22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. (Matthew 17:22-23 KJV)
Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection
Christ here foretells his own sufferings; he began to do it before (Matthew 16:21-23), and, seeing that it was a hard saying for his disciples, he saw it necessary to repeat it. There are some things that God speaks once, even twice, and yet people do not perceive it. Observe here,
What he foretold concerning himself—that he would be betrayed and killed. He fully knew beforehand all that would happen to him, and yet undertook the work of our redemption, which shows his great love.
He tells them that he would be betrayed into the hands of men. He shall be delivered up (so it might be understood of his Father delivering him up by his determined counsel and foreknowledge, Acts 2:23; Romans 8:32); but as we render it, it refers to Judas betraying him into the hands of the priests, and their betraying him into the hands of the Romans. He was betrayed into the hands of men—men to whom he was connected by nature, and from whom he might expect pity and kindness; men he came to save, and from whom he might expect honor and gratitude; yet these are his persecutors and murderers.
That they would kill him; nothing less would satisfy their rage. It was his blood, his precious blood, that they thirsted for. This is the heir—come, let us kill him. Nothing less would satisfy God’s justice and fulfill his redemptive mission; if he was to be a sacrifice of atonement, he had to die. Without blood, there is no forgiveness.
That he would rise again on the third day. When he spoke of his death, he also spoke of his resurrection—the joy set before him, in view of which he endured the cross and disregarded the shame. This was an encouragement not only to him, but to his disciples; for if he would rise on the third day, his absence from them would not be long, and his return would be glorious.
How the disciples received this: they were deeply grieved. This showed their love for their Master, but also their misunderstanding of his mission. Peter did not dare to speak against it, as he had done before (Matthew 16:22), having been strongly corrected for it; but he and the rest of them grieved greatly, seeing it as their own loss, their Master’s suffering, and the guilt and ruin of those who would do it.