Jesus told the disciples that he was going to come back to life. They were filled with grief.

Isn’t it peculiar how looking at a portion of a text can create a false impression?

What the text in Matthew 17 actually says is,

^“When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.”

The disciples heard the best possible news and they missed it because they were so focused on the worst possible news.

I think I understand. The worst news made sense. It fit their experience. People were killed all the time. They knew that Jesus was being watched.  They knew that Jesus had taken them out of the area because of the investigations. They knew that John (who baptized people) had been killed by Herod. They knew that Jesus made people mad.

The best news, on the other hand, made no sense. They had seen a few people brought back to life, but only BY Jesus. Without Jesus to do it, how could it be possible?

So they grieved.

I wonder how often today’s followers grieve the same way.  We heard of trouble. We hear what might happen to us. We hear about suffering that could happen. And we fear the loss to us.

What we don’t see is the smiles on the faces of people who have been scarred for being followers. People who know all about being betrayed, and beaten. People who also know that Jesus was, in fact, raised from the dead.

This weekend, listen for the whole message. Not just the fear we understand, but the hope we don’t.