, interrupts their celebration with a bucket of ice water. He pivots from a moment of manifest power to a stark prophecy of His own betrayal and death. He tells them, in effect, "Don't be mesmerized by this kind of glory. The true glory, the glory that will save the world, looks like something else entirely. It looks like weakness, suffering, and execution." And their reaction is telling: confusion, concealment, and fear. They could not process a suffering Messiah because it violated all their presuppositions about how God's kingdom was supposed to come.
This passage is a crucial lesson for the church in every age. We too are tempted to measure the success of the kingdom by worldly metrics, by the marveling of the crowds. We want the glory without the cross. We want the crown without the thorns. But Jesus forces us to confront the central reality of our faith: the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of men. This is not a tragic detour; it is the very engine of our salvation. And until we understand this, we, like the disciples, will remain blind to the true nature of His power and deaf to the most important words He has to say.
The Text
But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, “Put these words into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
(Luke 9:43-45 LSB)
The Interruption of the Cross (v. 43-44)
We begin with the stark contrast between the crowd's reaction and Christ's redirection.
"But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, 'Put these words into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.'" (Luke 9:43-44)
The scene is one of triumph. Jesus has just cast out a demon that His disciples could not handle. The crowd is amazed, astonished, marveling at the "majesty of God." This is the kind of success story we like. This is the kind of report that gets applause at the presbytery meeting. The disciples are likely basking in the reflected glory, thinking that this is what the messianic age is all about: signs, wonders, and popular acclaim.
But Jesus cuts right through the noise. He turns to His inner circle, His disciples, and gives them a command that is both urgent and solemn: "Put these words into your ears." This is a Hebrew idiom. It means more than just "listen." It means to receive this, to let it sink down deep, to treat it as a matter of utmost importance. He is telling them to stop listening to the roar of the crowd and to tune their frequency to this hard, unwelcome truth. The applause is intoxicating, but it is not the main point.
And what is this crucial word? "For the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men." Notice the title He uses for Himself: Son of Man. This is a direct reference to Daniel 7, a vision of a glorious, triumphant figure who receives an everlasting dominion from the Ancient of Days. The disciples would have loved this title. It spoke of glory, authority, and kingdom. But Jesus yokes this title of ultimate authority to a statement of ultimate vulnerability. The one who will receive the kingdom will first be "delivered into the hands of men."
The word "delivered" is key. It is the language of betrayal, of being handed over. It implies a passive role. The all-powerful one will allow Himself to be taken. And into whose hands? Not into the hands of God for vindication, but into the hands of sinful men for execution. This is the grammar of the gospel, and it made no sense to them. They were expecting a Messiah who would crush the hands of men, not be delivered into them. Jesus is forcing them to redefine their entire understanding of power and glory. The path to the throne of Daniel 7 runs directly through the cross of Calvary.
Supernatural Blindness and Carnal Fear (v. 45)
Verse 45 gives us the reason for their incomprehension, and it is twofold: divine and human.
"But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement." (Luke 9:45 LSB)
First, we are told they "did not understand." This was not a failure of intellect. These were not stupid men. The words themselves were simple enough. The problem was with their grid, their worldview. A suffering, dying Messiah did not compute. It was a category error. Their presuppositions about what the Messiah was supposed to do were so strong that they simply could not process information that contradicted them. They had a glorious Son of Man box, and a suffering servant box, but they could not see that they were one and the same.
But Luke adds another layer. He says the statement "was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it." This is a statement of divine sovereignty. God, for His own purposes and according to His own timing, had veiled their understanding. This is a difficult doctrine, but a biblical one. God hardens hearts (Romans 9:18) and He also conceals truth. Why? Because the cross had to be a surprise. As Paul says, if the rulers of this age had understood, "they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8). The plan of salvation required the wicked acts of men, and God in His sovereignty ensured that their spiritual blindness would serve His redemptive purpose. He did not cause their sin, but He did ensure that their sinful presuppositions would prevent them from thwarting His plan.
This divine concealment, however, does not absolve the disciples of their responsibility. The verse ends with a very human failure: "and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement." Here is the second reason for their ignorance: carnal fear. Why were they afraid? Perhaps they were afraid of looking stupid. Perhaps they were afraid of shattering the triumphant mood of the moment. Or perhaps, and most likely, they were afraid of the answer. They had an inkling of what He was saying, and they did not like it one bit. It threatened their ambitions, their hopes, their entire vision of the future. And so, rather than seek clarity, they chose the comfort of confusion.
This is a profound spiritual lesson. How often do we remain ignorant because we are afraid to ask the hard questions? How often do we avoid digging into a difficult passage of Scripture because we are afraid of what it might demand of us? The fear of man is a snare, and here it snared the disciples into a willful ignorance. They feared the implications of the cross more than they desired the truth from their Master. This is not the righteous fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. This is the craven fear of personal cost, which is the beginning of compromise.
Conclusion: Ears to Hear the Cross
This short, sharp interaction is a microcosm of the Christian life. We are constantly surrounded by the world's "marveling." The world wants to define glory for us. It wants us to be impressed with celebrity, with political power, with financial success, with technological prowess. And the temptation is always to build our theology of the kingdom around those things.
But Jesus constantly interrupts our celebrations to say, "Put these words into your ears." What words? The words about the cross. The word that tells us that the Son of Man was delivered over for our transgressions and raised for our justification (Romans 4:25). The word that tells us that if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves, take up our own cross, and follow (Luke 9:23). The word that tells us that our old man was crucified with Him (Romans 6:6).
The disciples' problem is often our problem. Our presuppositions about what a "victorious" Christian life should look like can make us deaf to the Bible's teaching on suffering, sacrifice, and death to self. We want the power of the resurrection without the fellowship of His sufferings. And when we don't understand, we are often, like them, afraid to ask what it really means to be crucified with Christ, because we fear the answer will involve actual nails.
The good news is that this blindness was not permanent for the disciples. After the resurrection, Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and gave them the boldness they lacked. The cross, which was once a concealed and fearful statement, became the very center of their preaching and their glory (Galatians 6:14).
The same is true for us. God must open our minds. We must pray for ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. We must ask God to strip away our worldly definitions of success and glory, and to replace them with a cruciform worldview. We must repent of the fear that keeps us from asking the hard questions. When we do, we will find that the statement that once brought confusion and fear is the only statement that brings true life and everlasting peace. The glory of the Son of Man is not found in the marveling of the crowds, but in the fact that He was delivered into the hands of men, for us.